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Bioeconomic Factors Of Beef Heifer Maturity To Consider When Establishing Criteria To Optimally Select And/Or Retain Herd Replacements, M. C. Stockton, R. K. Wilson, D. M. Feuz, L. A. Stalker, R. N. Funston
Bioeconomic Factors Of Beef Heifer Maturity To Consider When Establishing Criteria To Optimally Select And/Or Retain Herd Replacements, M. C. Stockton, R. K. Wilson, D. M. Feuz, L. A. Stalker, R. N. Funston
West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte
Understanding the biology of heifer maturity and its relationship to calving difficulty and subsequent breeding success is a vital step in building a bioeconomic model to identify optimal production and profitability. A limited dependent variable probit model is used to quantify the responses among heifer maturities, measured by a maturity index (MI), on dystocia and second pregnancy. The MI account for heifer age, birth BW, prebreeding BW, nutrition level, and dam size and age and is found to be inversely related to dystocia occurrence. On average there is a 2.2% increase in the probability of dystocia with every 1 point …