Achieving performance targets on beef farms
Summary
- There will be significant increases in costs on beef farms in 2022; in two worked examples, cost increases of almost 40% are estimated.
- In these examples, increased output prices are unlikely to offset the increase in costs at farm level.
- The first step to managing 2022 is the completion of a financial budget that evaluates the financial performance of the farm during 2022.
- All options should be considered with the major focus on making greater use of grazed grass for the remainder of the year, and finishing animals at pasture prior to rehousing for a second winter.
Introduction
The ability of an animal to meet production targets is a function of genetic merit, health, nutrition and management. The configuration of these factors is partially dependant on the chosen production system. Clearly defined production systems are important if targets are to be met efficiently. The optimum production system for your farm is one which makes the most efficient use of limited resources, for instance land, labour and buildings/facilities, and primary inputs such as fertiliser and feed. In terms of animal performance targets, breed/genetics creates the potential, but it is management that primarily allows that potential to be achieved. With clear goals and target markets it becomes apparent which animal breed ‘type’ and management strategy is optimum for your farm. There is an everincreasing need to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of beef farms, especially considering the rising cost of inputs, especially fertiliser and feed-related prices, coupled with greater environmental constraints, particularly concerning greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and nitrogen (N) losses.
Identifying more profitable cattle using the commercial beef value (CBV)
Although there is general breed ranking for most beef production traits, there is major variation within breeds, which can be exploited through breeding. Genetic indexes are an important tool that have allowed Irish cattle breeders to make more informed breeding decisions and improve farm efficiency. Up until now such selection indexes have focused on the ‘breeding’ herd and their specific needs rather than those of cattle ‘rearers’ i.e. buying animals to produce for slaughter. The commercial beef value (CBV) is a genetic index, expressed in euros, for ‘non-breeding’ beef cattle, focused on identifying animals with superior carcass traits and feed efficiency. The CBV is tailored towards farmers purchasing growing-finishing cattle, and the traits of greatest economic importance for these systems with high heritability are included.
All commercial male and un-calved females bred from the suckler and dairy herd, which have a recorded sire will have a CBV. Based on animal type (suckler, dairy × beef and dairy × dairy), cattle will be allocated a ‘star’ rating depending on their CBV value relative to the population of their respective animal type, from one- to five-star, with one-star representing the bottom 20% and five-star representing the top 20%. Table 1 outlines the threshold CBV values for each star rating across each animal group. The CBV is available on your ICBF HerdPlus account, from where you can view your eligible animals profile and generate a report, and will be available on mart boards. Farmers should request this information when purchasing cattle.
Table 1. Threshold commercial beef values (CBV) per star rating and animal type
Based on analysis from the Grange dairy-beef research herd over the last three years, five-star CBV beef × dairy steers produced a 22 kg heavier carcass at a younger slaughter age (four days) compared to one-star animals, when reared on an ‘intensive’ grass-based production system. The CBV will play a role in the selection of suitable calves/ weanlings for dairy-beef and weanling-to-beef systems, as they are generally traded at a young age and marketed off their potential, which is often hard to predict using traditional selection tools.
To improve the marketability of progeny from the dairy and suckler herd by maximising their CBV, farmers should use high-merit sires from the Terminal Index and Dairy Beef Index (DBI), paying particular attention to carcass and feed intake sub-indices within each. As genetics are both permanent and cumulative farmers aiming to maximise the CBV of their calf crop should ensure balance with other non-carcass traits of importance to the breeding herd, as the selection for slaughter traits can be antagonistic to these traits. In choosing suitable sires the Terminal and DBI indexes achieve this balance of calving, carcass and efficiency traits, in a configuration such as that outlined in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Relative emphasis of different categories of traits in the Terminal Index (left) Dairy Beef Index (DBI) (middle) and Commercial Beef Value (CBV) (right)
Breeding a ‘balanced’ cow
The Replacement Index estimates the suitability of an animal’s daughters, to produce a high beef merit ‘replacement’ for the suckler herd as efficiently as possible. There are 17 traits included in the Replacement Index, split between ‘cow’ traits (71%) and ‘calf’ traits (29%), in order to identify low maintenance suckler cows that are fertile and have a good calving and milking ability, yet can breed progeny with superior carcass and feed efficiency traits. Analysis of data from farms participating in the BEEP-S scheme found as the Replacement Index of cows increased, cow live weight reduced, yet calf weaning weight increased. Nationally fivestar suckler cows are 24 kg lighter, but wean calves 8 kg heavier than one-star cows on the Replacement Index, improving ‘weaning efficiency’ by 3%. Fertility traits are the most important for profitable suckling systems, but are under the least genetic control, meaning the roles of breeding management, nutrition and health largely determine the level of reproductive efficiency on farms.
