Beef production from the suckler herd Flashcards
Traditional breeds in Ireland =
Angus
Hereford
Early maturing breeds
Lower mature weight, greater fat deposition potential, lower calving difficulty, used on dairy cows/heifers
Continental breeds in Ireland=
Charolais
Limousine - France
Simmental - Austria
- dual purpose
Belgium Blue
- mutation in a gene for double muscle
Late maturing
What breed brought the Dual purpose?
simmental
Dairy and beef
In ireland do we go for purebreads or cross breads?
mostly cross breads
What is our beef system in Ireland ?
What does it revolve around?
Pastoral system (following the growth of grass):
*System revolve around matching grass supply to animal requirements during the grazing season
*While also ensuring sufficient silage is produced for the indoor winter period,
List the two beef herd types:
-Contentinal cross with high terminal traits
-Traditional beef breeds cross with dairy cows with high maternal traits
Whats the objective of the suckler beef production system?
The objective in suckler beef production is to produce animals or carcasses of good conformation suitable for the high priced EU Markets
What is the aim for progeny to have?
–High growth rates
–Good conformation
–Good food conversion efficiency
–High lean meat content
Whats the aim for the dam to have ?
–Easily maintained
–Good reproductive performance
–Good survivability
–Satisfactory milk production potential
Why is bull selection so important ?
–growth rate
–carcass quality (fatness and conformation)
–Calving difficulty
What are continental breeds best for?
Continental breeds best for growth rate and carcass quality, but calving difficulty could be a problem
How many suckler farms use Stock bull vs AI?
Stock bull (82%) versus A.I. (18%)
The proportion of suckler cows bred to late-maturing sire breeds has increased from ?% in 1992 to ?% in 2007.
78%
87%
What is the number one breed of sire in irish suckler herds followed by which breed
- limousine
- siring 38% of all beef calves
followed by:
- Charolais - 35%
what is a desirable feature of cattle breeding in Ireland over the last 25 years
the substantial increase in the proportion of the calf crop, which are the progeny of late maturing breeds and their crosse
what was the proportion of continental crossbred suckler cows in:
1992
1998
2017
1992 = 29%
1998 = 52%
2017 = >75%
what has the proportion of suckler cows bred to late - maturing sire breeds increased by
1992
1998
2017
1992 = 78%
1998 = 83%
2017 = 85%
what is the number 1 breed of beef cow in ireland with what % of all beef calving
Limousin
- 34% of all beef calves
what is hybrid vigour
Ability of crossbred animals to surpass average performance of their purebred parents
what are the advantages of hybrid vigour
- reproductive
- productive
advantage of hybrid vigour in terms of reproductive
Reproductive
–earlier age at puberty
–better conception rate
–better calving rate
–shorter calving interval
–longer reproductive life
–lower calf mortality
advantage of hybrid vigour in terms of Productive
- higher calf birth weight
- better growth rate
what are the % advantages of hybrid vigour
60% advantage from a higher calf crop
40% better pre-weaning calf growth
what do the continental crossbred cows give progeny (5)
- higher growth rate especially post weaning
- heavier carcase weights
- better confirmation
- higher lean meat content
- continental cross cows are likely to have a higher cull value
what are the ideal characteristics of a cow (3)
- good beef confirmation (min50% continental)
- goof milk production to give good weight at weaning (300kg at 7 months)
- crossbred cow ideal (to avail of hybrid vigour)
list the suitable crossbreds
- friesan x Hereford
- Friesan x Limousin
- friesan x simmental
- Friesan X charolais
- Limousin X (Friesan X charolais)
Improvements from heterosis in suckler cow
compared to purebred there has been an improvement overall in the calf weaned per cow to bull
purebred = 100
crossbred = 113
Performance of bull and heifer progeny of Hereford x Fr (Hf) and Limousin x Fr (Lf) cow
- 14kg carcass weight difference with bulls
- killout has a high influence in relation to carcass sales
Comparing the differences between HF vs LF cows
- BCS was higher for HF than for LF cows
- Bull progeny of LF cows had a higher kill-out %, a heavier carcass weight and a lower carcass fat score .
- When averaged for bulls and heifers, LF progeny had 10.4 kg heavier carcasses and a 1.2 unit lower fat score on a scale of 1 to 15 than HF progeny
Results indicate advantages in terms of carcass weight for age and carcass leanness from using LF compared to HF
as continental cows are heavier than traditional cows, what does that give rise to?
increased maintenance requirement and therefore higher feed costs
what is the silage requirements for each cow
Hereford X 550kg
Limousin X Fr 565kg
Simmental X FR 600kg
Hereford X 550kg —> 5.5
Limousin X Fr 565kg —> 5.6
Simmental X FR 600kg —>5.9