Auctioneer - Ken Carney Sale Agent - Fruitland Livestock Auction, Inc. The sale order was determined by consignors drawing for a position in the rotation. Each consignor selected those heifers to sell in each rotation. Heifers will be sold in uniform lots sorted according to breed type, size and those selling together are expected to calve in a 45 day period. Heifers become the property of the purchaser immediately after the sale. Each animal will be at the purchaser’s risk as soon as sold. The seller will aid in the loading of the cattle on instructions from the buyer, but at the buyer’s risk. No cattle will be loaded until the conclusion of the sale. All fees will be collected by the Fruitland Livestock Auction, Inc. and are to be settled before loading.
All heifers are guaranteed bred and are guaranteed to remain pregnant for 30 days after the sale. Due dates are approximate. Females can range two weeks or more around due date even if they were AI bred. Heifers were pasture exposed to bulls after A.I.. Rectal Palpation for pregnancy is subjective and not exact because all cows vary in fetal development. A.I. pregnancies are not guaranteed but highly probable. Gestation length is based on average of 283 and can come very early or very late. Any heifer found open (by an accredited veterinarian) will be returned to the consignor and the money will be refunded by the consignor. All guarantees are made by the consignor of the cattle, not the sale committee or the SEMO Cattlemen’s Association. Fetal sexed embryo’s are not guaranteed but highly probable with 95% accuracy.
All heifers in the sale are identified by a special tag that carries the "Show-Me-Select" trademark and name. This tag indicates that the heifers have met all of the requirements of the Missouri "Show-Me-Select" program.
The sale committee and consignors wish to thank all those who have contributed to the success of this program. Your faith in our ability to make this program work is appreciated.
These requirements are designed to minimize the incidence and severity of calving difficulty and protect against potential reproductive losses. Heifers must be bred to service sires at or less than established birth weight EPD maximums, have a minimum pelvic area of 150 cm2 prebreeding or 180 cm2 at pregnancy examination, be a minimum body condition score of 5 on sale day, and meet established health guidelines. Bred Heifers were managed under the following calendar: Spring 2007:
Fall 2007:
Spring 2008:
Heifers must be bred to bulls with birth weight EPDs not greater than the guidelines for the following breeds based on the current genetic evaluation at the time of breeding for the respective breed associations:
*Calving Ease EPD - All others Birthweight All sires used in conjunction with artificial insemination must have a minimum accuracy value of 0.6 on a scale of zero to one for the respective EPD’s. Simmental is based on active sire calving ease EPD, not nonparent calving ease EPD. Natural Service Angus bulls purchased prior to March 1, 2006 could still be a +6 and used only in 2006 breedings.
For most beef producers, the final days of the last trimester of pregnancy for their cow herd is here. For some early-bird producers, calves are already bucking and jumping. Winters like this one are great and temporarily lay to rest all the discussion of when to calve. Often producers question when a particular cow is due. Most producers have a handy calving table that projects the calving date of the cow based on the day she was bred. For example, the “IRM Pocket Reference” guide shows a cow bred May 21 is due on calve on March 1. In recent years, the North Dakota State University Dickinson Research Extension Center has targeted March 1 as the start of the calving season. Do the cows begin calving on March 1? Unfortunately, the cows do not read tables. Basically, a cow will calve when she and her calf decide the time is right. We’ve all seen the old cow that gets up, lays down, gets up, lays down, walks over to the corner, walks back, lays down, twitches her tail and calves two weeks later. Or the cow with no udder that calves in what seems to be minutes and successfully producers a normal, well fed, day-old calf. A current trend is to advertise cows for sale with predicted calving dates. These dates were projected based on ultrasound measurements and are used to imply the cows or heifers should calf over a period of seven to 10 days. Establishing the age of a developing fetus with ultrasound is very accurate, but gestational age and calving date have little in common. At the center, ultrasound records help us sort cows based on 21-day reproductive cycles. No attempt is made to actually guess which day a cow is going to calve. In reviewing cow records, center research specialist Keith Helmuth complied all the cows with absolute breeding dates and sire of calf. In other words, 462 cows were artificially inseminated, and conceived to the unit of semen she was inseminated with. Because of the different breeds used, the parentage of the calf is not questionable. No DNA test or judge was needed to identify the father. Of these 462 cows, the average gestation length was 282.5 days. Of the 462 cows, only 87 actually calved on the expected date. These cows were expected to calve 283 days after breeding, on March 1st. In reality, the first live calf arrived February 11, then one on the 13th and one on the 16th. Three calves arrived on February 17, three on the 19th , one on the 20th, three on the 21st, nine on the 22nd, eight on the 23rd, and a rush on the 24th produced 17 calves. The calving crew is starting to sweat. On the 25th, 19 calves were born, 36 on the 26th, 38 on the 27th, 39 on the 28th and finally on the due date of March 1, 87 calves were born. More sweat, despite the cold weather. On March 2, 53 cows calve, on the 3rd, 25 calves, on the 4th, 16 calves, on the 5th, 22 calves, on the 6th, 20 calves, on the 7th, 15 calves, and on the 8th, only four calves. Just as there appeared to be a let up, on the 9th, 15 calves were born, on the 10th, 12 calves, and on the 11th, one calf. Finally, a slowdown, and the season finished with two calves on the 12th, three calves on the 13th, four calves on the 14th, and one calf each on the 15th, 16th and 17th. The last two calves were born on the 19th of March. All 462 cows conceived on the same day, but the calving season lasted 32 days. Approximately 80 percent calved within an 11-day window, 95 percent in a 19 day window, and 98 percent within a 28-day window. If you want to bet me you know when your cow is going to calve, I’ll bet you she won’t calve on the day she’s due. Cows don’t calve in a seven to 10-day window, no matter who thinks they should. Happy calving. May you find all your ear tags! (Kris Ringwall is a North Dakota State University Extension Beef Specialist, Director of the NDSU Dickinson Research Center and Executive Director of the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association. He authors the Cow Herd Appraisal Performance System computer program that incorporates and analyses data collection from conception through consumption. He can be reached at 701-483-2045)
[ Back ] [ "Show-Me-Select" ] [ AgEBB ] [ MU Animal Sciences ] |