In suckler cow production systems mean calving date is targeted for early-spring to coincide with the start of the grass growing/grazing season and facilitate early-turnout to pasture. Where mature spring-calving suckler cows are in good body condition score (BCS) (3.0+, Scale 0-5) at the start of the winter their feed energy intake can be restricted so that some of the body fat reserves are utilised to reduce winter feed requirements. This feed energy restriction can result in a feed saving of up to 25%, equivalent to 1.0 to 1.5 tonnes fresh weight of grass silage. However, if cows are not in good BCS at the start of the winter, they cannot be restricted and must be fed to requirements. This particularly applies to first-calvers and old/thin cows.
Beef cow fertility, and more specifically the interval between successive calvings, plays a key role in compact spring-calving herds. The BCS of a cow at calving is critical in determining when cows commence oestrous cycles after calving. Good conception rates of 60-70% are achievable to either AI or natural service.
Calving rate plays an important role in maximising output per cow and her contribution to farm output. The goal on suckler farms is to produce a live calf every year, of good ‘quality’ and achieving good weight for age. The target is to achieve 0.95 calves per cow per year. However, in 2021 nationally the figure was 0.86 calves per cow per year. For a 100-cow suckler herd a calving rate of 0.86 means nine calves fewer being weaned versus the target, representing a reduction in farm sales at similar levels of production costs. This reduction in calving rate can be as a result of infertility, disease, poor nutrition, retaining empty cows and high mortality rates.
Maintaining a healthy herd
Herd health plays an important role in performance on beef cattle farms and is crucial to fertility, productivity and profitability. A proactive approach is essential. Diseases such as bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) and leptospirosis in herds can have a devastating effect on fertility by increasing the calving interval, calving pattern and cost to the farmer. Get veterinary advice at the first sign of a problem. A herd health plan that includes bio-security, vaccinations and the culling of ‘carrier’ animals, drawn up in consultation with your vet, is the best way to manage disease problems. Managing a disease outbreak in a herd is significantly more costly and labour intensive than implementing a preventative herd health plan. It is evident that, where there are underlying health issues on a farm, animal performance suffers, output is down and costs increase. Many farms have changed from an approach of reacting to health issues to a proactive approach involving preventative vaccinations to avoid health issues occurring in the first place. Housing is a key area for disease outbreaks on-farm. Good ventilation with clean air moving through the shed to remove gasses, odours, dust and microorganisms is required. It should also remove the moisture and heat generated by the animals.
High calf morbidity and mortality associated with bovine respiratory disease (BRD) results in significant economic loss for farmers. The All-Island Animal Disease Surveillance 2020 indicated that respiratory disease accounted for 33% and gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) infections accounted for 14% of deaths in 0-5 month old calves. Corresponding figures in 5-12 month old weanlings were 40% and 18%. Early diagnosis of disease is essential to ensure good overall animal growth performance and health and to reduce treatment costs.
Grassland - achieving more from less
The ability of beef farms to grow and utilise grass, our cheapest feed resource, is fundamental to the economic, environmental and social sustainability of most beef production systems. Even allowing for differences in local climate and soil types, large variation in annual grass production exists between beef farms, and thus highlights an opportunity to increase grassland efficiency through management. PastureBase Ireland, our national grassland database, shows that the top-twenty beef farms in 2021 grew 13.9 t dry matter (DM)/ha compared to 7.7 t DM/ha for the bottom-twenty farms, applying 174 kg and 92 kg inorganic fertilizer N/ha, respectively. The top-twenty farms have an increased number of paddocks, good soil fertility and frequently measure grass. Interestingly, these farms are located throughout the country, on a range of soil types and are achieving more grazings per paddock (6.3 versus 4.7 grazings for the bottom-twenty farms) at a pre-grazing herbage mass of 1750 kg DM/ha. Based on the level of herbage produced, the top-twenty farms used a moderate level of chemical N; however, even these farms have opportunity to improve farm gate N balance, which is increasingly important considering rising fertiliser and feed costs and environmental constraints.
