Ranchers spend all year preparing their cows to have a calf. With the financial and time investment put into bringing a cow to term, the last thing that ranchers want is to have to pull a calf. While dystocia is sometimes unavoidable, there are ways that ranchers can avoid calving issues. It all starts with the genetics of the herd.
At the 2025 Three-State Beef Conference, experts in the beef industry gathered to share solutions to common issues in the cow-calf sector. One of these common issues is decreasing the occurrence of dystocia.
From the selection of bulls to heifer development to nutritional status, ranchers can manage their herd to reduce labor during calving and decrease calf loss.
Starts with bull
Everyone has their own preference on the perfect bull. However, as technology advances and genetic selection tools become more accurate, these resources can help ranchers during calving. One of the tools that is becoming widely used is the genomic-enhanced expected progeny difference.
“Before, for a long time, genomics testing was great for purebreds, but we’ve now progressed past that, and we now have good tools for commercial herds,” said Randie Culbertson, cow-calf Extension specialist at Iowa State University. “You’re going to get a report back that’s based off the genomics and the probability of that animal based off those markers. The use of genomics incorporated into an EPD [genomic-enhanced EPD] are the gold standard.”
Culbertson encouraged all ranchers to use this new age way of genetic analysis. “If you’re buying a bull in this day and age, they should have genomic testing. There’s no excuse to not have it,” she said. “Genomic testing will cost anywhere from $45 to $50, so it’s well worth getting that information back.”
It is also important to take into consideration that EPDs can change as more information is added into prediction. This means that the older the bull, the more information is added and is a more accurate predictor of what could be passed down.
When looking to decrease births needing assistance, calving ease direct is a figure that can help ranchers.
“CED is the difference in percentage of unassisted births when used on heifers. And when we think about it, that’s really our trait of interest,” Culbertson said. “When we want unassisted births, we should be focusing on an EPD that is estimating that and providing that information.”
Insight for female selection
While ranchers can start to reduce their dystocia numbers with the bulls, picking the right heifers to breed is the other half of the equation.
Culbertson gave three tips when developing and selecting heifers to have fewer assisted births:
- Properly develop the heifer. It is important to meet the weight target for the genotype of the heifer. “We usually say about 65% of her mature weight at the time of breeding. You want to make sure that you’re hitting those targets,” she said.
- Breed her to right bull. Once the heifer has had proper nutrition and has hit the target for breeding, it is important to find the bull that best complements the heifer. Culbertson recommends finding the bull that is above breed average for CED by using the genomic-enhanced EPD.
- Pay attention to pelvic measurements. After a rancher has completed the first two steps on the checklist, the last way to reduce dystocia could be looking at the heifer’s pelvic measurement. “Use pelvic measurements as a culling tool and not a selection tool. Because if you’re selecting for wider pelvis over time, those calves are going to be born with a wider hip, and that can cause some calving problems,” Culbertson said. She recommends culling at most the top 10% based on their pelvic scores.
By making wise genetic selections and being diligent in nutrition management, the number of dystocia occurrences and veterinarian calls that ranchers must make can be reduced.
For more calving tips, check out the resources provided by Iowa State University Extension at iowabeefcenter.org.