Factors Affecting Calving Difficulty

Calf deaths resulting from difficult calving (dystocia) cause a major reduction in the net calf crop and income realized by beef producers. Based on 1993 projected figures, a 5% increase in animals available for sale in the U.S. could potentially increase gross receipts by over $1.5 billion annually. These same projection figures also suggest that losses attributed to calf deaths from dystocia alone exceed $750 million annually. Identifying ways to decrease dystocia and the accompanying calf deaths is the subject of this paper