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emotional, although inevitable. However, any herd reduction should be part of a systematic approach to dealing with meeting livestock needs:
• Early Weaning: According to the University of Nebraska, for each 2.5 days that a calf is weaned, there is one more day of forage available for grazing. Calf removal is an accepted management procedure when calves reach 45 days of age. Weaning at this age when grass is restricted not only provides more grazing for the dry cow, it encourages her to cycle and rebreed under conditions that may prohibit that when nursing a calf. Weaning at an age of three to five months will not provide the reproductive benefits noted above but it will result in the same effect as reducing your cowherd by one third. In any case, early weaning should be given serious consideration prior to making a decision to begin the culling process.
• Culling Considerations: When possible, culling decisions should be made after the cow has had an opportunity to become pregnant. After cows are confirmed pregnant, the process should begin with cows that may have been cull-candidates regardless of the drought conditions: non-pregnant, physically impaired, poor producing and those with marginal dispositions should head this list.
• Krantz says the decision to cull producing cows or replacement heifers has no universal answer. From a feed perspective, the replacement heifer will consume less; however, what they do consume needs to be of higher quality.
• "Since heifer calves will not provide the operation with income for some time, justification for retaining them needs to be weighed against the merits of maintaining the producing core herd," Krantz said.
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