A new report from the Beef Cattle Research Council, in partnership with Canfax, shows which management practices have been widely implemented across the country — and which have not.
The Canadian Cow-Calf Adoption Rates and Performance Report was released in late 2025 and highlights 31 management practices and their adoption levels. This is based on data from multiple surveys, which encompassed more than 600 producers.
“We fund research, and we do extension, and this report helps us do both of those things better,” says Reynold Bergen, the science director at BCRC.
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“Our research and extension strategy is sort of the map that tells us what we want to focus on and where we want to go. This adoption rates report tells us whether producers are responding to our extension efforts.”
Report findings
The results, which came from data collected in 2023 and 2024, show how things have changed since the release of the previous report in 2019.
Because the results came from producers all across the country, it also showed how information can vary based on region.
The report shows that the implementation of preg checking on cow-calf operations has remained stable across the country.
In Western Canada, seven out of 10 producers are preg checking their cattle. In Eastern Canada, the rates have also remained stable, but are lower than they are in Western Canada, with just more than half of those surveyed preg checking.
Bergen says this is a prime example of how things can be different based on your region and is likely due to the differences in breeding season, which is around 90 days in the west and around 120 days in the east. This contributes to the differences in open rates — in the west they are around eight per cent, and in the east they are around four to six per cent.
“That longer breeding season, the higher pregnancy rates, those are all good, but then you pay for it in spring because you’re calving for a lot longer, and then you’re sort of paying for it again in fall because you might have more calves, but they’re way more variable in weight because you’ve been calving for so much longer.”
Regional management differences
Practice/metric
Preg checking rate
Breeding season
Open rates
Western Canada
70 per cent
90 days
~8 per cent
Eastern Canada
~50 per cent
120 days
4-6 per cent
The report showed that around 94 per cent of respondents are vaccinating at least one class of animals for at least one disease.
“Over 90 per cent of producers are vaccinating against … the respiratory disease viruses, which is really good news because the more that we can do to make sure that calves are in good shape at weaning and going into the feedlot in good shape, that helps reduce antibiotic resistance. It helps make sure antibiotics keep working. It keeps calves healthy in the feedlot. And that ultimately benefits the whole industry,” Bergen says.
The adoption of rotational grazing has stayed stable, with 50 per cent of those surveyed doing it in Western Canada and 48 per cent in Eastern Canada.
Weaning weights, on the other hand, have decreased since 2019. The current level is at 39.5 per cent of a mature cow’s weight, though the ideal weaning weight is between 40 per cent and 45 per cent.
One of the only management practices with decreased adoption is extensive winter feeding, which BCRC speculates is because of prolonged drought in certain areas of the country, feed losses due to wildlife, pasture conditions and the use of alternative feedstuffs. Though it has decreased, the adoption rate is still high, around 70 per cent in Western Canada.
The use of windbreaks and shelterbelts continues to be on a positive track.
Sixty to 74 per cent of producers are testing their feed at least occasionally, while water testing has declined slightly in the west, with four in 10 testing their water every few years. Bergen says this is an area that can always improve.
“Feed testing and using those feed test results to make sure that the feed your cows are getting is a really, really important thing to make sure that they’ve got the nutrition they need,” he says.
“The reason you would do it is because if that feed is really short in a particular N protein or in energy, you’re probably … buying some grain, or buying some distillers grains or canola meal or whatever to boost the level of nutrition.”
Pain control practices have increased in adoption as well. In the previous survey, around half of all producers focused on pain control, but now it is up to 80 per cent.
“I think it’s really encouraging that producers are willing to pay out of their pocket for something that doesn’t necessarily give them extra pounds at weaning time, but they’re doing it for the sake of the calf,” Bergen says.
Record-keeping was another practice analyzed in this report, showing that though most producers are still keeping records via pen and paper, some are moving to digital methods. According to the report, less than two per cent of those surveyed did not keep records at all.
