Females

Crews Family Farms manages its current cow herd of approximately 250 registered females in the same environment as a commercial cow-calf producer on cool season perennial fescue-based pastures. Longevity is extremely important for any cow-calf operation to be profitable. We have cows in our herd that are over 10 years old that have maintained structural soundness, good body condition, high fertility rates, and performance by weaning a calf within 365-day intervals since the age of two.

Crews Family Farms employs an intensive A.I. breeding program with an average A.I. conception rate of 70% and an overall conception rate of 90%. We have experimented with a limited amount of flushing and embryo transfer, and our goal is to incorporate more embryo transfers in our breeding program going forward. The success and profitability of any cow-calf operation starts with the foundation of the cow. We place a significant amount of emphasis on selecting sires that are proven “cow makers” with strong maternal traits. The maternal traits high on our list are maternal calving ease, high fertility rates, strong maternal instincts, teat and udder quality, superior milking ability and the ability to wean a calf at a high percent of a cow’s body weight within 365-day intervals.We strive to produce cattle with moderate frame size, good fleshing ability, good foot quality, structural soundness, overall maternal value and the ability to perform well on average quality fescue-based forage.