News

Calving going well in Bottineau County

By Scott Wagar

03/24/2015

Calving season has started with a good outlook for birthing season, but with the poor weather over the weekend, Bottineau County can only hope the good luck cattle producers have seen so far will continue on for them and their cattle. 

“Calving season has come to a full bloom. Some ranchers are well into calving while other may have just started,” said Jared Nelson, NDSU extension agent for Bottineau County. “About all that can be said about the calving season this year is that it is a normal year, but here in Bottineau County we do not necessarily know what normal is.

“The early calvers had to deal with a cold winter blast, but usually there is not much concern with those ranchers. They know they have to be prepared for the cold weather and that it requires more time out checking the cattle throughout the days to make sure calves are brought inside to the warmth right away,” Nelson added. 

“On the other hand, those that start a little later have had fairly decent weather for calving. The ground may have been a little wet and muddy for a few days with the stretch of warm weather that we have had, but overall has been almost ideal conditions.”

It has also been a season with no disease, which Nelson hopes will hold out.

“The other positive note from this is that there has been no big disease issue for the ranchers,” Nelson said. “One thing of note is that the weather from the weekend of the 20th may require the ranchers to take extra care. Any time we get this wet sloppy weather, it can lead to some issues with the calves maintaining their energy up to fight off diseases and illnesses.

“Overall, depending on the weather this weekend, it can play a huge part in how the calving season will turn out. If we get too much snow and the ground turns really wet and sloppy, the ranchers may have a harder time with calving,” Nelson said. “If the weather is just a few quick shots of snow that does not make a huge mess out of anything, the ranchers should be in good shape for an overall fairly good calving season.”