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crossbred calves
Quality beef genetics can add value back into smaller crossbred calves
As part of GB Calf Week in November, the participants of an ongoing trial discussed how quality beef genetics can improve the value of smaller statured, crossbred calves in a webinar hosted by AHDB Dairy. Henrietta Szathmary reports.
Great British Calf Week is a large collaborative event led by the AHDB and NFU that celebrates the progress achieved by the industry since the launch of the GB Dairy Calf Strategy in 2020. Responding to the industry’s view that smaller crossbred cows produce lower spec calves that cannot make the grades for slaughter, a trial was conducted to investigate the value of these animals when combined with good beef genetics. The three participants – Gwyn Jones, vice chair of Ruminant Health and Welfare, dairy farmer Chris James, and Richard Phelps of ABP Food Group – have all worked collaboratively over the past year to address the issue. During a webinar chaired by AHDB Knowledge Exchange manager Laura Awdry, the group discussed the work they have undertaken to highlight the untapped potential of these animals.
One of the key aims of the GB Dairy Calf Strategy was to end on farm euthanasia of bull calves by 2023, Mr Jones said, and the number of calf euthanasias has fallen sharply since the strategy launched, said Mr Jones. Explaining the background of the recent trial, he said a contact in New Zealand told him about successful trials using quality beef genetics on crossbred cows to produce good quality dairy beef, using top bull Bruno, a Belgian Blue. Having learned of a Welsh farmer who used semen from Bruno extensively in his crossbred herds with good results, Mr Jones met with ABP’s Richard Phelps to nd a solution to the crossbred cow issue.
Excited by the prospect of producing highquality beef from these crossbred animals, Mr Phelps agreed to conduct a trial on ABP’s research farm in Shropshire. Despite being aware of the challenges associated with smaller stature cows, the team was interested to see what good genetics can achieve in terms of pro tability.
For the trial, ABP purchased 49 crossbred calves at six months of age, all sired by Bruno. According to Mr Phelps, the team was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the calves’ conformation when they arrived on the farm. At the time of the webinar, 37 of these animals had been slaughtered, with the rest continuing to grow well. Mr Phelps said the average age at slaughter was 19 months, with an average carcass weight of 289kg and killing-out (KO) percentage of 51%. Moreover, the carcasses demonstrated desirable attributes and most achieved a grading of R4L.
Meanwhile, the average daily liveweight gain (DLWG) in the crossbred herd was 0.9kg/day, which is relatively high given the animals were grass-fed with no supplementary feed. However, Mr Phelps said this should be taken with a pinch of salt, as ABP’s research and development unit has excellent grazing.
To illustrate how the Bruno-derived calves performed against the Holstein cross herd, Mr Phelps revealed the latter went o to slaughter at 18 months of age, achieving an average carcass weight of 323kg, a KO percentage of 52% and an average DLWG of 1.08kg. Regarding classi cation, Holstein cross carcasses performed similarly to the trial herd at R-3.
While the Holstein cross system performed slightly better than the Bruno model, it shows that smaller stature crossbred cows can still produce industry standard dairy beef calves when combined with good bull genetics. The trial will now move onto the meat quality analysis phase to see how Bruno’s o spring compare in taste with other animals reared at ABP.
Chris James, who farms approximately 1,200 head of dairy cows in West Wales near the coast, also trialled some Bruno semen in 2021. So far, he has been pleased with how the calves are developing, with the herd being outwintered as of mid-November 2022.
Mr James has been rearing his own calves on the farm for the past 10 years, having made the decision to see the calves as an opportunity rather than a nuisance. His herd is primarily made up of NZ genetics and consists of Aberdeen Angus, Belgian Blue, Stabiliser and Friesian cows.
Although Mr James and his team have used considerable crossbreeding in the past, they are slowly moving towards establishing a pure black and white herd. He said the aim is to produce heifers that weight at least 560kg at slaughter, which is more likely achieved from larger stature cows. FG
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EnduraBol bolus technology features ‘single point erosion’ that ensures consistent and reliable delivery of ve trace elements and three vitamins for up to six months for sheep weighing over 40kg, Nettex says. Nutrients include high levels of manganese, zinc, iodine, cobalt, selenium and vitamins A, D3 and E. The range includes EnduraBol Sheep and EnduraBol Sheep + Copper. EnduraBol Sheep contains no copper and is suitable for sensitive breeds and high copper areas. EnduraBol Sheep + Copper includes the same trace element and vitamin availability of EnduraBol Sheep with a bonus daily supply of 18mg of copper.
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Regardless of the time of year, all classes of stock on forage-based diets require supplementation of trace elements and vitamins due to their inclusion within forage varying signi cantly depending on soil type, weather conditions, plant species and fertiliser applications.
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Using the EnduraBol gun, boluses are administered with the Microbullet, which reduces the risk of calci cation and ensures controlled erosion of the bolus. Once the bolus has dissolved over six months within the rumen, the Microbullet will begin to breakdown.
EnduraBol boluses are engineered with a wax protection cap that covers the single point of erosion to ensure it doesn’t start releasing until it enters the sheep.
Each pack contains 40 boluses and 40 microbullets to service 40 sheep weighing over 40kg.
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