Types of Beef Operations Quiz Answers

Raising beef cattle for profit tin be a satisfying enterprise. Even so, there are a number of direction skills that each beef producer should have to exist successful. Each livestock enterprise has unlike resources: land, labor, majuscule, feed, and management. To heighten beef cattle sustainably, you must manage these resource.

In addition to managing resources, new producers must ask themselves, What do I demand to become started? This question involves considerations for the type of animals a producer wishes to raise as well as where to find these animals, how to select them, and what equipment will be needed for the operation. Producers besides need to consider how they will feed their animals and what health care practices they will utilize to keep the animals healthy. Savvy producers will let markets identify the blazon of animals they should enhance in order to generate a profit. This fact sheet may be used as a guide for beef cattle producers just getting started in the manufacture to learn:

How to decide what type of creature y'all should raise
About the unlike breeds and how to select the right ane for you
Where to purchase your animals
What to look for as the ideal characteristics
What equipment you'll need to raise your animals
How to breed and raise your beef cattle
What to feed and how to intendance for your animals' wellness
What information technology takes to market your animals

What Type of Animals Should I Heighten?

The first matter to decide when starting a new beef cattle enterprise is what type of animals to raise. This decision should direct reverberate the markets a producer has available to sell beefiness cattle and consider the resources available on the farm and the producer's individual goals.

Beef cattle may be used to produce meat or generate seedstock (breeding animals). The intended markets may dictate what breed or breeds are all-time suited for the performance. Some producers choose to breed females to produce calves to sell for breeding stock or market animals. Other producers may prefer to buy weaned animals, likewise known as feeders, to enhance to market weight.

Producers should beginning past determining if they wish to heighten purebred or commercial stock. A purebred functioning typically raises animals of one breed. Frequently a purebred operation will have all registered animals that can also be sold through purebred sales. A commercial operation may take unregistered purebred animals, or they may accept crossbred animals. Crossbred animals have the do good of hybrid vigor, which is simply the power of crossbred offspring to increment in productivity over the boilerplate of the breeds that were part of the cross. This ways that a crossbred calf could abound faster, or a crossbred female could produce more milk for its offspring.

Selecting a Brood

Each livestock breed has different traits for which they are recognized. Breed associations can provide information on those traits and help you narrow your decision regarding what breed or breeds fit best with your operation. Beef cattle breeds are often divided into maternal (cow) and last (sire) breeds. Maternal breeds are typically moderately sized and recognized for their power to heighten healthy calves. Concluding breeds are generally a fleck larger in their size and unremarkably used for meat production. In improver to these 2 classifications, composite breeds of cattle also exist.

Composite breeds are cattle breeds that are generally made up of maternal and terminal breeds and oftentimes combine genetics for specific environments or markets. While many producers use both maternal and terminal breeds in their systems, blended breeds have been established and are recognized by their full-blooded. Many breeds exist in the United States. The more mutual breeds are listed in the table beneath.

Maternal

Angus
Hereford
Shorthorn
Cherry Angus

Terminal

Charolais
Gelbvieh
Limousin
Simmental
Maine Anjou

Composite

SimAngus
Maintainer
Braford
Beefmaster
Limflex

Angus Photograph credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Grouping

Hereford Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beefiness Producers Working Group

Photo credit: Dave Hartman, Penn State Extension

Where Can I Purchase Animals?

Animals tin be purchased through several different means. Many sales are held across the country throughout the yr and may offering only one breed, a variety of breeds, or even crossbreds for auction. Some other pick would exist to locate reputable breeders and buy directly from their farm. A broad variety of animals may exist available at a local auction barn; all the same, allow the heir-apparent beware. Animals sold through this venue are more than likely to have wellness issues.

Choose convenance males that will complement the outstanding traits in your females and improve their weaknesses. Always use the best bull you can beget to ameliorate the genetics in your herd. The male has a groovy influence on your herd because his offspring could remain in the herd for a number of years.

Exist witting of selecting and keeping good productive females that volition produce and wean one dogie per year without assist and maintain their torso status without condign overly thin or fat.

Selection Principles

There are ii methods to select livestock: beast functioning and visual appraisal. Animals should start be selected on operation (e.g., how well calves grow or how much calves weigh at weaning), and and so the higher-performing animals should exist evaluated visually.

Performance pick principles evaluate measurable traits such as birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, or meat yield and quality.

Producers who evaluate growth traits should adjust weaning weights to account for the sex of the calf, historic period of the dam, nativity weight, and weaning weight. Weaning weights are typically adjusted to 205 days of age.