Improving soil fertility
In terms of soil fertility, the three key considerations are pH (lime), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K). In 2020 15% of soil samples taken from Irish drystock farms were optimum for these three elements. Consequently grass production and growth response to N fertilizer is constrained on the remaining 85% of farms. Given the rising cost of chemical fertilizers, intensively-managed grassland beef farms should be soil tested regularly to identify any nutrient deficits and facilitate making more targeted applications of chemical fertilizer, slurry/dung and lime. Correcting soil fertility increases the availability of N in soils and improves the persistence of productive herbage species, such as perennial ryegrass and clover.
Soil pH affects the availability and uptake of major and trace elements to plants. To maximise grass production, and N, P and K availability the ideal pH is 6.3 for most soils. Liming increases soil pH, and research has found by applying 5 t/ha of lime, to a soil with a low pH of 5.2 resulted in additional 1.0 t DM/ha/annum being grown. There is a low-to-medium demand for P and K on grazing paddocks on beef farms as the majority of P and K removed under grazing is recycled back by grazing animals. In contrast, silage paddocks have much greater offtakes. Organic manures are the cheapest form of fertilizer and should be strategically used to maintain and build P and K levels to index 3. Typically, 1000 gallons of cattle slurry contains 5 and 30 units of P and K, respectively, similar to 1 bag of 0-7-30. The correction of grassland soils from a P index 1 to 3 results in the production of an additional 1.5 t DM/ha/ annum from swards.
Managing the grass plant
To achieve a long grazing season, good grazing infrastructure (paddocks, roadways, water, etc.) is necessary to maximise grass growth, utilisation and to help maintain sward quality whilst reducing labour. On many drystock farms the number of paddocks is inadequate resulting in an excessively long residency times. Extended residency times will lead to cattle opting to graze regrowth, contributing to reduced DM production, reduced opportunity for white clover and ultimately poor animal performance due to restricted intake by prolonging the duration for which excessively low herbage mass is offered. The grass plant can only support three actively growing leaves, and if a fourth emerges the oldest leaf will begin to die reducing sward ‘quality’. During the mid-season it takes seven days for a grass leaf to appear. To strike a balance between quantity and quality the optimum time to graze is when the plant has 2.5 to 3 actively growing leaves. The number of days it takes to reach the three-leaf growth stage should determine your farms rotation length - this is typically 21 days during the midseason (3 leaves × 7 days per leaf). Grazing infrastructure facilitates early-spring grazing on beef farms, which can support higher animal performance, helping meet live weight targets as spring grass compared to grass silage is of higher highly digestibility, protein, DM content and energy, with each kg DM having 1.03 Unité Fourragère Viande (UFV; net energy for meat production). In spring, the aim is to maximise the number of animals grazing pasture, while at the same time budgeting to ensure sufficient grass until the start of the second grazing rotation in early-April. This is generally done by turning ‘priority’ groups of cattle out to pasture first, such as weanlings or cattle intended for slaughter in early summer. The main challenge in mid-season is to maintain sward quality as grass goes through the reproductive growth stage. The target is a rotation length of 18 to 21 days and to maintain pre-grazing ‘covers’ of 1300 to 1600 kg DM/ha. When grass growth exceeds demand paddocks need to be removed, as high-quality baled silage. Planning for spring grass begins the previous autumn as the majority of grass available for early-grazing has been grown over the autumn/winter months. Over winter the nutritive value of grass usually ‘improves’, meaning higher levels of animal performance are possible in spring than autumn, so there are many advantages of preserving the supply of autumn grass for use the following spring. To do this farms have to start ‘building’ farm cover by reducing demand and slowing down the grazing rotation from about mid-August, extending it by 10 days/month until about mid-October when rotation length reaches 45 days. This means that higher pre-grazing covers of 2000 to 2300 kg DM/ha will need to be grazed.
