The annual Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association meeting will take place on Thursday, November 21th at 3:00 p.m. at the Vets Hall in Geraldine. A social will follow the business meeting at 5:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:00. Please RSVP Buck Goldhahn at 622-5572 so the cooks can have notice on how many people will be attending.
This year’s guest speaker is Dr. Carla Sanford (MSU Extension Beef Specialist). Dr. Sanford will cover heifer management in Montana. Reproduction is the single most important factor in ranch productivity. A heifer needs to be accountable for:
• Fitting the environment in which she was born.
• Attaining puberty and conceiving early in the first breeding season.
• Maintaining a pregnancy and producing a healthy and viable calf.
• Maternal ability and adequate lactation.
• Returning to estrous and conceiving at rebreeding.
Developing beef heifers to an appropriate body weight, body condition score, and age while maintaining an adequate plane of nutrition is critical to reproductive success. Additionally, replacement heifer development does not end at the first breeding season but rather extends from weaning to re-breeding as a two-year-old. Why are heifers so difficult to get rebred? Two-year-old heifers need more care and management than mature cows. By breeding heifers first, we can better attend these females during the birthing process and allow additional time during postpartum to return to estrous.
Dr. Sanford encourages all producers to come with questions or ideas on how The MSU Extension Beef Specialist can help improve profitability of Chouteau County livestock operations.
For additional information on livestock management please contact the MSU Extension Chouteau County office at 622-3751 or stop in at the green building next to the Chouteau County Courthouse.
Montana State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Montana Counties Cooperating. MSU Extension is an equal opportunity/affirmative action provider of educational outreach.
