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How To Make Small To Moderate Sized Cows

Finding the right sized cow to suit the system is cardinal to suckler productivity. Farmers Weekly analyses whether bigger or smaller cows are best.

A growing number of farms are identifying the larger cows in their herd that can wean fifty% of their weight by 200 days.

But many factors, as well as mature cow size, influence a cow's power to perform "efficiently", including milk product, direction, forage availability, weaning period and calf health.

Target market and whether progeny is sold every bit stores or finished also needs consideration.

For many years, advice levelled at commercial suckler herds has been that moderate moo-cow size helps profit by increasing output per hectare.

However, senior advisers are realising this advice may demand reviewing.

On one hand, smaller cows can be stocked college, while on the other hand larger genetics can finish quicker to reduce overheads and fixed costs.

  • The Heavyweight
  • The Lightweight
  • The Medium weight

Debate also rages around whether weaning weights are merely a yardstick for businesses selling stores or if the existent efficiency measure for the beef sector is on kilogrammes of saleable meat produced per cow.

The conclusion of SAC Consulting Beefiness Specialist Basil Lowman is that calf weaning weight is the "all-time simple guide" to cow efficiency.

Pocket-sized cows <600kg

For

Against

Lower maintenance requirements permit higher stocking rates and increased output per hectare

Cow efficiency is increased by weaning (200-day weaning weight) closer to 50% of mature cow weight

A calf from a 600kg cow only requires 1.27kg daily liveweight gain to achieve efficiency. A calf from a 700kg moo-cow needs to grow at 1.52kg

A pregnant 600kg cow requires 80MJ/twenty-four hour period for maintenance – an 800kg cow requires 88MJ/solar day

Large and well-muscled cattle have been shown to be more profitable through finishing quicker

Cull moo-cow cheques tin can be hugely valuable and a bigger cow means a larger price when she is slaughtered.

Long-term finishing systems can have higher overheads.

Extremes either style could threaten a farm's power to run across carcass specifications.

UK farms with plenty of forage can support larger cows and this should be exploited as a competitive advantage

"In both cases, the bigger cows of Ian Willison and Simon Frost are more profitable, particularly when yous factor in the cull value. This sets the cat among the pigeons in terms of what we advise to the industry. We need more than enquiry into this area," says Mr Marsh.

"I would never recommend 800-900kg cows. I'thousand happy with 700kg cows. This is upward for debate for lowland and upland farms where provender/feed is non a limiting factor but in loma country you must have small-scale hardy cattle."

Alison Glasgow, technical manager at British Limousin Cattle Society, agrees that larger mature size equates to faster finishing.

"Lower mature size typically means slower growth – the two have been shown to be related. If a heifer is big at 400 days so she is typically big every bit an developed. In that location are animals in all breeds that can break this correlation and EBVs are the way to identify them," she says.

"It is becoming obvious that that fast finishing is more assisting. In 2015, an SRUC study comparison carcass value of Limousin-cross Holsteins at 365 days and 800 days constitute that only £lxxx of value was added to the carcass [by finishing afterward] and that requires a heap of overheads."

See too: Beefiness focus farm – How cow size influences performance

However, research from Ireland suggests smaller cows are punching above their weight.

A four-year trial to assess the progeny performance of four cross-bred cows is under mode on Teagasc's Derrypatrick herd.

Weaning weights and carcass weights are existence used as yardsticks for cow efficiency, with bulls slaughtered at 18-19 months on extemporaneous concentrates for 100 days after a three-month grazing menses and heifers finished at 20 months after two seasons at grass.

And then far, the Limousin cross Friesian is ranked highest (see beneath).

Cow blazon

Weight

Calf weaning weight

Calf carcass weight

Efficiency

Limousin cross Friesian

630kg

313kg

357kg

50%

Limousin cross Simmental

670kg

287kg

348kg

43%

Charolais cross Simmental

723kg

292kg

352kg

39%

Charolais cantankerous Limousin

720kg

279kg

348kg

39%

Neil Shand, master executive of the British Simmental Cattle Society, believes value should be added in the change to suit all types of systems.

"Optimal cow size depends on unit and business philosophy – no one size will fit all. Ultimately, the farmer requires a consequent toll and would benefit if the processors drove more value and looked at cut large (450kg+) and small (275kg) carcasses differently," he says.

The medium weight: Tommy Moyles, Ardfield, Co Cork, Moyhan herd

Reducing cow weight by x% and improving grassland management has increased carrying capacity by 60% and additional margins for Irish gaelic beef producer Tommy Moyles.

Irish-beef-farmer-Tommy-Moyles

His average moo-cow size for the concluding three years has been 671kg, but soon his herd of pedigree Simmentals volition exist downwards to 650kg. His cows are 43% efficient on average, just Mr Moyles is hoping to increase efficiency to l%.

Since reviewing cow size and grassland management in 2012, Mr Moyles has seen cow numbers lift from l to fourscore cows and he can now operate his business organization without dipping into his single farm payment.

His output in kg/ha has gone from 684kg in 2011 to 806kg in 2015 and stocking rates are now 2.07/ha, upwardly from 1.90/ha in 2012.

Mr Moyle's rotationally grazes stock on a 21-day rotation, shifting cattle into a new paddock every 3 days. The aim is for cattle to enter paddocks at lighter covers of 10-12cm. If grass growth gets too high, paddocks are baled rather than topped.

Moyhan Herd Facts

  • 70 head of Simmental-based herd including pedigrees
  • Closed herd since 1999
  • Natural service, breeding heifers at thirteen-15 months
  • Spring calving 29 January to 5 April (x weeks)
  • Housed from Oct to February
  • Minimal concentrates on convenance stock
  • 50% of herd is mature cows with a replacement charge per unit of 20% [box ends]

Currently at 70 head, Mr Moyles' is now because shed developments to match the potential of his holding later on watching profits head in a "very positive direction".

