Evaluation of cow body condition can be an effective management tool to adjust nutrition of the cow herd to achieve relatively high reproductive performance and yet avoid excessive feed costs.

A 1-through-9 system to visually evaluate cow body condition is described in Table 1. Cows classified as condition score 4 to 6 would be considered moderate in condition, with cows scoring 1 to 3 being thin and cows scoring 7 or greater being relatively fat. Cows that are fleshier at calving and at the beginning of the breeding season, due to higher levels of nutrition, are more likely to be pregnant during a limited breeding season (Table 2).

This information comes from a three-year study at the South Dakota State University Range and Livestock Research Station near Cottonwood. It also demonstrates cows with higher body condition scores at these times are more likely to be cycling at the beginning of the breeding season (Table 3) and to conceive early in the breeding season (Table 2). Being thin (condition score 3 or less) is more detrimental to pregnancy rates of cows that calve later in the calving season (Table 2). Cows that calve early could be one condition score less at the beginning of the breeding season than late calvers and still have the same probability of conceiving.

This points out that how early a cow conceives in the breeding season during the current year can affect the likelihood of pregnancy in future years. It also is important to manage yearling replacement heifers to calve early as two-year-olds in order to have a high percentage pregnant when they wean their first calves. Under most conditions, younger cows are the ones most likely to be thin.

Many management factors besides nutrition and body condition will affect reproductive performance of the beef cow herd. What is considered ideal body condition may vary with location, breed, month of breeding season and management system. The optimum body condition at various times of the year will also depend on what level of reproductive performance is expected. For spring-calving crossbred cows bred by natural service, when spring pastures allow cows to gain weight for 30 days prior to and during the breeding season, a goal of condition score 5 at the beginning of the calving and breeding seasons should result in relatively high reproductive performance.

Research at other universities indicates the minimum body condition for fall-calving cows in the southern half of the U.S. may be higher. A successful artificial insemination program may make more body condition necessary where having near 100 percent of the cows cycling at the beginning of the breeding season is desirable. In order to obtain relatively high reproductive performance and still avoid excessive feed costs, cow body condition should be evaluated at least 60 days prior to calving and at calving, with adjustments in nutrition made at those times.

For the scoring system described, a change in one condition score is equivalent to a 60- to 80-pound change in weight. A cow with a condition score of 7 could stand to lose 140 pounds of body weight if condition score 5 is the goal. If a portion of the cow herd has a condition score of 3, those cows need to gain at least 140 pounds, if high reproductive performance is expected. These weight changes do not include weight gain of the fetus and fluids associated with pregnancy. It would be ideal to sort cows by body condition to minimize feed costs on those cows that could lose weight while still being able to feed the thin cows to gain weight.

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