Research being conducted by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is examining using body condition as an indicator of nutritional status of beef and dairy cattle. Being able to use body condition as a nutrition indicator in cows is an important factor in reproductive herds because nutrition levels directly affect a cow's ability to reproduce as well as the performance of calves born to those cows.
Cows can vary in body condition from too thin to just right to overweight.
This is true for two reasons. First, if a cows that calve and wean at an adequate body condition will return to the reproductive cycle quicker than a cow that has been undernourished or becomes too thin. Second, body condition of cows at calving affects how a calf performs. A calf weaned from a cow that is too thin or too fat can, on average, weigh 70 pounds less than a calf weaned from a properly conditioned cow due to the mother's inability to produce a sufficient milk supply. These underweight calves result in a significant financial decrease to the producer when the calf is sold per-pound at the sale barn.