Progressive cattle producers with registered animals can enroll their herd in convenance association databases to obtain expected progeny differences (EPDs). These EPDs utilise genetic linkages to assess genetic merit for growth, carcass, and maternal traits. EPDs permit producers to evaluate animal genetics without environmental influences.

Commercial producers can apply performance data when selecting a new bull. More data on expected progeny differences can be constitute by contacting brood associations.

Visual animal appraisal evaluates aspects such as structural correctness, muscling, body capacity, and breed character. Evaluating structural correctness allows producers to identify animals with defects that are not credible through performance evaluation.

Purebred producers who raise registered stock should get familiar with breed characteristics associated with the breed they raise, such as:

ear length and shape
color and distribution of color
polled status
defects that disqualify animals from registration

These depicted bulls exhibit the ideal characteristics of breeding males .

Angus bull. Photograph credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Hereford balderdash. Photograph credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Grouping

Equipment Needs

After the appropriate animals are called for the operation, the equipment necessary to maintain those animals must be gathered. Beef cattle operations can be depression input but still need a diverseness of equipment. Basic equipment includes feeders, h2o tubs or watering systems, and health care equipment. Because safe is a concern when managing these large animals, beef cattle operations should also have equipment for handling cattle.

Feeders

Feeders should be used to prevent animals from eating off the ground. Well-designed feeders will as well prevent animals from wasting feed by spilling it onto the basis. There are potential wellness concerns when cattle eat off the footing, including parasite infections; however, feed costs represent the main input cost on any beef cattle operation and as such, feed waste matter is a driving factor for feeders.

Feeders can be simple like racks to hold round bales. Photo credit: Bigstock.com

Many dissimilar sizes and styles of feeders are available for beefiness cattle. Some feeders tin can accommodate feeding both hay and grain, while others may be designed to feed just hay or just grain. Producers should be sure that all animals have admission to the feeder if feeding at specified time frames. If animals take costless-choice admission to the feeders throughout the day, smaller feeders can be used.

Feeders may also include simple troughs to concur supplemental protein, free energy, or minerals for grazing cattle. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Grouping

In confinement finishing systems, beef cattle may be fed a more complete mixed ration in a bunk. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Beef cattle of all classes should always have admission to a good-quality mineral mix formulated for their production needs. Most producers provide beef cows and grazing cattle costless-choice minerals when on pasture, while others limit-feed minerals daily in a grain mix.

Fenceline-style feeders allow producers access on one side to place feed and grain into the feeder while animals access their feed on the other side. Walkthrough feeders let producers to walk downwardly the center of the feeder. Grain can exist placed in a trough on either or both sides and hay is shared in the primal walking area. Producers should be conscientious not to contaminate feeders with manure-covered footwear.

Larger operations often feed hay in the form of large round or square bales. Many styles of hay feeders exist, but the inverted-cone-style feeders are often recommended for beef cattle every bit they commonly waste product the least corporeality feed waste material.

Water

H2o is possibly the most of import food because it impacts feed consumption. Poor-quality water or not enough h2o can decrease feed intake and issue in decreased animate being performance. Producers can supply water using anything from buckets to troughs to automated watering systems. As with feeders, many different styles are available. The primal is that water should be fresh, clean, and available at all times.

Automatic frost-costless waterers may be used on pasture or in confinement for cattle. Photo credit: Betty Cameron, Bedford County Sheep Producer

Permanent spring improvements can provide a twelvemonth-round h2o supply for beef cattle on pasture. This system has additional crushed stone around it to forbid excess mud aggregating in the area. Photograph credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn State Extension

Simplistic float tank trough systems can be easily moved depending on cattle location. Photo credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn Country Extension

Pasture Systems

Many beef cattle, specially mature cows and bulls, graze pastures throughout the spring, summer, and autumn. Producers should pay close attention to pasture height in an attempt to maximize forage utilization. Pastures should be subdivided to provide an adequate amount of forage for the grazing time, often four to v days. Animals should be moved to a new section of pasture past the time forage has been grazed downwards to 4 inches in tiptop. Rotating pastures ensures the nutrients from manure are spread out and that cattle utilize available resources efficiently. Continuous grazing tin cause forage stand up damage in overused or high-traffic areas and encourages weed growth in other less-desirable areas of the pasture.

A skillful-quality perimeter fence contains livestock inside the pasture and keeps predators out. Many producers prefer high-tensile fencing with some wires electrified. Subdivision fencing divides larger fields into smaller areas to better manage forage growth. Subdivision fencing for beef cattle tin often be a single strand of polywire with step-in posts to reduce input costs. Well-nigh cattle volition respect one strand if it is electrified.

