Relationship Between Cow Condition and Reproduction
        South Dakota State Univ. animal scientists recently conducted an excellent review of the relationship between beef cow body condition and reproductive performance (Walker, J., and G. Perry. 2007. Proc. Range Beef Cow Symposium, Dec. 11-13, Fort Collins, CO). They pointed out that body condition score (BCS) at calving has been implicated as the single most important factor affecting postpartum interval to estrus and pregnancy in beef cows. A BCS system was developed as early as 1975 at Colorado State Univ. (Whit-man, R.W., 1975), using scores from 1 to 9 (1=emaciated; 9=obese).
       Research has shown that for optimum production, mature cows need to maintain an acceptable postpartum interval (PPI) to first estrus of 60 days or less. As shown in the following table, a mature cow BCS of 5 or greater is needed to maintain an acceptable
 PPI of 60 days or less.
 
 Effect of BCS at Parturition on PPI of Mature Cows
 BCS                       PPI, days
 3 ................................. 88.5
 4 ................................. 69.7
 5 ................................. 59.4
 6 ................................. 51.7
 7 ................................. 30.6
 The authors went on to note that 2-year-old heifers need to be at a BCS of 6 at calving for a high-probability of pregnancy during the coming breeding season.
 
 Effects of Weaning Strategies on Performance and Health of Calves
        During Feedlot Receiving Ohio State Univ. researchers used a total of 280 spring-born crossbred steer calves (age=175 days; wt.=467
 lb) to evaluate the effects of three different weaning strategies on pre-ship-ping calf performance and on performance and health for 28 days after feedlot arrival:
 1) weaning at trucking;
 2) weaned 30 days before trucking and confined in drylot; and
 3) weaned 30 days before trucking and pastured with fenceline contact with their dams.
 Results are summarized as follows:
 • Calves from the drylot weaning strategy lost 1.32 lb/day during the first week in the feedlot, whereas steers from the truck and pasture weaning treatments gained 1.10 and 0.88 lb/day, respectively.
 • Body wt. gain in the subsequent 3 weeks was similar among all three treatments; however, the differences during the first week in the feedlot were enough to reduce the overall gain of the drylot-weaned calves compared to that of the other two treatments (1.98 vs. 2.87 and 3.09 lb/day for pasture- and truck-weaned respectively).
 • Only 15% of the pasture-weaned calves required treatment for respiratory disease compared to treatment for the other two groups (28% for truck- eaned and 38% for drylot-weaned).
 The authors concluded that pasture-weaning with calves having fence-line contact with their dams appears to be an acceptable method of weaning (Boyles et al. 2007. Prof. Anim. Sci. 23:637).
 
 Feedlot Profitability Was Improved by Ultrasound Sorting
       The objective of this Kansas State Univ. experiment was to evaluate the potential for increasing profitability by sorting feedlot cattle at reimplant time using ultrasound technology. Steers were scanned and assigned to one of four system-assigned test groups plus a control group. Initial value was based on live weight at time of scanning. The four test groups were marketed based on days on feed projected by the sorting system. Profit was defined as carcass value minus initial steer value, feed, implant, and scanning costs.
 
          Results showed that there was substantial monetary value from sorting. Average profit per head for sorted steers was $42.00 compared to $19.07 for control steers. The authors concluded that sorting feedlot cattle into uniform marketing groups at re-implant time using ultrasound technology is a cost-effective tool that can predict future carcass merit and improve profitability (Garmyn, A. 2007. Kansas State Univ. Beef Re-search Highlights). 
 
 Beef Remains No. 1 Consumer Choice in U.S. Restaurants
          In a study conducted by the NPD Research Group, the following results were reported (SOURCE: National Cattlemen’s Beef Association).
 • Beef servings at casual dining restaurants and limited service restaurants were responsible for both increased customer traffic and sales volume during the 12 months ending June, 2007.
 • Hamburgers and beef sandwiches were the primary contributors to the net increase of 0.3% in total beef servings.
 • Beef remains the premier protein at commercial restaurants with 11.923 billion servings in the year ending June, 2007 compared to chicken’s 10.292 billion servings.