SYMPOSIUM PAPER: Economic and Tax Implications for Managing Beef Replacement Heifers

Sustainable cowherds require replacement of cull cows either internally via raised heifers or externally with purchased females. Managing raised replacements begins with a weaned heifer calf and continues on through her second pregnancy and calving. Replacement costs were estimated from research conducted in Nebraska for spring-calving cowherds and included the opportunity cost of the heifer calf. The analysis, based on research data, showed that heifer development programs targeted to 50 to 55% of mature BW (MBW) at first breeding can be successful, challenging the traditional target of 65% of MBW at first breeding. The lower BW programs achieved first-calf pregnancy rates near 90% of heifers exposed and resulted in development costs that were $25 to $30 per head lower than the 1A contribution of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Agricultural Research Division, Lincoln 68583. Jr. Series No. 14654. 2Presented at the Extension Symposium at the Midwest American Society of Animal Science sectional meetings in Des Moines, IA on March 16, 2004. The symposium was sponsored by NCR-87, Committee on Cow-Calf Nutrition and Management. 3To whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected] higher BW programs. Finishing or selling open first-calf heifers was shown to be an economically viable enterprise given development costs were not too large. Numbers of open first-calf heifers were shown not to greatly affect total development costs. The primiparous heifer can increase the overall heifer development costs if not managed properly. Research showed that strategic nutritional programs for primiparous heifers resulted in successful reproduction without large increases in costs (<$2 per head). Price cycles were shown to affect the overall heifer development costs through the opportunity cost of the heifer calf and the value of calves and culled heifers and cows. Income tax treatment of purchased vs raised replacement females differs; however, the overall magnitude of differences were shown to not likely be a major determinant of whether to raise or purchase replacements. (