Economics of dry lotting beef cows

Abstract

Three experiments evaluated cow and calf performance in alternative production systems; 1) early weaning on feed use; 2) a sensitivity analysis investigating profit potential of confinement cow management to changes in production prices and weaning rates, and; 3) investigate a winter management system incorporating winter cornstalk residue grazing on cow and calf performance in a summer-calving herd. In experiment 1, cows were limit fed and used two weaning time, early (EW; 91 days old) or conventionally-weaned (CW; 203 days old). Nursing pairs were fed an equivalent amount of DM that the early weaned calf plus the dams were fed. Cows limit-fed in confinement resulted in no negative impact on reproduction and early-weaning did not reduce feed energy requirements. In experiment 2, production parameters were obtained from the summer-calving cowherd in a dry lot year-round. Greater returns were projected as weaning percentage increased and a positive return for systems using distillers grains and crop residues. For experiment 3, two wintering systems on cow-calf performance in a summer-calving cowherd were evaluated. Grazing cow-calf pairs on cornstalks had lower ending weights of cows and gains of calves. Incorporating winter cornstalk grazing into the system were $137 more profitable compared to cows wintered in the drylot.