Pastures should also provide access to water. This ranges from temporary systems that move with the animals to permanent systems. Many producers cull to install secret systems that can be accessed throughout a pasture arrangement to reduce the labor of hauling water. Depending on the organization and region, it may be necessary to access electricity to estrus waterers in cold months.

Wellness Care Equipment

Routine health intendance employs practices to prevent illness. Common practices include tagging, vaccinating, dehorning, castrating, and deworming. These practices require basic equipment such as tags and tagging pliers, syringes and needles, elastrator bands, a ring expander tool, and a drench syringe or drench gun. Tagging is considered a health care slice of equipment because tagging is important to identify treated animals.

Producers may also wish to dehorn their cattle to prevent horn growth. This is often performed with an electric dehorner soon after the horn buds pause through the pare. Dehorning prevents future injury to other animals and handlers.

Hoof trimming is another wellness care equipment item. Hoof trimming is not considered routinely necessary in most beef cattle operations. In add-on, most beef cattle must exist put in a tilt tabular array in club to have their hooves trimmed for the safety of both the trimmer and the animal. Therefore, many starting time cattle producers will contact a professional person should hoof care exist necessary.

A bander can be used to desexualize young males. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Grouping

Other Types of Equipment

Larger equipment may be used by beef cattle operations to allow producers to handle or manage animals more efficiently. Producers can utilize a scale to monitor animal growth operation at weaning and other times throughout the twelvemonth. A scale should besides exist used to weigh animals to calculate the correct dosage for medication treatments. Iii types of scales are oft used by livestock producers: beam, punch, and digital.

Equipment for beef cattle production should include these items necessary to maintain herd wellness, like this drench for deworming animals. Photograph credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn Country Extension

Nearly feeder calves and finished cattle are bought and sold on a weight basis. Therefore, because the economics in beef systems are based on pounds of calf to sell or weight of finished cattle, scales are an important part of cattle operations. Scales can too help monitor weights at critical times throughout the year, such as breeding, weaning, and so on. All scales should be tested to ensure accurateness. Simple scales can be placed in line in a treatment system.

Handling system equipment allows producers to more than efficiently handle animals. It functions by gathering animals into a group pen and so funneling them into the chute. Animals walk single file down the chute, where they are held for routine wellness care or sorting. Gates at both ends of the system comprise the animals while producers perform tasks. Gates tin can function by sliding back and forth or up and down like a guillotine.

A caput catch in the chute restrains the cattle for necessary procedures, while ensuring the safety of both the cattle and the human handlers. Photograph credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn Country Extension

If the beef cattle operation intends to use implants to increase growth performance of market animals, a treatment system should be used. In improver, if the operation desires to breed using artificial insemination, a handling system is a must.

An alley allows the beef cattle producers to move several cattle at a time, making cattle handling easier and more than efficient. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Reproduction and Breeding Seasons

Gestation length for beef cattle is about nine months, varying slightly amidst breeds and sires. Notwithstanding, the typical gestation length for most cows ranges from 282 to 288 days.

Cattle volition cycle throughout the year. However, managing a divers breeding season volition assist better the efficiency of the moo-cow herd and marketability of the calves. Most productive cattle operations maintain a single breeding season. While many operations brood animals to calve in the jump when weather is warming up, some may cull to calve in the autumn to take advantage of a less saturated dogie market. Purebred cattle used for seedstock are oftentimes bred to calve early in the year, January or February, so that those animals can enter the breeding herd at heavier weights.

Estrus cycles and age at puberty vary slightly among breeds. If breeding heifers (females that accept not calved before), they should weigh at least 65 to 70 percent of their mature weight by the start of the breeding season with a target of 85 percent of their mature weight at calving. By and large, it is expected that heifers will meet this weight and be fix to breed between 11 and 15 months of historic period. It is also appropriate to breed heifers one bicycle ahead of mature cows so that they accept additional time to rebreed the following flavor.

Some producers will accept this a stride further and synchronize their females so that they are sure to brood the heifers at the desired time and the residual of the cows come into heat, or wheel, at the same time about a month later. This synchronization is necessary for an efficient and effective artificial insemination procedure and is nigh oft accomplished with the use of a CIDR, although feed additive protocols be for heifers. The CIDR contains hormones and is inserted vaginally into the females. Many protocols are available for synchronization and beginning producers are brash to work with their veterinarian to found their own on-farm protocol.

In well-nigh instances, cattle give birth outdoors and, thus, calving season is timed to start when conditions warms up and grass is available on pasture. Nonetheless, some producers prefer to breed earlier in the breeding flavor in order to market at specific times in the summertime or autumn. In other situations, producers may brood earlier then that calves are older and heavier while on pasture.

