This Record Book was developed to enhance beef cattle ranch management, meet pesticide application record requirements, meet the recommendations for Country-of-Origin Labeling records, and to compliment the Florida Cow-calf Water Quality Best Management Practice Manual. This record book is currently under revision by the Panhandle Agriculture Extension Team. The 2017 version should be available for the 2018 production year.
Record Book Downloads
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print all of these files.
Complete Record Books (2017 Revision coming soon)
| Complete Record Book (pdf) | Has record sheets for up to 12 fields or pastures and up to 100 cows. Warning this file contains 211 pages and may take a few minutes to download. |
| County Agent Version (pdf) (Copying machine required for complete record book) | This is the entire record book with only one copy of each record sheet. This reduces the pages from 211 to 53, but copies need to be made of most of the sheets to develop the final record book described above. The first page gives instructions on how many copies of each sheet are needed to copy for the standard book. |
Single or replacement sheets. You can select only the ones you need to print and make copies
| Cover Sheet | Cover sheet to slide into clear front cover of a notebook |
| Introduction | Basic explanation of the purpose of the Record book |
| Planning Calendar | Simple planning calendar with open space for notes on each month
Cattle and forage management practice reminders for each month based on NFREC Beef Herd Management |
| Rainfall Record Sheet | Sheet for recording daily rainfall amounts |
| Pasture Record Sheets | 4 sheets for each field or pasture-planting, harvest, soil test, fertilizer, pest and pesticide application record, and a grazing record. |
| Individual Cow Record Sheet | Single sheet production history card for each cow in the herd |
| Bull Breeding Soundness Exam | Breeding soundness exam result record sheet |
| Gestation Table | 283 day gestation table for estimating calving dates |
| Breeding or AI Record | Artificial Insemination record sheet |
| Pregnancy Testing Record | Sheet for use at the chute during pregnancy testing |
| Supplementation Record | Feed record sheet to track herd supplementation |
| Vaccination | Vaccination record that meets BQA standards |
| Sick Cattle Treatment Record | Record sheet for to document drug use and withdrawal times |
| Cow Herd Inventory | Sheet to aid with herd inventories at 4 time during the year |
| Herd or Group Performance | Summary sheet to monitor group or herd performace |
| Retained Ownership Record | Sheet designed to track load lot performance through slaughter |
| Cattle Sales Record | Record sheet for cattle sales income |
| Other Income/Sales | Record sheet for ranch income other than from cattle |
| Expenses/Purchases | Expense record sheet to record daily expenditures |
| Ranch Analysis | Sheets to summarize annual ranch financial and cattle performance |
| Useful Information | A list of Florida beef and forage publications available online, a body condition scoring guide, conversion factors and Extension Agent Contact information. |
About This Record Book
This record keeping system was designed for field use (kept in truck), to record beef cattle, pasture records, and basic financial records. The record sheets were designed for use in a loose-leaf binder, which can be customized to each individual operation. There are record sheets for pastures, individual cow and herd production, breeding, feeding, herd health, income and expenses. The pasture record sheets allow for recording planting, harvesting, soil test, fertilization, pesticide application and grazing duration. If cattle are individually identified, there sheets that allow for a production history for each cow. There are record sheets for AI breeding, pregnancy testing, feeding by herd, vaccination, sick cattle treatment, bull breeding soundness exams, and retained ownership. The income and expense record sheets provide a place for simple entry of transactions, so all the information is in one place. There are even two sheets to be filled out at the end of each year for simple ranch performance and profit analysis. This record book does not take the place of business accounting and was not intended as a complete record list for tax preparation or loan application, but it does provide organization for key records collected in the field.
The standard record book comes with enough sheets to keep records on up to 12 fields and 100 cows. If additional fields are needed, simply print or copy all four pasture record sheets (pages 10-13) for each additional field. If an operation has more than 100 cows and heifers, additional copies of the individual cow production history sheet (page 58) should be added for each cow. The breeding and pregnancy testing sheets allow for 25 cows per sheet, so copies should be made for each additional 25 cows over the standard 100 head (pages 161 & 165). You can download the entire record book at no charge, but be prepared this record book contains 211 pages. In order to save ink from your computer printer, you can download the individual record sheets and simply make copies for the number of fields and cows that you have.
The individual cow production and pasture record sheets were developed to keep for multiple years. All other sheets may need to be replaced for the next year. Any record sheets that do not apply for an operation can simply be removed. Additional record sheets can be developed based on the needs of each operation. If individual animal records are not maintained, then there is no need for printing off the cow production history sheets. You still may want to at least keep a calving record sheet that totals the number and sex of calves born each month.
One final suggestion, record keeping is most valuable when used for decision making such as business analysis or cattle selection. In order to get the most value from the records kept in this book, profitability and herd performance measures should be developed for the year. However, with regulation and animal trace back, having a good set of records is becoming more and more important. So keep the records to be able to prove what you have done, but also use the records to analyze performance and profitability, to make your operation more efficient over the long haul.