Fertility of Range Beef Cattle

Abstract

Fertility is an important factor in range cattle production, since the size of the calf crop has a direct bearing on ranch income. Knowledge of the causes of low fertility and sterility and recognition of the importance of analyzing the losses from these two sources, as distinguished from other losses, are of value to range cattle producers. Some indication of the level of fertility of bulls may be obtained in advance of the breeding season by examination of semen. but a knowledge of fertility in cows in a range herd is not available until the calving season is over. At the U.S. Range Livestock Experiment station all cows have been culled that failed to produce living calves in two successive years. While not entirely satisfactory, this practice forms a good basis for operating under range conditions, and has been effective in maintaining fertility in the herd.