Producers wishing to calve earlier may demand to house animals in a befouled, such equally a bank barn, depending on the climate. Calving indoors can assistance preclude ears from freezing and ensure calf viability in colder temperatures.

Signs of Impending Calving

Every bit a cow nears her time to give birth, she exhibits several signs that the birthing procedure will brainstorm. Shortly before calving, the udder will brainstorm to tighten. This tightening is the udder filling with colostrum. Colostrum is the outset milk and information technology contains antibodies that help protect newborn calves from disease.

When the cow is prepare to give birth, the muscles around her hips will begin to relax and may appear as if they are sinking. The vulva changes color and is most apparent with lighter pare colors. For example, a light pink color will change to a darker pink color. Perhaps more than noticeably, the vulva volition dandy. The udder volition feel full and tight at this point. The moo-cow will too refuse feed and motion away from the herd.

The start sign that the female is in labor is the appearance of the water bag. Within a short flow of time, the front feet and nose of the newborn should announced. This will progress as the female pushes to expel the newborn. Once the dogie is born, the mother should begin licking to dry out off the newborn and encourage the calf to stand and nurse.

A visible water bag or feet indicate impending calving. Photograph credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn Country Extension

Typically, most beef cows calve on pasture and require little assistance. If assistance is required, inexperienced producers should consult a veterinarian or an experienced producer for assistance. Assist may be required if a calf has not been delivered within six hours of the h2o purse actualization or if the cow is institute straining and the water pocketbook appears to have already been ruptured. Ever use caution when trying to work with or around laboring cows or cows that have recently delivered. Dams will defend their young well against predators but may turn this aggression on an unsuspecting human trying to tag or examine a new calf as well.

Pay close attention to newborns for the first couple days later birth. Mothers should be attentive to newborns and willing to stand for newborns to nurse. Newborns should stretch when they stand and announced alert. Newborns that weep for their mother or rush to nurse as soon equally they get up likely are not receiving enough milk. Weak calves may require feeding with a tube. Consult a veterinarian or an experienced producer for assist.

A good beefiness moo-cow should immediately tend to her calf without interference. Photo credit: Wendall Landis, Penn Land Beef Barn Manager

Feeding and Nutrition

All animals require water, protein, carbohydrates and fats (to provide energy), vitamins, and minerals in their daily nutrition. These may come from a diversity of sources but should be balanced to run into nutritional requirements. Nutrient requirements change throughout an animal's lifetime and reflect its stage of production: growth, maintenance, breeding, pregnancy, or lactation (milk production).

Forages such every bit pasture and hay often meet requirements for mature animals, only they may not meet requirements for fast-growing animals. Therefore, boosted protein or energy sources may demand to be added to the ration to meet requirements of young, apace growing cattle.

Boosted protein requirements may be met with better quality hay or through sources such every bit soybeans, soybean repast, or distillers grains. Additional energy requirements may be met with a variety of grain sources, but cattle are most commonly fed corn because it is often the cheapest energy source.

In about cases, pasture provides the most economical feed source for mature cows. Cattle should rotationally graze pastures to yield the best quality and quantity of grazing days. In general, animals should enter a pasture when forages are 6 to 10 inches tall. Animals should rotate out of a pasture by the time the forage has been grazed downwardly to 4 inches. This not only provides loftier-quality feed for the animals simply as well helps maintain good for you plants.

Grain supplements are most oftentimes used for growing cattle or in times of pasture shortage. Feeding grain to growing cattle increases weight gain. One common grain feeding exercise is pitter-patter feeding, the practice of supplying good-quality grain and/or hay to immature calves while they are nursing. This boosts weight gains and body condition, or level of fatness.

Health Issues

A practiced indicator of healthy cattle is their body condition. Body condition for beef cattle is scored on a nine-point calibration with 1 beingness emaciated and nine existence obese.

Convenance females should exist maintained at an average body condition score of 5 to six. Animals with decreasing body status scores, or that are losing weight, signal a potential health issue.

The starting time pace to keeping animals healthy is to prevent diseases from entering the farm. Implementing biosecurity practices tin help keep diseases off the subcontract. Whatsoever new animal that arrives at the subcontract—and animals that go out the subcontract and return—should be quarantined from other animals for iii to iv weeks. In add-on, irresolute shoes and clothing later on visiting locations where you lot had contact with other cattle tin can help forestall bringing diseases to your farm. Visitors to the farm should be asked to either disinfect their shoes or vesture plastic disposable boots.

All producers should course a human relationship with a veterinarian. This veterinary-client-patient relationship allows the veterinary to become familiar with your subcontract management practices and your animals and to more quickly address any wellness issues within your herd.

