Pregnancy
Pregnant cows over bred cows. It is the first indicator and the one all the others depend on.
Weaning
Weaned calves over bred cows. It defines how much cattle the breeding herd delivers each year.
ADG
Average daily gain in g/day per lot. It is the pulse of the fattening operation: if it drops, something happened with the pasture, the water or animal health.
AU/ha
Stocking rate in animal units per hectare, sustained without degrading the pasture. Overstocking inflates one cycle and ruins the following ones.
The three formulas that govern a breeding herd
The Asociación Rural del Paraguay points to these three as the most important indicators of breeding. We always calculate them over bred cows, which is the correct denominator and the one that makes results comparable across cycles and across ranches.
% pregnancy = pregnant cows × 100 / bred cows
% weaning = weaned calves × 100 / bred cows
% pregnancy–weaning loss = (pregnant − weaned) × 100 / pregnant
To those three we add the kilos of weaner per bred cow, which is the indicator that translates reproductive efficiency into saleable kilos. And mortality, always, even when the cycle ends well.