Key findings in report
- Regional Disparity: Adoption of management practices varies significantly based on geographic region.
- Preg Checking: National rates remain stable, but Western Canada leads at 70 per cent adoption compared to just over 50 per cent in the East.
- Breeding Cycles: Western operations favour shorter 90-day breeding seasons, while Eastern operations typically run longer at 120 days.
- Open Rates: Eastern Canada reports lower open rates (4-6 per cent) than Western Canada (eight per cent).
- Management Trade-offs: Longer breeding seasons in the east result in higher pregnancy rates but lead to longer calving periods in the spring.
- Trend Tracking: The 2025 report serves as a benchmark to measure changes in producer behaviour since 2019.
For low-stress weaning methods, two-stage weaning has become more common in Eastern Canada and is used by around one in five operations. Fenceline weaning was previously around 20 per cent but has increased to 30 per cent adoption rates.
There is a positive trend in the uptake of calving distribution. The goal is for 60 per cent or more animals to calve within the first 21 days of the season, and Western Canada is right around the 60 per cent mark. Eastern Canada, on the other hand, has a decreasing trend, with about half of all cows calving in the first 21 days.
Bull breeding soundness exams are near their peak for adoption in Western Canada, at about 72 per cent. Adoption rates in Eastern Canada are lower but improving, with bull soundness exams at around 23.5 per cent, while previously they were around seven to 17 per cent, depending on location.
Regarding vitamin or mineral injections, the adoption rate is around 29 per cent, with 12 per cent of those surveyed doing tube-fed colostrum after an assisted calving in Western Canada. It’s around 12 per cent in Eastern Canada, but providing colostrum via tube is higher at around 22 per cent.
The report also showed that while visual body condition scoring is common and has increased since 2019, hands-on scoring is less widely used and has stagnant adoption.
Calf resuscitation
New to the report this year is a focus on calf resuscitation, showing a decreasing trend in Western Canada in hanging calves as a resuscitation practice.
Hanging calves on a fence post or a gate after birth was once frequently used as a way to clear their lungs. However, Bergen says this is not effective because it doesn’t clear the calf’s lungs — it clears its rumen.
“In fact, when you do that, you’re making it harder for the calf to breathe, because when you hang it upside down, the gut pushes on the lungs, and really, you’re suffocating them.”
Bergen says that after they discovered people were doing this, BCRC made a concerted effort with its extension and messaging to discourage producers from this practice.
Now, they are seeing the benefits of that messaging.
“This last time we did the survey, the percentage of producers who thought this was a good idea went way down. And so that was really encouraging for us … we could very clearly point to it and say, ‘Hey, this extension stuff works because, look, no one’s ever tried this before we did this, and it made a difference in how producers are behaving.’”
Other resuscitation methods, such as rubbing the calf vigorously or poking its nose with a finger or a straw, are much more commonly used than hanging.
Benefit to industry
Seeing all these management practices that have been highly adopted in the Canadian beef industry, Bergen says it proves that effective management practices can make a difference to the bottom line.
“I think what it tells us is that there are a lot of potential improvements that we can make as an industry that doesn’t actually require a lot of high tech,” he says.
“It’s doing the day-to-day chores right. That’s always going to be the key thing. Technology is helpful, and it’s useful, but if you’re not doing the basics, it’s not going to save you.”
Reynold Bergen
BCRC
In the future, Bergen hopes there will be more implementation of beneficial management practices, such as feed and water testing, mineral supplementation and other practices.
For those who may not have adopted some of these management practices that have thus far been widely adopted across the country, the BCRC is a good resource, designed for producers — especially since their checkoff dollars help fund it.
“We’ve got a ton of resources that you’ve paid for already.”
Bergen says if producers still have questions, getting in contact with their local veterinarian is a good practice, because vets will often know what works and what doesn’t for your local area.
“They’ve got a wealth of education and a wealth of experience and a wealth of knowledge that can help you learn from other people’s mistakes. … They’ve got a lot of information they can share.” c