Internal and External Parasites

While most beef cattle systems practise non experience product losses directly as a outcome of parasites, it is partly because they are very easy to care for and prevent in beefiness cattle. Broad-spectrum antiparasitics can be practical as a pour-on or an injectable product. Many beef cattle producers cull pour-on products because they are like shooting fish in a barrel to use and fairly constructive.

Additional internal parasites that may touch on beef cattle include worms and coccidia. External parasites that may affect beef cattle include flies, ticks, and lice. Consult your veterinary for more information on private parasite species and their handling.

Cattle should exist treated for internal and external parasites to keep them healthy. Photo credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn Land Extension

Abortion Diseases

Perhaps more disquisitional than the parasites themselves are the impacts they may have on reproductive performance. Several parasites that touch on cattle can cause abortions. For instance, anaplasmosis causes an anemia then severe that cattle may arrest. Information technology is near normally spread by biting insects like ticks; however, considering it is a bloodborne disease, humans may play a role in infecting cattle past reusing contaminated needles and castration and dehorning equipment.

In that location are other abortion diseases that are caused past sexually transmitted diseases. These can include chlamydia and trichomoniasis. Buying bulls and replacement females from reputable farms or brokers and asking about the history of crabs disease tin help foreclose the spread of these disorders to your farm.

Several other diseases may also cause abortions in cattle. Some of the mutual diseases that crusade abortions can exist prevented with a vaccine for viruses like bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). Piece of work with your veterinarian to establish a proficient vaccination programme for your beef cattle herd.

Pes Wellness

A major reason for implementing biosecurity measures is to prevent highly contagious, hard-to-eradicate problems such as hairy heel wart, besides known as digital dermatitis. Many beef cattle producers are noting an increase in the prevalence of digital dermatitis in herds across the country. Digital dermatitis is difficult to eradicate and can cause severe lameness. If your herd becomes infected, it is time consuming and expensive to care for infected animals and eradicate the affliction. Treatment requires hoof trimming and antibiotics, thus veterinary oversight is required.

In add-on to digital dermatitis, foot wellness can be impacted by poor diet. Cracked hooves or curved (sometimes called spooned) hooves are oft a sign of a mineral deficiency. Always provide a good-quality mineral to beefiness cattle and feed according to the label instructions.

Marketing

A number of markets are available for beef cattle. When choosing a market place, you must decide whether your operation will focus on selling alive animals or marketing meat. Many producers in the eastern United states focus on direct marketing of their beef cattle equally freezer beef or retail beefiness cuts due to the admission to consumers. Alternatively, many larger producers may focus simply on selling finished cattle to a big meat packer.

Left: Many beefiness producers choose to sell beef by the side or the quarter. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn Country Extension

Right: Steaks are a pop consumer selection, only selling individual cuts requires a proper license. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Go on in mind that state laws prohibit a producer from selling meat unless the brute was candy in a USDA-inspected facility. Therefore, the producers often sell calves alive and the customer would make cutting arrangements with the processing facility. Many producers besides provide the service of delivering the animals to a local processing facility.

Other options for beef cattle include marketing convenance stock, feeder calves to the feedlot, or market animals for junior shows. Convenance stock are typically purebred animals and may be marketed directly from the subcontract and through a registered auction. Many states operate a bull examination, allowing producers to pay to take their bulls developed alongside other young bulls and enter a larger sale at the terminate of the test. Work with your local extension educator to decide the all-time markets for your functioning.

Conclusion

Raising beefiness cattle can be a rewarding farming enterprise. Very few beef cattle operations are identical to i another, allowing producers a variety of opportunities to develop a plan that uniquely suits their lifestyle and farming enterprise. This brief introduction merely touches on a few of the aspects to remember near when because a beef cattle enterprise. Before get-go your own enterprise, seek the advice of your extension educator or experienced beef cattle producers in your expanse.

For more information about beef cattle, visit Penn Land Extension Beef Cattle

Many opportunities exist for beef cattle producers. This publication covers basic concepts related to raising these animals. New and start producers should seek further data on not merely basic product practices merely also diet, reproduction, and health in order to produce high-quality, good for you animals.

And then You Desire to Heighten Beef Cattle? This fact sheet may be used as a guide for beefiness cattle producers only getting started in the industry to larn:

How to decide what type of animal yous should raise
About the different breeds and how to select the right one for you
Where to purchase your animals
What to wait for as the ideal characteristics
What equipment yous'll need to raise your animals
How to breed and raise your beef cattle
What to feed and how to care for your animals' health
What information technology takes to market place your animals

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Source: https://extension.psu.edu/so-you-want-to-raise-beef-cattle-print