

Livestock
South Dakota is home to a dynamic livestock industry.
South Dakota is home to a dynamic livestock industry.
Home to more than 1 million head of cattle, South Dakota’s producers can rely on SDSU Extension for research-based information, best management practices and resources to support healthy and profitable herds.
As cattle producers begin thinking about calving season and management practices to ease the workload, night feeding is something to consider. Producers have questioned whether or not the time of feeding affects time of calving, and the answer is “Yes.”
Excel calculator for calving distribution
Choosing the calving season is a complex and highly individual decision for each beef cattle producer. A primary consideration in pasture-based cow-calf operations is choosing a calving season that will best match the forage supply to forage demand.
For most, weaning is in the books and pregnancy detection is complete or soon to be underway. Now is the time to pay attention to those pregnant cows out on crop residue or grass.
There is much value in preg-checking spring-calving cow herds in the fall. The most common is to cull open cows from the herd. The second reason would be to reduce the number of late calving cows in the herd.
Fact sheets on the effect of shipping and heat stress on embryonic mortality in cattle.
Fact sheet on the use of estrus synchronization of cattle
Fact sheet about understanding effects of body condition score on reproductive performance.