Success StoryDeveloping Better Bull Management Practices on Scott County Farms
Developing Better Bull Management Practices on Scott County Farms
Author: Brittany Brewer
Planning Unit: Scott County CES
Major Program: Beef
Plan of Work: Commodity Production and Instruction
Outcome: Initial Outcome
A large portion of Scott County farms are cow calf operations. These operations rely on effective management practices to ensure that farmers make an annual profit. With the advancements in technology bull breeding soundness exams are becoming an essential practice on these farms. However, with the limited large animal food veterinarians in Central Kentucky it becomes difficult and costly for producers to implement this practice.
To combat with problem I partnered with a local vet clinic and Bluegrass Stockyards to put on a breeding soundness exam (BSE) clinic. This clinic allowed producers to sign up for a time slot and bring bulls to a central location for a BSE exam. Producers also got their exams at a discounted rate.
We tested 28 bulls from 6 different farms in the Scott. 3 of these farms were full time farmers and have no off farm income. 2 of these farms breed seedstock registered cattle.
Out of the 28 bulls 27 of them passed. The 27 bulls that passed will end up servicing around 675 cows this year. Which will hopefully results in 675 healthy calves. Which would generate around $993,262.50 in total revenue. This program not only benefited the producer, but also the veterinarians as they saved money on time, supplies, and fuel.
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