Keeping your cows organized through good livestock management practices is a must for any operation to be profitable whether you own a small farm or a large ranch. You’ll need to understand the best cattle management practices in order to ensure healthy, productive cattle, including animal handling and record keeping.
Successfully organizing and managing your cattle begins with accurate records. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the USDA, has strict rules that must be followed which means maintaining detailed records on the health of the herd, production, natural resources and finances. With accurate cattle record keeping you’ll be able to collect the necessary data as well as make better decisions that can ensure greater odds of a successful operation.
These are some of the tried and true tricks for keeping your cattle organized and ideally, profitable.
ID Tags
Cow ear tags for identification purposes are a must for tracking your animals and much more. While there are tags available in various sizes, colors and shapes that can be pierced into a cow’s ear, RFID tags are arguably your best bet for optimal organization. These are small tags with unique 15 digit numbers placed into the ear of the animal. They make it much easier to identify your cattle as all you have to do is scan the tag with a reader. As many industry programs require EID records on the animals for traceability and exporting, using RFIDs resolves a number of issues.
With the use of RFID, you have the ability to trace your cattle which is becoming an imperative practice throughout the industry due to biosecurity. For example if you have a diseased cattle, you’ll have to show you’ve done everything right – RFID tags can allow you to collect and store data that proves this. The ID records can include the place of origin of a calf, what their date of birth was, health and treatment records, vaccinations, and more. You can also use this data to track productivity and make the best possible livestock management decisions.
Good Record Keeping
As mentioned, good record keeping is a must for managing any farm or ranch. With organized records you’ll be able to keep track of changes over time and will be better able to move toward your goals. There are many different approaches and systems available, whether written- or technology-based. Whichever you choose, you want to be sure that it’s practical to apply. When you have a good record-keeping system, it will eliminate a lot of the guesswork to ensure your farm or ranch is more efficiently run. While it requires some time, the ability to make better decisions based on data that’s accurate is extremely valuable.
Use Livestock Management Software
Livestock management software can record and track your livestock from birth to sale and every aspect in between. It allows you to keep everything organized all in one place, important for growth and success. It can integrate with your accounting software to make that task easier, with information on financials pulled up quickly and easily. It will also allow you to retain detailed records on each animal throughout their lives. The files can be updated easily too, so that you can quickly update them when you need to and always know what’s going on with any cow at any given moment.