The role of clover
White clover is included in perennial ryegrass mixtures to improve sward nutritive value for animal production and reduce N fertilizer use due to the ability of clover to ‘fix’ atmospheric N, equivalent to between 50 and 150 kg N/ha/annum. Managing grassland with less chemical N fertilizer input, through greater reliance on biological N fixation by clover can reduce costs (less chemical N fertiliser), reduce GHG emissions, and increase herbage quality. The inclusion of white clover in grazing swards improves herbage quality and promotes higher
DM intake, which can lead to increased live weight gain of beef cattle. The contribution of clover to improved sward quality occurs when it exceeds 25% of the sward on a DM basis, which generally occurs from June onwards, and helps combat the decline in grass quality at that time of the year. To promote a high clover percentage, swards should be grazed at covers from 1300 to 1600 kg DM/ha, tightly to a residual height of 4 cm to encourage light to the base of the sward and receive a reduced level of N fertilizer over the summer months. It is important to close clover paddocks late in the year at low covers to encourage light to the base of the sward so as to promote the survival and development of stolons over the winter and increase clover’s competitiveness with grass over the following grazing season.
Red clover swards have the ability to fix higher levels of N (150-200 kg N/ha annually) when compared to white clover. The growing point of red clover is more exposed in the sward than that of white clover making it more vulnerable to physical damage from animals and machinery. This means that red clover is less suitable for frequent grazing and is usually established as a ‘silage crop’. Red clover swards generally persist for two to four years under a multi-cut system, although well-managed swards can persist somewhat longer. Research at Teagasc Grange found that swards of red clover sown in a mixture with perennial ryegrass and receiving no chemical N fertilizer persisted for six years and, on average, across those years produced a similar annual yield to perennial ryegrass swards receiving 412 kg N/ha when managed under a four-cut silage system.
Balancing winter feed costs and animal performance
Typically, grass silage provides 25-30% of the annual feed requirements of beef cattle. Silage is a relatively expensive feed to produce. Optimising its yield and ‘quality’ is an important consideration in relation to animal performance and reducing the requirement for purchased concentrates. Beef systems generally consist of multiple animal groups (e.g. suckler cows, weanlings and finishers) which have different nutrient requirements.
Dry suckler cows in good body condition can be adequately fed on moderate quality silage (67% DM digestibility, DMD), whereas higher DMD silages are targeted to growing/finishing cattle and lactating cows. Due to compensatory growth at pasture during the following grazing season, weanling cattle only need to grow at a moderate rate over the first winter, 0.5-0.6 kg live weight/day. Where silage DMD is high (e.g. 75% DMD) this growth rate can be achieved with less than 1.0 kg concentrate/day, whereas when silage DMD is low (e.g. 65%), 1.5-2.0 kg/day of concentrate supplement is required. Similarly, finishing cattle offered silage with a DMD of 70% require 5.5-6.5 kg concentrate daily to gain 1.0 kg live weight /day; to sustain this growth rate, every 1% unit drop in silage DMD requires an additional 0.33 kg/day of concentrate. It is important to conduct a silage quality analysis to provide the preservation efficiency and nutritional plus feeding value, in order to devise appropriate feeding regimes. Commercially, the feed value of silage is predominantly analysed using Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS), which provides rapid results. The reliability of these results is dependent on calibration. Testing systems used should be accredited, with laboratories/operators performing checks against silages with a known laboratory ‘wet chemistry’ result.
Drafting for slaughter
The selection of cattle for slaughter (drafting) is primarily dependent on their ability to meet market specifications for carcass fat score, which is between 2+ and 4=. Nationally, a relatively high percentage of animals are being slaughtered at excessively high fat scores, representing additional feed days, and associated economic and environmental costs. Studies from Grange have shown no impact on meat eating quality from cattle slaughtered at a ‘low’ carcass fat score from a pasture-based diet compared to animals with a higher carcass fat score produced on a high-concentrate indoor finishing system. As finishing periods increase in duration, the conversion of feed into carcass reduces, to a point where feed costs exceed returns from carcass gain. It is essential that live weight gain and the level of fatness of finishing cattle are monitored regularly, allowing timely drafting for slaughter. Body condition (fat) scoring, by ‘handling’ each animal and paying particular attention to the level of fat deposited at the tail head, rump, loin, ribs and between folds of skin, is essential. The ‘fleshing ability’ of animals will determine the frequency of drafting; this is generally completed every 10 days across research herds in Teagasc Grange.