Measure what matters

As the fall season wraps up, Kansas State University cow-calf specialist Jason Warner encourages cattle producers to consider tracking a few key numbers to help them make more informed management decisions for the year ahead.

“It’s a great time to come back and take a look at the metrics we are seeing with a given group of cows and females to help navigate decision making,” Warner said.

Warner outlined three primary metrics producers should consider when reviewing herd data this season -- conception percentage, calving percentage and weaning percentage.

Warner said the first step is determining conception rate, which begins with identifying how many females were exposed to breeding and how many became pregnant.

“The first thing is what is your conception percentage?” Warner said. “It is being able to identify what that group was exposed to breeding and the number pregnant — what’s that percentage?”

Understanding conception rate provides an important foundation for reproductive efficiency and helps identify potential issues with nutrition, bull performance or environmental factors that may have affected breeding outcomes.

Next, producers should look at the number of calves born relative to the number of cows confirmed pregnant.

“We want to know how many cows calved, dead or alive,” Warner said. “We also want to know what degree of pregnancy loss we have. Typically, that’s about two percent to three percent.”

Tracking calving percentage allows producers to monitor herd health and pregnancy loss, giving insight into calving management practices and environmental or disease-related challenges.