Author: Clay Stamm
Planning Unit: Rowan County CES
Major Program: Beef
Plan of Work: Horticulture, Livestock, Forages, Agriculture
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
In Clark County and many other parts of the state, beef cattle producers are not managing their herds as well as they could to maximize on-farm profit. In an effort to combat this, the University of Kentucky has created the Beef IRM (Integrated Resource Management) program to assist farmers in beef herd management with a large emphasis on reproduction. For this story, a partnership was formed between a producer, county agent, and UK Beef IRM team to better manage a cow-calf herd of Clark County cattle through the program. Not only does this on-farm program educate the individual producer, but the results of this increased management has been used in multiple extension meetings, and dozens of individual producer consultations to prove the worth of sound management. Since this herd has been more strategically managed under the program beginning in 2016, the herd’s calving window has shrank from over 140 days to just under 55 days. Additionally, the producer has experienced enough profit increase and gained enough confidence about cattle stewardship that she has decided to take on the management of a cow-calf herd of 23 head on another farm in the county without the immediate assistance of the Beef IRM program. This is a significant amount of growth in a two year period for the producer and the program, a true testament to the work that extension implements.
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