The top ten New Year’s resolutions for cow/calf producers

By Michelle Arnold, DVM, Ruminant Extension Veterinarian, University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Lab

The top ten New Year’s resolutions, first published in January 2022, serve as a good reminder of the management practices that almost always need fine-tuning in cow/calf operations. As winter gives way to spring, try to incorporate one or more of the following resolutions, updated for 2026.

In 2026, I resolve to:

1. Improve the water the cattle drink: Water is exceptionally important, relatively inexpensive and readily available, but it is often the most ignored nutrient. Water consumption varies depending on age, breed, stage of pregnancy or lactation, and outdoor temperature and humidity, but it can reach as high as 25 to 30 gallons per day during hot weather. Water-related health problems are seldom due to what is in the water, but rather the decrease in water intake because of poor quality, bad taste and offensive odor. When cattle do not drink enough, feed intake and milk production drop, heat stress worsens and overall immunity suffers. If cattle are allowed to stand in their water sources, such as in ponds, fecal and urine contamination will decrease water quality and certain diseases (for example, leptospirosis) can easily spread through contaminated water. If the water quality is good but the tanks are dirty, the message is the same: clean the tanks to improve water intake.

2. Know how much mineral my cattle consume: Having good-quality trace mineral out for cattle is only half the battle; knowing it is being consumed at the expected rate is equally important. Check the mineral feeders regularly and always keep trace mineral in front of the cattle but also keep track of the number of bags you feed over a one- to two-week period. Check the mineral label for expected consumption, typically 3 to 4 ounces per head per day. If cattle are consuming too much mineral, try moving the feeder farther from the water source or mixing in loose salt to slow the consumption rate. However, mineral feeders should not be allowed to stand empty, or cattle will overeat salt or mineral when it is offered again, which can be deadly. If cattle are not consuming enough mineral, make sure to provide adequate access for cows and calves — for example, one mineral feeder per 15 cow/calf pairs. Do not offer additional loose salt, salt blocks or alternate sources of salt because it will reduce trace mineral intake.

3. Know my hay quality and feed it out according to my animals’ needs: Forage testing takes the guesswork out of meeting nutrient requirements in cattle. Once the forage quality is known, a supplemental feed can be chosen to meet deficiencies if needed, especially for cows in early lactation and for young, growing cattle with high energy needs. Nutritional requirements are influenced by body size, production or pregnancy status, level of milk production, growth rate, as well as environmental conditions.

If hay quality is poor, supplementing cattle with adequate energy and protein sources will likely be required to meet their basic metabolic needs until grass is available again. Many cows and calves presented for necropsy (an animal autopsy) in late winter reveal a complete absence of fat, and death is due to starvation. It is often difficult for producers to realize that cattle can starve while consuming all the hay they can eat — especially if the forage has crude protein levels in the 3% to 4% range and total digestible nutrients (energy) less than 40%, as is common in some late-cut, overmature, rained-on hay. Many producers purchase protein tubs varying from 16% to 30% protein to make up for potential protein deficiencies, but fail to address the severe lack of energy in the diet. Both are critical components.

4. Have a daylight relationship with my veterinarian: Work with a veterinarian during regular business hours to establish a valid veterinary-client-patient relationship (VCPR). Cattle herds are unique entities with different risks for disease on every farm, so working routinely with a veterinarian is your best bet to improve herd health. Examples include asking your vet to pregnancy check the cows, vaccinate and deworm the cattle, perform breeding soundness exams on the bulls, or design a vaccination program for your cattle and then purchase the vaccines from the vet. Do not wait until “the sky is falling” to give them a call.

5. Think twice before delivering an antibiotic to an animal that appears to be sick: Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections. Disease may be due to viruses, parasites, metabolic disorders, cancer and many other causes, none of which respond to antibiotic treatment. Giving an antibiotic when it is not needed only leads to antibiotic resistance and treatment failure when you need it the most. At minimum, check the sick animal’s temperature before initiating antibiotic therapy; if the animal does not have a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or above, put the antibiotics away.

6. Improve my understanding of biosecurity and figure out where I am failing: Purchasing bulls, cows or calves and bringing them home to the farm is likely the single most dangerous time for introduction of new diseases into a herd. Even show animals returning to the farm from events should be isolated to prevent introduction of disease when they re-enter the herd. Any newly purchased animals should be isolated either off the farm or in a well-segregated area for at least two weeks and observed for any signs of illness. During the period of isolation, a veterinarian should be consulted to appropriately test and vaccinate new arrivals. The best practice is to purchase animals from herds of known health status that will provide a vaccination and health history.

7. Be better prepared to handle labor and delivery problems: Checking on cows and, more importantly, on heifers close to calving allows early detection of difficulty and intervention if needed during calving. If a cow or heifer is in active labor for an hour and making no progress, calving intervention is indicated. Assist or call for assistance with calving as early as possible, especially with heifers. Make sure calves start nursing after calving, keeping in mind that calves should stand within 30 minutes of delivery and nurse within 30 minutes of standing. If in doubt that the calf will be able to stand and nurse within an hour, make sure the calf is warm and then feed good-quality colostrum (from the dam or replacer), at least 1 to 2 quarts, within an hour of birth and again before six hours old. Familiarize yourself with how to use an esophageal feeder.

8. Improve my forage base: If you graze cattle, think of yourself as a grass farmer because you sell pounds of calf produced by a cow that eats grass and makes milk.

9. Keep better records in a standardized fashion: It is hard to make well-informed decisions without information. At the very least, every animal should have a readable ID tag and calving dates should be recorded. Other parameters such as calf birth and weaning weights, sex and dam information help differentiate the poor-performing cows from the great ones. Vaccination records should include date administered, vaccine name, lot and serial numbers, and expiration dates at a minimum. Computerized records are preferred, but one of the pitfalls to any computerized recordkeeping system is the “free-text field,” where the producer types in information in a provided space.

10. Find a trusted source for information and stop believing everything on Dr. Google or what you see posted on social media: This is true in much more than beef cattle production. There is plenty of misinformation available, and discernment is becoming a lost art. Veterinarians, extension agents and university extension specialists, among others, can help answer or point you in the right direction when it comes to questions about the health and care of cattle. Just ask!

Remember the old phrase, often attributed to Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Adopt a few new practices or improve some old ones this year and see what happens in your cattle herd. I hope you have a prosperous 2026.