Those adorable calves don’t get dropped off by the stork! We just ushered in another calving season on the ranch, and with it comes lots of strategy and business. Learn more about what goes into breeding cattle at Bogle LTD.
As with many things, this process is a big “circle of life”. Calving - the birth of new calves to mothers - started April 26th, and the new members of the ranch were branded May 7th. Time is spent before this moving things around on the ranch and preparing for these efforts. While there are advantages and disadvantages to almost every season of calving, some benefits to calving in late April are the good weather and lower feeding costs. But just as soon as these activities wrap up, the circle will start again with breeding cows.
Bulls went to the Garrett Ranch this spring and were turned out with cows for mating. While artificial insemination is possible, the expenses that process requires means our use of the technology is limited. The cattle that are bred are monitored closely, in order to achieve a healthy, strong result upon breeding. Certain cattle are crossbred to result in “hybrid vigor” - meaning that certain qualities of the offspring will be improved as compared to the two parents.
For example, English breeds like the Hereford are very sellable and are good for handling colder weather. However, they are not as good at handling long distances as compared to Bramers, because their frame is weak and they have thinner skin. Therefore, we crossbred Hereford with Bramer to benefit from the combination of those two cattle breeds.
While this is all very complex, the result is new life on the ranch - something we can all appreciate! Spring is a great time to be a rancher.
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