Early Weaning and Part-Year Confinement of Cattle on Arid Rangelands of the Southwest

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Abstract
This study compared part-year confinement of cows with year-long placement on rangeland and weaning calves in late May with regular weaning in mid-Oct. Weaning rates tended to be higher with part-year confinement than with year-long placement on rangeland (86 vs. 72%) and with early weaning in May than with regular weaning in Oct. (86 vs. 72%). There were significant year effects in weaning weights, with the lowest weights in drought years. The production per cow exposed tended to be higher with part-year confinement than with year-long placement on rangeland (134 vs. 110 kg), and with regular weaning than with early weaning of calves (156 vs. 88 kg). Part-year confinement of cows and early weaning of calves are useful tools for the range manager in droughty years.