On cold spring mornings in the Nebraska Sandhills, calving season can test even the most experienced ranchers. Twenty-five ...

As breeding season gets underway, the goal for farmers is straightforward - a trouble-free calving season and a valuable calf ...

Heifers are the future of the cow herd. These young females represent genetic progress, years of investment, and the foundation of the herd’s long-term productivity. But as most ranchers know, despite ...

ST. PAUL -- First-calf heifers represent the present and the future of dairy farms, but they need to adapt to many physiological and behavioral changes at calving. According to the USDA, first-calf ...

For many years, commercial cow/calf producers have used birth weight expected progeny differences (EPD) in sire selection to minimize calving difficulty. However, some producers have expressed concern ...

Most cattle producers breed their cows in June so they will calve in March and April, but heifers should be bred 20 to 30 days before the rest of the herd, said David Fernandez, Cooperative Extension ...

Sometimes a first-calf heifer is confused or indifferent toward her newborn calf. She may just lie there after the calf is born and doesn’t get up to lick the calf, and when she does get up she may ...

This story is reported by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit news organization. Find more in-depth reporting at www.sdnewswatch.org. Editor’s note: This story originally published in June 2025 has ...