By John Nollette and Jacki Musgrave 
As with many areas of the state, the winter has been a challenging one at GSL.
Multiple winter storms with sub-zero temps and several inches of snow have
necessitated feeding more hay than usual. We are thankful for the moisture,
as we started the winter in a moderate drought condition. We are hoping for
milder temperatures to continue through the remainder of calving season.
Our 2022 hay crop was 97% of our 17-year average. We feel our decision to
fertilize 300 of the 475 acres baled helped us maintain hay production levels
through drought conditions. We plan to fertilize the same number of acres
again in 2023. Overall, our hay averaged 7.8% CP and 55.3 % TDN, which is
similar to our long-term average.
Pregnancy rates in our March and May calving heifers were similar at 82.9%
and 84.3% for March and May in a 30-day breeding season, respec-tively.
Pregnancy rates for March-born heifers were similar to pregnancy rates in
2021 (83.1%); however, May heifers were higher than 2021 (66.2%).
Two-year-old pregnancy rates were higher for both March
(90.2 vs 71.8%, 2022 vs 2021, respectively) and May
(93.3 vs 85.3%, 2022 vs 2021, respectively) herds. Pregnancy rates for
mature March-calving cows were similar to 2021 (93%); however,
mature May cows were lower (88.7 vs 94.7%, 2022 vs 2021, respectively).
Weaning weights for calves from mature March calving cows were also
similar in 2021 and 2022, however cow body condition scores (BCS)
were 0.4 lower in 2022. March two-year-old’s calves were 33 pounds
heavier; however, March three-year-old’s calves were 72 pounds
lighter in 2022 than 2021. Mature May cow weaning weights were
31 pounds lower in 2022 than 2021. May two-year-old’s calves were
12 pounds heavier; how-ever, May three-year-old’s calves were
8 pounds lighter in 2022 than 2021.
Our March and May mature cows as well as our May yearlings and
March replacement heifers have been fed through our Smart Feeder
units this winter. Mature March cow BCS at pre-calving was the
same in 2022 and 2023 (5.1). Supplemented cows maintained body
condition while non-supplemented cows lost 0.4 BCS from weaning
to pre-calving, which is not a big loss with how harsh our winter truly was.
Andy Applegarth retired December 1, 2022, after 44 years with the
University. We wish Andy the best in his retirement. Jessica Koenen
joined the ranch crew in early March. We are excited to have Jessica join the crew.