LivestockBeef cattle
Most beef visits are a pasture walk on a cow-calf or stocker operation or a pen check in a feedyard, and PropelMapper pins each reading from either one to the pasture or pen where you took it.
“Scored 40 cows at the corral: average body condition 5.5, the first-calf heifers thinner at 4.5.”
Example account: Bluestem Range Consulting
Visual example; transcript only.
Bluestem Range Consulting
Hackberry Ranch › North summer pasture
Scored 40 cows at the corral: average body condition 5.5, the first-calf heifers thinner at 4.5.
Pivot 2 stalks have plenty of dropped ears, about 6 bushels an acre on a quick count.
Weaned 212 calves Tuesday, fenceline weaning.
| Reading | This visit |
|---|---|
| Forage height (in) | 4.8 |
| Water tank level (%) | 87 |
| Pasture condition (1-5) | 3 |
Pasture walk - North summer pasture, Oct 28, 2026: “Scored 40 cows at the corral: average body condition 5.5, the first-calf heifers thinner at 4.5.” The visit form gets Pasture North summer pasture, Forage height (in) 4.8, Water tank level (%) 87, Pasture condition (1-5) 3, Next step Move the pairs off the north summer pasture by the 1st, and the report lists them under Pasture walk - North summer pasture.
Ranch: Hackberry Ranch → Pasture: North summer pasture
The USDA NRCS Guide to Pasture Condition Scoring gives you a consistent set of indicators for comparing walks through the season.
Example account: Bluestem Range Consulting
Stocking comes down to forage on hand, how much of it the cattle can actually use, and how much they eat. South Dakota State University Extension works from 26 pounds of dry forage per animal unit per day, an animal unit being roughly a 1,000-pound cow, and about 25% harvest efficiency for moderate continuous grazing. The rest is trampled, fouled, left as residue or eaten by something else.
Run the arithmetic for one pasture: 80 acres carrying about 2,000 pounds of dry forage an acre is 160,000 pounds. At 25% harvest efficiency, 40,000 pounds are usable. Forty 1,300-pound cows eat about 1,350 pounds a day between them, so the pasture lasts about thirty days. Our stocking rate calculator does the same sum and lets you change each assumption.
Write the clipping or visual estimate into the same visit as the stocking call. Then the number you give the owner has its working attached, and next year’s walk has something to compare against.
University of Missouri Extension scores beef body condition from 1, very thin, to 9, very fat. Its target for a mature cow just before calving is a 6, and young cows need about one score more to rebreed as well. That puts first-calf heifers going into calving at around a 7.
Score by group and by timing: the spring-calving cows a couple of months before calving, the first-calf heifers separately, the bulls before breeding. Note how many you scored and the spread. "Cows mostly fives and sixes, eight thin heifers at four" tells the nutritionist where the supplement needs to go.
In a feedyard the daily visit is the bunk call. SDSU Extension describes a 0 to 4 score: 0 is a clean bunk, 0.5 is scattered feed with most of the bottom showing, 1 is a thin even layer about a kernel deep, 2 is a quarter to half the feed left, 3 is more than half, and 4 is feed that has barely been touched. Its goal is a 0 most days, with a half on three or four days out of ten.
Read bunks at the same time each day and record the pen, the time, the score and the feed delivered. The trend in a pen over a week matters more than any one call, and that only works if the calls are in one place.
Show cattle and replacement heifers for sale get a different kind of visit: weight, average daily gain, days to the show or sale, and the feeding plan. In our example account, a show steer weighed in at 1,186 pounds at the county fairgrounds, gaining 3.1 pounds a day with 34 days to the show. Weighed again at each visit, those three numbers are the whole conversation with the family that owns him.
For a pasture walk: the pasture, the date, forage by area, the water, the fence, the cattle group and its condition, your stocking estimate and its working, and the follow-ups with a name on them. For a pen check: the pen, the time, the bunk score, the cattle and anything pulled. For both: photos from the same spots each time.
In PropelMapper you say most of it as you walk, and each note drops a pin where you stood. The readings land in the visit form for you to confirm, broken fence and a sticking float become tasks, and the report is drafted after upload for you to read and sign. We don’t keep individual animal records or tag weights; your herd software or calving book still does.
Yes. Walk the fence line or trace it on the satellite view, or import boundaries you already have in the web app. Notes then land in the pasture you are standing in.
Yes. Notes, photos and readings save on the phone and upload when you get back to signal. The report is drafted after the upload.
Draw one pasture in your 45 free days, walk it, and read the report before you send it to the owner. If you send a monthly grazing report today, we can set up that format with you on a call.