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SI NG ANIMA
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Guide to Raising
Healthy Beef Cattle
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Rhonda Gildersleeve
RI
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CH
ING RUR AL tatistics from the 2007 Census of I Do you need to generate income from
Agriculture suggest that an increasing raising beef cattle?
number of rural landowners in I How will you market your animals?
Wisconsin are raising beef cattle on their
I How long do you plan to raise beef
property, and they are doing it for a variety
cattle?
of reasons—to provide their own food, as a
hobby, and for additional income. Raising I What are the local zoning restrictions
Livestock Team and requirements?
beef cattle can be an enjoyable means of
pursuing any of these goals on a small farm.
Production system
The decision
For more information contact:
Rhonda Gildersleeve
Grazing research specialist If you are thinking about raising beef cattle & breed selection
on a small scale, be sure to consider the Beef production systems are generally
608-723-6243
key aspects of the operation while described according to the life stage of the
rhonda.gildersleeve@ces.uwex.edu
planning your enterprise. Here are several beef production cycle that they focus on:
Bill Halfman questions to help guide you: I Cow-calf systems focus on production
Extension agriculture agent
I What are your goals? and sale of beef calves from a herd of
608-269-8722
beef cows.
bill.halfman@ces.uwex.edu I What land area and facilities are
I Seed stock systems use artificial
Keith Vander Velde required to house, feed, and handle
beef cattle? insemination extensively and produce
Extension agriculture agent
bulls and heifers for use in cow-calf
608-297-3136 I How much time, labor, and money can
systems.
keith.vandervelde@ces.uwex.edu you invest in raising cattle?
I Stocker systems typically purchase
I Do you have labor available for times
weaned/lightweight feeder calves from
when you are away?
a cow-calf producer and raise them up
to the pre-finishing weight phase.
I Finishing systems focus on the
feeding phase to produce cattle that
are ready for market.
Depending on your goals, you may con-
centrate your efforts on one production
system or on a combination of them. For
example, you may decide that you enjoy
watching young animals grow and there-
fore choose a cow-calf system. Or you may
be interested in purchasing yearling cattle
that you can pasture and feed out for your
own consumption. Each type of beef pro-
duction system has some particular hus-
bandry needs; this publication provides a
general overview of animal production
and care.
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S M A L L F A R M S : R A I S I N G A N I M A L S — E N R I C H I N G R U R A L L I F E
Copyright ©2009 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System doing business as the division of Cooperative
Extension of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. All rights reserved. Send copyright inquiries to: Cooperative Extension Publishing,
432 N. Lake St., Rm. 227, Madison, WI 53706, pubs@uwex.edu.
Author: Rhonda Gildersleeve is a grazing research specialist at Lancaster Agricultural Research Station with University of Wisconsin-
Extension, Cooperative Extension. Cooperative Extension publications are subject to peer review.
All beef cattle photos by Bill Halfman.
University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Wisconsin
counties, publishes this information to further the purpose of the May 8 and June 30, 1914, Acts of Congress. An EEO/AA employer, the
University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including
Title IX and ADA requirements. If you need this information in an alternative format, contact Equal Opportunity and Diversity
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Guide to Raising Healthy Beef Cattle (A3858-04) I-08-2009