When an athlete is aiming to improve their performance, they begin with a starting measurement, and as they train, they continue to assess their abilities to measure progress. For cattle producers, that scorecard may include pregnancy percentages, the number of calves weaned and, in some cases, death loss.

This was a topic of discussion on a recent Cattle Chat podcast hosted by faculty at Kansas State University’s Beef Cattle Institute. K-State veterinarian Bob Larson joined with K-State beef extension specialist Jason Warner to set goals for cow-calf operations.

“This is a good time of year to review your records and if the numbers aren’t where you want them to be, you can make management adjustments under the guidance of your veterinarian, nutritionist or another advisor,” Warner said.

Two areas that Warner tells producers to focus on are the number of live calves born compared to the number of cows exposed to bulls at the start of the breeding season; and the number of cows that became pregnant early in the breeding season.

A top priority for Larson is to have calves born early in the calving season.

“The goal is to have 65% of the calves born in the first 21 days, and 85 to 90%% of the calves born within the first 42 days of the season,” Larson said. “If that happens, I know that the cows were in good body condition at the start of the breeding season and the bulls were fertile.”

As far as the percentage of live calves weaned relative to the number of pregnant females, Warner says the goal is at least 90%.

“The national average is between one to two percent for calf death loss and that will vary from year to year within the same operation,” Larson said. “If the producer is calving out a high percentage of heifers, that can influence the calf death loss percentage.”

To hear the full discussion, listen to Cattle Chat on your preferred streaming platform.