IARN — Raising livestock isn’t a simple task. There are a lot of factors that producers have to consider every day, like feed, shelter, water, weather, and even pests and predators. One other factor is nigh-unavoidable: the heat. There’s only so much you can do to protect a herd of cattle from sweltering heat, and you have to worry about how you’re going to get enough feed when the plants and forage are struggling too. As a result, cattle producers often have to make the difficult choice to cull some of their herd.
Dave Lalman is a Beef Cattle Specialist with Oklahoma State University. He said producers need to make some hard choices about which cows need to get culled in order to help conserve the remaining forage.
For more on this story, visit the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
Photo by Riley Smith
