Reproductive efficiency is a key driver of profitability in a cow-calf operation, since females that don’t conceive still consume resources without producing a return. Several factors influence pregnancy outcomes, including animal health, nutrition, stress and adherence to estrus synchronization protocols.

Stress on cattle is inevitable, but producers know the goal is to manage and mitigate the stresses animals experience, including transportation, weaning, parturition, dietary and nutritional changes, predation, commingling, vaccination, diseases and infections. 

Discussions of stress are not uncommon in cattle production. A great deal of this discussion is often focused on the stress typical for the weaned/transition calf and its common journey though the U.S. marketing system, which involves a lot of handling and transportation.

“Genetic improvement” is a term with far-reaching implications, uniquely and individually defined by those in the beef industry.

Farmers and ranchers have incorporated implants as a valuable tool for decades, ensuring an addition to their bottom line in a substantial and real way.  

Cattle are a precocial species, meaning when born, they are relatively mature and mobile.