United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Veterinary Services 

Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health February 2009 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Calving Management Practices 

on U.S. Beef Cow-calf 

Operations 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Animal 

Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) conducted the Beef 

2007-08 study, which focused on beef cow-calf health 

and management practices in 24 States1

. These major 

beef cow-calf producing States represented 79.6 percent 

of U.S. operations with beef cows and 87.8 percent of 

U.S. beef cows. 

One of the goals of the Beef 2007-08 study was to 

take an in-depth look at calving practices on the Nation’s 

beef cow-calf operations. 

The calving season is a critical time for cow-calf 

operations. Producing live calves is essential to the 

operations’ profitability. Yet, birth and the subsequent 

neonatal period are the most hazardous periods in a 

calf’s life. 

Calving season 

Having a defined and narrow calving season allows 

producers to target management assistance at 

appropriate times. About one-half of operations (50.4 

percent) had one or more calves born alive during 3 or 

fewer months. Additionally, 15.7 percent of operations 

had calves born in 4 months of the year. Only 3.4 

percent of operations had calves born in all 12 months of 

the year (figure 1). 

0

10

20

30

Percent

1 2

Figure 1. Percentage of Operations by Number of Months in

Which One or More Calves were Born Alive in 2007

Number of Months

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 11

7.0

20.9

22.5

15.7

9.8

7.0

4.8

3.5

2.1 1.9 1.4

3.4

To maintain a manageable calving season, 

operations should establish a defined breeding season. 

Over one-half of operations (54.5 percent) did not have a 

defined breeding season, while 34.0 percent of 

operations had one defined breeding season2

 (figure 2). 

Of operations that had one breeding season, 61.1 

percent had a breeding season longer than 84 days. 

No set season

Two or more

One

34.0%

11.5% 54.5%

Number of defined

breeding seasons*

Figure 2. Percentage of Operations by Number of Defined

Breeding Seasons

*Defined breeding season was determined by removal of the bull from cows and/or heifers 

for at least 30 days.

Most frequently operations with one defined 

breeding season (43.4 percent) cited tradition as the 

reason for determining timing of the last calving season. 

Only 4.3 percent of these operations cited labor 

availability as the determining factor for timing the 

calving season, while 27.9 percent listed weather as the 

determining factor for timing the calving season. 

Calving assistance 

The majority of calves were born to heifers or cows 

that required no assistance during calving (88.4 and 95.7 

percent, respectively). Most of the assistance provided 

to heifers and cows was considered an “easy pull” 

(7.7 and 3.2 percent, respectively) [figure 3]. 

1

States: 

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, 

Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, 

Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South 

Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming. 

2

Producers removed the bull from the cow herd for at least 30 days 

during the year. 
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

0

20

40

60

80

100

Cows

Heifers

Level of Assistance

Percent

Figure 3. Percentage of Calves Born* to Heifers or Cows that 

Required the Following Assistance During Calving

Easy pull Hard pull Caesarean No assistance

7.7 3.2 3.4 1.0 0.5 0.1

88.4

95.7

*Born alive or dead from January to September, 2007.

Dystocia is a leading cause of neonatal death, and 

timely intervention can minimize or prevent calf losses. 

Most veterinarians recommend that cows and heifers be 

given assistance if they are in active labor for more than 

2 hours. Almost 50 percent of operations allowed cows 

to labor 3 or more hours before assistance was given, 

and almost 40 percent of operations allowed heifers to 

labor an average of 3 or more hours (figure 4). 

0

10

20

30

40

Cows

Heifers

Percent

Figure 4. Percentage of Operations by Average Number of Hours

Heifers and Cows Were Normally Allowed to Labor Before 

Assistance was Given

Average Number Hours

1 2 3 4 5 to 6 7 or more

27.0

34.3

13.1

11.6

7.8

6.2

21.2

32.0

15.9

13.1

9.3 8.5

Calving observation 

Producers should observe females on a regular 

basis during calving to identify those experiencing 

extended or difficult labor. Almost 9 of 10 operations 

(89.0 percent) regularly observed cows during calving, 

and more than 9 of 10 (92.7 percent) regularly observed 

heifers. 

Of operations that regularly observed heifers during 

calving, 27.4 percent observed heifers only one time per 

day, and 39.1 percent observed heifers three or more 

times per day. Of operations that regularly observed 

cows during calving, 39.7 percent observed cows one 

time per day, and 27.8 percent observed cows three or 

more times per day (figure 5). 

0

10

20

30

40

50

Cows

Heifers

Percent

1 2 3 to 4 5 or more

Figure 5. For Operations in Which Heifers or Cows were Observed 

on a Regular Basis During Calving, Percentage of Operations by

Number of Times Heifers were Observed During an Average

24-Hour Period

Number of Times

27.4

33.5

24.2

14.9

39.7

32.5

19.2

8.6

Adequate nutrition and a healthy environment are 

imperative to the health of newborn calves. Separating 

cow-calf pairs from pregnant cows can assist producers 

in observing new calves and decrease pathogen 

exposure of calves. However, only 14.0 percent of 

producers separated cow-calf pairs from pregnant cows. 

Operations with 200 or more beef cows were more likely 

to separate pairs after calving (45.8 percent) than 

operations with fewer cows. ________________________________ 

For more information, contact: 

USDA:APHIS:VS:CEAH 

NRRC Building B, M.S. 2E7 

2150 Centre Avenue 

Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117 

970.494.7000 

E-mail: NAHMS@aphis.usda.gov 

http://nahms.aphis.usda.gov

#N542.0209 

____________________________________ 

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