There are several benefits of estrus synchronization in beef cows. Regardless of when your calving season occurs, manipulating the reproductive process of your cow herd can result in shorter breeding and calving seasons.
Accordingly, more calves born earlier in the calving season result in an older, heavier and more uniform calf crop when you wean. Shortened calving seasons permit improvements in herd health and management, such as vaccination timing and practices that add to calf value with lower labor requirements (or, at the very least, concentrating labor efforts into a shorter time frame). Cows that are closer to the same stage of gestation can also be fed and grouped accordingly, which facilitates a higher level of management.
Estrus synchronization can be used for natural mating or breeding by artificial insemination (AI). Synchronization protocols permit us to concentrate the labor needed for heat detection for a few days or, in some cases, eliminate the need for heat detection when cows can be bred on a timed basis.
Using AI permits us to get more cows bred to genetically superior sires for traits of economic importance to our operation’s production and marketing goals. Synchronization at the onset of the breeding season results in more cows going into heat in the first 18–25 days of the breeding season. Female’s return heats will remain synchronized to a degree, which gives a second chance to AI each female in the early part of the breeding season. Without any synchronization, herd managers are faced with 21 days of continual estrus detection and typically only have one opportunity for AI in most females.
Bottom line: Estrus synchronization can be an important management tool to get cows settled as early in the breeding season as possible and get cows bred to bulls with the highest possible genetic value. A defined breeding season is important for meaningful record keeping, timely management and profit potential. Maintaining a 60-75-day breeding and calving season can be one of the cow-calf producers’ most important management tools. — Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension beef cattle breeding specialist
