I recently read a great article by Kim Ricardo from South Dakota State University. I must say it is very refreshing to see that more and more people in academics are finally able to understand the truth about cow size. For the past 40 years, Pharo Cattle Company® has been the lone voice in the wilderness warning about the negative effects of increasing cow size.
Because this article is long, I am just going to share a few bullet points in this email. You can Click Here to read the article in its entirety.
- For every 100-pound increase in cow size, weaning weight only increases by about 10 pounds.
- Smaller cows will always wean a higher percent of their own body weight than larger cows.
- A 1,500-pound cow weaning a 550-pound calf achieves only 36% efficiency.
- A 1,000-pound cow weaning a 500-pound calf achieves 50% efficiency.
- A land base that can support 100 1500-pound cows can support 135 1000-pound cows.
- The 1000-pound cowherd will generate $55,000 more than the 1500-pound cowherd.
Ricardo ends her article by saying, “The size of mature cows is a critical factor in evaluating profitability within a commercial cow-calf enterprise. While larger cows produce slightly heavier calves, the gains are minimal compared to the increase in input costs and the reduction in herd size they require.”
When calf prices fall – and they will – cow size will quickly separate the winners from the losers. If you have not already done so, NOW is the BEST TIME to start making the transition from high-input genetics to low-input genetics.