February ended a mild climatological winter season for Illinois. Reports from the Illinois State Climatologist found that the 2023-24 winter is the 3rd warmest winter on record for the state.
For cattle farmers Tyler and Cassie Schleich, the mild weather in February and March brought the pair a smoother calving season. The pair own and operate Schleich Cattle Services where they custom breed over 1,000 cattle a year. In March, they are not only calving, Tyler says they are looking ahead for next winter.
“I think [people] kind of jumped on our philosophy of trying to have [calves] in December when it’s a little nicer. So we just do we do a lot of planning for everybody,” says Tyler. “We send schedules out for them to follow from the synchronization standpoint using cedars. So we try to manage from that side and then I also try to help on the nutrition side of things as well.”
Schleich Cattle Services also offers embryo transfer services to cattle farmers in western Illinois.
