Breeding season for spring-calving beef herds is fast approaching so management decisions about breeding strategies should be determined a couple of months before that busy time of year.

An educational meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at the K-State Southeast Research and Extension Center in Parsons, Kansas will address reproductive strategies for heifers and cows with suckling calves. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner. Educational discussions will start about 6:30 p.m. Speakers include Vitor Mercadanate from Virginia Tech University, David Patterson of the University of Missouri and Jaymelynn Farney from Kansas State University. 

BREEDING STRATEGIES: Breeding season is coming soon and Kansas State University is offering a clinc in Parsons on Tuesday.

Estrous synchronization has the potential to influence the economic efficiency of cow-calf operations by shortening calving season, increasing calf uniformity, and produce heavier calves at weaning. With the known benefits of estrous synchronization, the meeting addresses practical application of synchronization to benefit cattle operations. 

Originally from Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Mercadante comes from a family with a strong agricultural history, and naturally became passionate about beef cattle production. He earned a veterinary medical degree from São Paulo State University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Florida, with an emphasis in fertility improvement and reproductive efficiency in beef females. Recently, he joined Virginia Tech as an assistant professor in beef production systems management in the department of animal and poultry sciences.

Mercadante will address use of synchronization in beef cows with suckling calves to shorten the calving season. He will walk through the practicalities of altering calving distribution by his experiences with the University of Florida cow herd and demonstrate a useful smartphone application to determine the value of estrous synchronization.

Patterson is a professor in beef cattle reproduction and well known for his role in the Missouri Show-Me-Select Heifer program. He will speak on synchronization protocols for replacement heifers and summarize some of the successful heifer protocols as observed from the Show-Me-Select program. 

Farney is an assistant professor and K-State Research and Extension southeast area beef systems specialist, based at Parsons. She grew up in New Mexico and completed her master’s and Ph.D. degrees at Oklahoma State University and K-State, respectively. Farney’s program focuses on practical cattle management practices that involve nutrition, reproduction, and economic viability for cow-calf and stocker operations. Her presentation will address how to use calving distribution as a tool to determine beef operations management success.

Source: Kansas State University News Service