Farm Progress

Veterinarian tells why he's always seen smaller cows as profit makers and how to get more of them.

Alan Newport, Editor, Beef Producer

December 30, 2017

1 Min Read
Smaller cows were more reproductively sound and easier keeping, the author remembers.Alan Newport

In this last week of 2017 we're reviewing the top five stories from the year.

If you missed them, here's your chance to read them, or if you read them and liked them previously, here's your chance to read them again.

The fifth-most-read story, or No. 5 on our list from 2017, was R.P. "Doc" Cooke's treatise on smaller cows Dec. 6, which we called "The 900-pound cow," parts I and II.

Cooke explained his observations from many years as a veterinarian in middle Tennessee, a region which was once a major producer of stocker and feeder cattle.

Cooke said, "One thing I did learn early on was that smaller cows (750 to 900 pounds) were a lot more profitable, responsive to treatment and often could be handled in wannabe facilities."

He gave us a list of five things he believes to be true about smaller cows, and then another list of seven strategies to develop a herd of highly efficient cows that are cheaper to keep and should produce more tonnage of beef on a ranch.

You can read Part I at this link.

Read Part II at this link:

About the Author(s)

Alan Newport

Editor, Beef Producer

Alan Newport is editor of Beef Producer, a national magazine with editorial content specifically targeted at beef production for Farm Progress’s 17 state and regional farm publications. Beef Producer appears as an insert in these magazines for readers with 50 head or more of beef cattle. Newport lives in north-central Oklahoma and travels the U.S. to meet producers and to chase down the latest and best information about the beef industry.

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