Influence of weaning date and late gestation supplementation on beef system productivity II: economic analysis.

Cow-calf production systems were analyzed using experimental data and historical economic information to model four separate production year using the 10-yr price period from 2005 to 2014. Treatments included two weaning dates, October (OCT) and December (DEC), and four winter nutritional treatments, grazing winter range with no supplement (WR0), low supplement (WR1), high supplement (WR2); or grazing corn residue with no supplement (CR) applied in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement. Net returns at the December weaning date were greatest ( < 0.

Influence of weaning date and late gestation supplementation on beef system productivity I: animal performance.

A 4-yr experiment examined how weaning date and prepartum nutrition affected productivity in a spring (March and April) calving system. Crossbred beef cows (479 ± 59 kg, = 144) were used in a completely randomized design with a 2 × 4 factorial treatment arrangement: 1) cows were weaned in early October or early December; and 2) during late gestation cows were fed on a dry matter basis a 32% crude protein supplement at 0, 0.41, or 0.