Official Publication, North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association
July 2000 -- Volume 5, Number 2    

For Bailey family, CHAPS is important business decision.

TOWNER, ND -- Jerry and Linda Bailey and their son Alan call performance and production testing one of the most important business decisions they have made. "It gives us a chance to see how efficient our cows are," Jerry said about the Cow Herd Appraisal Performance Software (CHAPS) program which manages the data.

The Baileys herd consists of 260 mother cows and Jerry estimates he spends on the the average at least one hour a week reviewing data and analyzing growth trends within his herd. The CHAPS program gives him the knowledge he needs to evaluate sire groups and individual cow families. He applies the information in an orderly process to determine which cows he culls each year based on preselected criterion he has established.

The record keeping has paid off for Baileys. They have improved 205 day weights from 473 pounds in 1971 to 729 in 1996, while shortening their breeding seasons. They have also been recognized as the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association Commercial Producer of the Year in 1996. Keith Helmuth, research specialist with the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association, pointed to the Bailey's average of 590 pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed as "phenomenal".

Jerry believes in a crossbred rotational system with a gentle disposition, calving ease and good milking ability. Baileys use Red Angus bulls on first and second calf heifers and Gelbvieh bulls on their mature cows. They also use some Charolais bulls for feeder calf sales. He begins calving heifers on March 5 and cows on March 25.

Bailey believes "management is the key factor in the cow-calf business. And," he continued, "not only management of the herd, but every part of the business." It is because of that concern for detail and management the Baileys enrolled in a farm and ranch business management program. This adult state program "tells about net worth, income, credit, starting inventory, ending inventory, growth sales, capital, beginning liability etc," he said.

For the Baileys, this is extremely important, especially on operations which have debt "because it gives you balances from January 1 to December 31 and you know where you are." Bailey offered the example which shows he had expenses of $251.34 per cow in 1995. He has been doing the financial breakouts for the past eight years and he maintains he has been able to cut expenses, or at least know exactly what his costs are.

Bailey said the cow is what is important to have in a commercial business. "Good cows will always bring you good steers," he said. "If we went out in the herd right now and you picked a cow you like, the records will tell you she is a good cow, not I," he said.

In the meantime, the Baileys are carefully managing their resources and matching cow size and production ability to the environment--while detailing inputs and income to attempt to help them struggle through the current challenge the cattle market presents to all cow-calf producers.