Furthermore, soil sampling every other yr and slurry usage has slashed annual fertiliser bills. Usage brutal from 26t in 2012 to 14t in 2015.

Mr Moyles is breeding cows that can calve unassisted with an boilerplate birthweight of 39-41kg to produce a 350kg carcass in under sixteen months.

"I challenge my herd to operate in the environment in which they are reared, that is a grass-based farm," explains Mr Moyles. "The herd merely ate 71kg of meal this bound, largely to railroad train heifers. Pre-calving and magnesium mineral licks and some straw over winter are the only other purchased feed inputs."

Calf weaning weights are recorded and cows are weighed as function of farm data collection. Last twelvemonth this his 896kg mature cows weaned a 279kg dogie at 30% of bodyweight.

But heifers weighing 604kg weaned a 436kg calf on average, catapulting them into the lead at 72% efficiency.

The lightweight: Kit Pharo, Cheyenne Wells, Colorado

Kit Pharo has trailblazed a philosophy of breeding depression input cattle in-sync with nature, while building a cattle convenance company now running 3,000 cows across ranches in 12 states.

He believes in optimum production, not maximum production and that over reliance on fossil fuels and feed are a threat to the beef sector.

Kit-Pharo-2

He aims for cows that weigh 550-570kg and measure out 122-128cm up to the hip height. But he stresses it is folly to go off moo-cow weight alone and emphasises the importance of status scoring to accurately criterion herd performance.

Therefore, Pharo Cattle Company cows ideally fall in the iv to half dozen body status score (BCS) range on the ane-nine scoring system they use in the US.  (1 = emaciated, 9 = obese), with each condition score worth an actress 36kg and a quarter score worth 9kg, he explains.

"Very few first-calf heifers will weigh over 430kg when they wean their first calf," explains Mr Pharo, who breeds Red and Black Angus, Hereford, Tarentaise and composite.

Cows are adjusted to have a BCS of 5, with mature cows in the 476-566kg range. "For example, we have a 635kg moo-cow with a torso status score of 7, nosotros will adjust her weight down 72kg to 562kg. If we take a 430kg cow with a body condition score of 4, nosotros volition arrange her weight up to 467kg."

Most of Mr Pharo'south 3-frame cows (122.5cm to hip meridian) wean over fifty% of their bodyweight and the very pocket-sized cows – the two-frame cows (120-122cm) wean nearly threescore% and practice information technology for 10-fifteen years. He's found that a few four-frame cows (127cm) can wean over fifty% of their weight.

Per cow 5 per hectare

"For too long we've been driving for high weaning weights and nosotros've accidentally arrived at having large inefficient cows. Increasing kg of meat produced per calf will typically subtract profit per hectare.

"No matter how good your environment, y'all tin can run more smaller cows and increase your turn a profit per hectare.

"Rotational grazing on expansive ranches means frequent herding of cattle. A few years of doing this and you'll discover you tin stock 50% more cows because of better grazing management.

"My philosophy is to mimic the patterns of the ungulates on the rangelands. Deer, elk and bison are all cloven hooved animals with a rumen, so I calve my cattle later into May on good spring grass rather than calving them earlier grass is around in March and April.

"I want to raise calves on grass and employ milk as a bypass poly peptide supplement. I want to see calves grazing at a week or 10 days with their heads down. Milk is not a maternal trait, information technology is a growth trait in my eyes – too much milk is inefficient."

The heavyweight: Mike Powley, Green Hammerton, York

Combining a mixed arable and beefiness enterprise is allowing Mike Powley to justify cows weighing in at over 800kg because of high efficiency feed conversion he is achieving on abode grown cereal diets.

Mike Powley

© Tim Scrivener

Most of Mr Powley'south South Devon-cantankerous Limousin cows (put to high alphabetize Blue bulls) are around the 730-750kg marker and produce bulls averaging 1kg daily carcass gain from birth to slaughter, with heifers averaging a daily liveweight gain of one-1.1kg on red clover leys and some doing better at i.3-ane.4kg.

But rather than focusing on weaning weights, he believes the end product matters more to him every bit a finisher and he is looking at ways to benchmark his herd in the future according to kg of saleable meat per moo-cow or per hectare.

"Cow weaning efficiency might be a adept measure for suckler herds selling stores but not for people similar me," explains Mr Powley. "Feed intake in kilos against kilos of meat produced is besides a useful measure out for finishers."

Heavy carcass progeny from his 100-head herd were being rewarded for carcass weights of effectually 500kg. But despite penalties and tighter specification, meaning 420kg is now the limit for his processor, Mr Powley still advocates big cows for his system.

"Growing cereals on the subcontract is a huge factor – I tin can turn £1 of feed into £2 of beefiness," he explains. "On that basis the longer I tin feed cattle the better."

He argues that bigger cows with more frame can shop more than energy to mobilise in the winter and are worth more on a cull cow basis, gaining 50kg until they are six years old – a gain of £60/twelvemonth at £1.20/kg. Cattle are housed in late October/early November to avoid poaching on the heavyish pasture land.

And while some breeders advocate smaller cows that cost £30 less to maintain each year, he stresses that his improved grades offer returns that outweigh this.

"I am producing U+ and Eastward carcasses at 420kg and generally higher growth rates come from bigger genetics. When we started selling beef boxes we soon learned the differences between an E and an R-form."

How To Make Small To Moderate Sized Cows,

Source: https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/beef/bigger-better-comes-cow-size

Posted by: darrowyounithe.blogspot.com

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