Tim Hearden Extension scientists say drought conditions make mother cow nutrition levels critical. Research at three Intermountain universities analyzing numerous range cattle herds over 10-12 years shows two crucial periods exist in the nutritional plane. Scott Cotton, Chance Marshall | Jan 27, 2021 A livestock herd’s profitability depends on the ability of a mother animal, cows in this case, to breed up, carry a calf to term, successfully provide for the calf, and breed back up again the next year. Long-term research at Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M AgriLife over 15 years declared that, for your investment in a cow, most will successfully deliver 5.7 to 6 calves in their lifetime. We hope ours is a bit better than that in Wyoming, but drought conditions do not help at all.