Beef Cattle Production and Management Exam 1 Questions And Answers With Verified Study Solutions

Cow-Calf Production - Involves cows and heifers mated to bulls, either by natural services or artificial insemination, to produce a calf crop. Various breeding programs may be used Commercial producers - Raise steers and heifers that are generally sold at weaning and destined to become slaughter animals. Some operations retain ownership of cattle through the feedlot and merchandise them at market weight. Purebred Breeders - Specialize in seed stock production meaning that the majority of these calves are destined to become part of breeding herds or become bulls from which semen can be collected for artificial insemination purposes. Stocker Operations - Utilize available forages or roughages to grow cattle from weaning until weight-ready for entrance into the feedlot -replacement heifers for cow-calf operations are generally handled in a similar manner from weaning until yearling age. Feedlot Production - Involves feeding high concentrate rations to cattle in a large confinement facility specifically designed for finishing cattle. When cattle are deemed market ready as determined by finish and weight, cattle are sold to commercial meat processor for conversion to consumer product. The two types of feedlot operations include commercial cattle feeding operations and farmer-feeder operations. Commercial Feeders - Generally quite large with capacities from 40,000 to 100,000 head. Often owned by corporations Farmer-Feeder - An operator who typically farms and feeds cattle on the same operation. The cattle feeding part of the operation is usually worked around the farming, e.g, feeding cattle before or after crops are planted/harvested, grazing stalks, etc. To be included as cattle on feed, cattle must go from the operation directly to slaughter. Generally have capacities less than 1000 head and account for approximately 30% of the feedlot cattle in the U.S.Basic Management - -Castration -Vaccination -Parasite Control -Weaning Controlled feeding - -Accurately feed before and after calving *Decrease in time for return to estrus *Increase conception rate *Increase the number of early born calves *Decrease death loss in calves