cattle management software

Merle Truesdail, who owns and operates Truesdail Farm, located near Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, grew up on a farm with several types of animals, including 25 dairy cattle. But, by the time he was 6 years of age, the family had moved from dairy cattle to raising Angus beef cattle.

Following a stint in the U. S. Navy, Merle ran a small dairy farm for a few years, then changed to raising Angus beef cattle again. He and his wife, their three sons and their families now live on their 219 acre farm (150 acres tillable) and, since retiring from running heavy machinery for the local township, he concentrates on his farm and cattle operation.

Truesdail Farm maintains sixty Angus brood cows with a 60-day calving period beginning April 1 and ending May 31. Any cow which doesn’t calve by the May 31 deadline is culled. Also, any calf which does not have at least a 2 pounds per day gain gets its dam culled. The Truesdail herd average daily gain from birth to weaning (the first Sunday of October) is presently 3 pounds.

How does Merle get all the information he needs for his strict culling and gain program? From CattleMax cattle management software, which he’s been using for four years now.

“We have an intensive strip grazing system in which the cattle graze a paddock for 24 hours and then are moved to the next strip,” Merle comments. “Grass is grazed only down to about 3 inches in height and is usually 8-10 inches high when we turn in to a paddock.”

“I really can’t single out any one feature of CattleMax that is most used, all of the features are linked to make one very useful tool for our cattle operation,” Merle says. His advice – when a person starts to use CattleMax, add all the data you can acquire, even if you don’t have an immediate purpose for it. “As you progress, it will all fall into place and you will be amazed at what you can do with the information,” he says. CattleMax has helped us in making the selections for the ten replacement heifers we keep each year.

Steers are sold for feeders and he feeds out six to eight head each year for freezer beef. Cull cows are sold as USDA inspected hamburger. Our CattleMax data is used to help us keep the records on gains and production of our cows, in turn helping us with the strict culling process we employ, says Merle. It’s also vital in helping us maintain cow size, improve gains and prevent inbreeding, he comments.

Merle says, “I attend several grass land and conservation meetings annually and talk about the benefits of the CattleMax program to numerous people. If you own a cow-calf operation and want to be profitable, you need CattleMax.”