Ready, Set, Calve: How to Prepare Yourself and Your Beef Operation for the Upcoming Calving Season

Jan 15, 2025

Calving season can be one of the more exciting seasons on the farm. With the chance to witness new life being brought into the world and an opportunity to see the results of decisions made in the previous year. But it can also be a busy time coupled with less sleep and more stress.

A bit of prevention and preparation can go a long way to ensuring your calving season goes smoothly and you are prepared for what may come. While we can’t control Mother Nature, doing some work ahead of time can help you be ready for many of the obstacles that come your way during a hectic season.

Whether you are in the thick of calving season, months away or somewhere in the middle, check out this list of helpful calving tips and resources that can prepare you and your farm.

1. Prevent disease before it starts by having a biosecurity plan.

Think you don’t have to worry about biosecurity because you have a closed herd? Think again. Many things can introduce pathogens into your herd such as neighbours coming to visit, clothes or boots that were wore to an auction market, fence line contact with other cattle, etc. Make sure to clean and disinfect surfaces, tools, clothing and vehicles.

Avoid comingling any new cattle with pregnant cows and implement strict quarantine times for animals coming back to the main herd.  

Separate classes of cattle into different areas so you can manage risk based on what group is most susceptible to disease. Naïve animals such as first calf heifers and new calves should be kept in the highest risk category. Consider implementing a calving strategy to help minimize calfhood disease. 

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Video: Swine Industry Advances: Biodigesters Lower Emissions and Increase Profits

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions) in the Canadian swine sector found that CH4 emissions from manure were the largest contributor to the overall emissions, followed by emissions from energy use and crop production.

This innovative project, "Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts," from Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, under Swine Cluster 4, seeks to develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

While the management of manure can be very demanding and expensive for swine operations, it can also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers. Moreover, the majority of CH4 emissions from manure occur during a short period of time in the summer, which can potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention.

In tandem with understanding baseline emissions, Dr. Rajagopal's work focuses on evaluating emission mitigation options. Manure additives have the potential of reducing manure methane emissions. Additives can be deployed relatively quickly, enabling near-term emission reductions while biodigesters are being built. Furthermore, additives can be a long-term solution at farms where biogas is not feasible (e.g., when it’s too far from a central digester). Similarly, after biodigestion, additives can also be used to further reduce emissions from storage to minimize the carbon intensity of the bioenergy.