West Plains, MO. –Keeping records for the herd is not most cattlemen’s idea of fun. However, to improve production in the herd over time, production data needs to be collected and analyzed. This means writing down when the bull was turned in and taken out, when calves hit the ground, and which cattle needed to be doctored. Understandably, most producers do not want to carry around a clip board or large notebook while they are opening gates, feeding cows, or on the tractor. This means some of those details are lost and not available to make decisions on replacement selection or culling.
University of Missouri Extension has pocket-sized herd record keeping books available every year. These books have sections for cow and bull inventory, pasture usage, calf information, calving activity, health and treatment records, sales, death loss, breeding and feeding records, as well as precipitation records. The red books also have a daily calendar for keeping track of appointments and obligations. This small but comprehensive record keeping system has just about everything a farmer could want to keep their herd’s records.
If interested in purchasing a red book for the 2023 calendar year, contact the Howell County Extension Center at 417-256-2391.
