deep in the southeastern corner of Idaho | Good advice. I claim not to be an expert but have been in the business for a lot of years. Your plan sounds solid. I like to keep 10% for replacements myself. That means keeping just a few more heifers over the 10% to cover for opens or other problems. Anything like that can be sold as yearlings which will never hurt you, especially since you mention you have pasture for them. If your going to be in the business for the long haul constantly keeping replacements or buying a few every year is a must in my book. If you don't you either end up with an old herd, that brings more problems to the table, or you go to the other end and you have a herd of very young cows that don't "understand your expectations" and that is a problem too. With only 55 cows I am assuming you have a job off the farm so do you have or want extra problems that COULD come with doing either. Each person has their own tolerance to what is a problem and what is not. I wish you the best! My best advice is to keep this venture enjoyable and it will last for a long time.
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Retaining Heifers
