AMES – Many factors affect beef herd profitability, but one specific factor, keeping young cows in the herd, is a huge challenge for cattle producers.

Producers are searching for ways to keep young females in the cow herd longer for several reasons.

Fifteen percent of all culled cows leave the heard before five years of age and an additional 33 percent are culled because they do not become pregnant, according the 2007-08 National Animal Health Monitoring System.

Based on current production prices, a female must produce five calves for the cost of the replacement female to be recouped.

The Iowa Beef Center in partnership with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association is offering the series “Heifer Development 2: Maintaining Your Investment” to specifically focus on management practices to keep young cows in the herd to improve longterm profitability.

This series is a follow-up to the 2012 series on yearling heifers, “Heifer Development: Rebuilding our Future.”

The goal of the upcoming series is to pick up where the initial series ended and cover the topics of nutrition, health, calving and reproductive management of bred heifers through their second breeding season.

Dates and locations within the Farm News coverage area for the series are

A). Spencer: From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 28 at the Spencer School Administration Building Room B, 23 East 7th St., in Spencer.

B). Holstein: From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 29, at the Lohff-Schuman Memorial Community Center, 301 Lohff Schuman Drive, Holstein.

C). Humboldt: From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 4, at the Ox Bow Park Izaak, 7 Park Road, Humboldt.

D). Ames: From 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 19, at the Hansen Ag Student Learning Center, 2816 Mortensen Road, Ames.

Registration for any location is $20 if preregistered by two days prior to the specific event, and guarantees a meal.

Registration on site at any of the locations is $25 per person with no guarantee of meal.

For more information, contact an Iowa State University Extension beef program specialist or IBC at www.iowabeefcenter.org.