Who Stays and Who Goes: Culling the Cow Herd Without Regret

Every cattleman has a cow he should have sold a year sooner. She was gentle, she was pretty, she raised a calf that looked fine from the truck window. And she lost you money three years running. Culling is where that kind of sentiment gets expensive, so the work is to take the decision out of your gut and put it on paper.

Write the rules down in the off-season

Sorting day is a bad time to be making policy. You have a crowded alley, a cold wind, and a cow that looks at you sideways. Decide in January what gets a cow sold, and then all you do in the pen is follow the list. Mine would be short, and it looks a lot like what Ohio State extension lays out in its culling guide: bad temper, open, unsound, too old, too light a calf, and last, doesn't match the rest.

Temper first, because nobody gets hurt twice

A cow that comes at you in the pen is a liability on every working day. That same extension article draws a fair line. A good mama cow will be protective without being dangerous or destructive. Protective is fine. A cow that takes the gate off its hinges is a different animal, and her calves often learn the habit. Sell her, and do not pay a vet bill with your own arm.

Open cows eat the same hay

Nothing in the herd costs you quite like a cow that did not breed back. The Ohio State piece suggests palpation at least 40 days after bull removal, or a blood test at 28 days, and it puts yearly variable cost at roughly $400 to $500 per head, plus fixed costs on top. That is an old publication, so plug in your own hay, mineral and labor numbers, but the lesson holds. An open cow is a bill without a calf attached.

Late-bred cows are the quieter problem. A cow that settles in the last cycle calves late, weans a lighter calf, and goes into winter behind on condition. If the herd carries a few of those every year, tighten your breeding season before you blame the cows.

Feet, eyes, bags and teeth

• Feet and legs: A cow that cannot walk to water does not stay fat. Cull on structure early.
• Eyes: Chronic eye trouble in summer is a repeat bill. It rarely fixes itself.
• Udder: A bad bag means a calf that does not get a good start and a vet call in the middle of the night.
• Teeth: Worn-down teeth show up as lost condition. Look in her mouth at fall working. The extension article lists about four to nine years as a cow's best stretch.

Let the scale and the book argue with your eyes

Weaning weights tell you what a cow really does. One light calf can be bad luck. Three in a row is the cow. Keep a pocket notebook or a spreadsheet, and write down calving date, weaning weight, and whether she bred back. If you run registered cattle, send those numbers to the American Angus Association so they can feed the expected progeny differences. If you want the breeding side explained, farm.fm's page on understanding bulls will help you check what the sire side of your calf crop is doing before you blame the dams.

When you are rebuilding, the list gets shorter

Plenty of ranches are trying to add cows rather than cut them. That changes the math. Every female you sell is a calf you will not raise, and every heifer you keep is a calf you did not sell, plus roughly two years before she weans her first one. The USDA Economic Research Service cattle page keeps the herd and price data current, so check there instead of leaning on what a neighbor says at the sale barn.

In a rebuild you still cull for temper, soundness and open cows, since those never earn their keep, but you can live with a cow that is a little light on milk if her calves are growing and she breeds back. You are protecting numbers, not chasing perfection. Be honest about the cash side, too. Developing heifers costs feed, and farm.fm's page on financial planning for Angus producers is a decent check on whether the bank balance can carry that wait.

Grass sets the cow number

Do not set your herd size from last year's count. Set it from the grass. In a dry year, the extension guidance is plain: cull deeper, and cull earlier. Every marginal cow takes feed from the good ones. You can also feed a cull cow a few weeks to put weight on her, and the same publication notes that cows in moderate condition with 80 to 85 percent lean often bring the best cull prices, but only if the feed costs less than the gain pays. Write that math down before you start.

Timing the sale

Cull cows bring a good share of the annual income, around 20 percent according to that Ohio State article, and prices tend to be better in spring than in late fall. If you can wait, you often should. If you cannot, at least know what you are giving up.

The sorting-day list

• Preg-check every cow and mark the result in the book.
• Pull the mean ones and the open ones first.
• Check feet, eyes, bags and mouths on the rest.
• Cut to the number your grass can carry, not the number you wish you had.
• In a rebuild, write down how many heifers you keep and what you will feed them.

Need a hauler, a vet or a sale barn near you? The agriculture directory lists local services. The University of Nebraska beef site has worksheets if you want help building your own plan. Prices and rules move, so check current sources before you sell.

Sentiment is fine for the dog and the truck. In the cow herd, let the records do the talking, and let the cows that pay stay.