Uruguay: Yellow alert for breeding herds

Published Nov 10, 2024

Tridge summary

The Brazilian cattle industry is experiencing a significant increase in the number of calves, attributed to a growing breeding base, decreasing average age of first-service heifers, high pregnancy rates, and a strategy to rescue cows for breeding during low beef prices. However, concerns have been raised about the condition of the cows, despite the lush pasture, with observations of poor cycling and many cows in deep anestrus. The cause is believed to be an imbalance in pasture quality despite its volume, leading to poor performance in calving and rearing categories. Mineral intake and parasitic factors have been ruled out as the main cause, and it is theorized that the quality of the pasture from the previous fall and winter may be the root problem.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

We are probably facing one of the largest calvings in the history of our cattle industry, due to the combination of several factors: the growth of the breeding base with a record number of cows in service, the decrease in the average age of first-service heifers and a historically very high pregnancy rate, according to information from the XXII Pregnancy Diagnosis Workshop. We should also include a circumstantial factor from last year, when at the beginning of the service the low beef prices invited breeders to re-winter their cows and rescue cows for breeding, thus contributing to the increase in the breeding stock. This situation also served to shorten the end of service, which on average was moved back to avoid the summer heat of previous summers. The second characteristic of the past service was the remarkable advance of the services, with cows and heifers mostly presenting heat at the beginning of the season, which was confirmed by a 2024 calving with a significant increase ...

Source: Agromeat