Ear Tagging Newborn Calves a Bad Idea?

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In his most recent article, Kit Pharo, a Colorado rancher, gives four reasons why cow-calf producers should rethink the time they spend on tagging newborn calves, with his primary consideration being that it is dangerous and time consuming.  Every year brings multiple reports of people getting seriously injured or killed while trying to tag calves.  

According to Pharo, the time and money most producers spend on things like keeping individual animal records and ear tagging calves at birth could be used to improve grazing management via fences and water development, allowing the producer to potentially double or triple profits per acre.   

He also asks producers to consider the number of cows a producer could reasonably consider calving by themselves if tagging wasn't a consideration.  

Pharo notes that many producers say they need an easy way to pair up cows and calves when moving to summer pasture,  His suggestion is to calve on summer pasture, considering that bred cows are easier to handle and transport than pairs.  

You can check out his article  HERE.  What do you think?  Would no tagging newborn calves work on your operation?

 

 

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