For many reasons, paperwork is often at the bottom of our priority list, especially as calving or lambing begins. Consider this your friendly reminder that we are headed into the season where record keeping should be bumped up on your to-do list.
Time is a large factor in preventing many producers from record keeping. Some will argue that if you aren’t going to use the record in decision making, then what’s the point of keeping them? However, if a wreck occurs a year or two down the road and records will be key to determining the cause. You may have to look back to what was going on at your operation in previous years. This fall, many beef producers experienced high open rates on their operations. Calving distribution was likely moved away from the recommended 60 per cent calved in the first 21 days over the last few years because of poor-quality feed and drought conditions. Unless this was documented and reviewed annually, it went unnoticed on an operation until producers were faced with a much higher percentage of open animals.
Some people also prefer to make decisions based off intuition. That is certainly not all bad, intuition is something that has been trained by years of experience. However, it is easy to fall into the trap of confirmation bias, focusing more closely on information that supports our opinions or beliefs. Keeping detailed records is another tool in the toolbox to double check against your gut instincts. Maybe it aligns and maybe it doesn’t? Either way, you will have more evidence on hand to make and evaluate your decisions.
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