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Cow-Calf Production - A Seasonal Cycle


If you happen to be driving in the countryside in the spring, take a look at the cattle that you see grazing in roadside fields - you'll probably see calves, each with a mother cow nearby keeping a close eye on her baby.

As with most wild and domesticated grazing animals, beef calves are usually born in the spring. Calving is timed to coincide with the emerging spring grass, so that the mother cow will have nutritious grass to eat which helps produce lots of milk for her baby.

Calving is almost all done out of doors. Farmers and ranchers prefer each of the cows within a herd to calve within a few weeks of one another. This permits the farmer to keep a close eye on the cows that are about to give birth, so that if there are any birthing problems he or she or a veterinarian can step in to help the calf and/or its mother. A short calving period also means the calves will all reach market weight at approximately the same time, allowing the farmer to sell a uniform group of calves.