Cattle Weight and Body Condition Scoring with Leah Rodvang and Dr. Everett More

Beef and Forage Roundup

Leah Rodvang grew up on a cow-calf operation near Coronation, Alberta. Her family influenced her love of native prairie, which led to her studying Range Management at the University of Alberta. During her undergraduate degree, Leah competed with the U of A Range Team and worked with graduate students on their research.

Since joining MBFI in 2016, Leah has been responsible for data collection and record keeping for project and farm purposes. She oversees day-to-day research activities, maintains technology, and is developing skills in project design and reporting. Leah worked with veterinary consultation to develop MBFI’s animal care program to standardize herd health protocols for the farm.

Dr. Everett More graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1972, and practiced at Virden Animal Hospital for a little over 48 years, retiring in December, 2020. The majority of his practice was devoted to beef cattle, with equine practice also being a significant part of his work. He has, for many years, operated a small purebred Simmental herd, marketing yearling bulls as well as bred heifers. Dr. More has both a professional, as well as a personal interest in nutrition for both beef cattle and horses. He emphasizes feed testing and ration formulation as key building blocks to livestock health and production. Everett has volunteered in numerous livestock and professional organizations, and was inducted into Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2017.

Today we are wrapping up our podcast series on winter feeding and rations with a discussion on body condition scoring and monitoring cattle weights.

In this episode, Leah Rodvang shares information on how often MBFI weighs their cattle, the process to do so and why taking weights is so important at MBFI. Leah also walks us through using a hands on method to determine body condition scores and the benefits this offers over just a visual assessment. Leah also shares some great tips for making weigh days run smoothly and efficiently.

In the second half of this episode, Dr. Everett More shares some of his perspectives on body condition in cattle from the point of view of both a veterinarian and a cattle producer. He discusses the benefits of taking time to monitor body condition and the common issues that are seen when body condition falls outside of the optimum target area in different classes of cattle. Everett also discusses the long term and short term benefits of a breeding herd that is maintaining ideal body condition.

We wrap up the conversation by discussing key points producers need to think about and pay attention to during the harsher winter months.

If you are interested in taking a closer look at the process for Body Condition Scoring or the scale used, please visit:

https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/beef8822/$file/condition-scoring.pdf?OpenElement

Other resources that may be helpful include:

https://www.beefresearch.ca/tools/body-condition/#tool

https://www.nfacc.ca/body-condition-scoring-dairy-cow

The research programs and daily operations at MBFI would not be possible without the funding from the Province of Manitoba, Government of Canada, and Canadian Agricultural Partnership, as well as the partnership with Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP), Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA).

We encourage you to follow MBFI on social media, or check out the website for more information on project findings and results, upcoming events and more!

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Website: www.mbfi.ca

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Mary-Jane’s Phone Number: 431-255-0011