There has been a huge increase in the number of young bulls slaughtered in Ireland over the last 15 years. In 2003, young bulls accounted for less than 6% of the annual prime male kill. This increased rapidly in the following years, peaking in 2012 at 30%, hitting a low of 19% in 2015 and settling at around 22% over the three years.
Interestingly, while the percentage of males slaughtered as bulls has reduced by about 8% since the peak in 2012, the actual figures show the reduction isn’t as steep, with 208,742 young bulls slaughtered in 2012 compared to 205,874 last year.
The rise in the number of bulls is mainly due to the increased production efficiencies of bulls compared to steers reared similarly. In recent years, research was carried out at Teagasc Grange as part of the PhD thesis of Kevin McMenamin to better understand the full extent of these increased efficiencies.
The trial consisted of 60 commercial Charolais and Limousin sired bull weanlings purchased at various marts around the country. On arrival to the farm, the protocol at Grange ensures all bulls get a worm dose as well as a pneumonia and clostridial vaccination. Stock are then returned to grass for two to three weeks, provided weather conditions are suitable. This allows the new arrivals time to settle in to their environment, reducing the amount of stress on the animals and keeping any sickness to a minimum. Daily herding involves feeding a small amount of concentrate under the electric fence. This makes it much easier to identify any sick animals that are slow to feed or reluctant to eat.
Half of the cattle were then castrated two weeks prior to the start of the trial. For the first winter, both groups of bulls and steers were treated the same. They were housed in a slatted shed with five animals per pen. The diet was 69 DMD grass silage fed ad-lib and 3kg of a barley based concentrate fed once daily on top of the silage. During this period, there was no significant difference in daily liveweight gains between the bulls and steers.
At the end of the winter period they were divided into one of four treatment groups:
Bulls, grazed for 100 days, re-housed and fed ad-lib concentrates through to slaughter (Bull GO/AL).Steers, grazed for 100 days, re-housed and fed ad-lib concentrates through to slaughter (Str GO/AL).Bulls, indoors on ad-lib concentrate through to slaughter (B AL)Steers, indoors on ad-lib concentrate through to slaughter (Str AL).Grass comparison
The grazing groups went to grass in late April. They were rotationally grazed on a six paddock farmlet, and moved on average every two to three days. The stocking rate was 6.58 bulls or steers per hectare. This gave a mean stocking rate of 3,250kg liveweight/ha for steers and 3,375kg liveweight/ha for bulls. Average pre-grazing sward height was 10.4cm (1720kgDM/ha) with an average post grazing sward height of 4.6cm.
Performance at grass was very good for both steers and bulls, however the increased production efficiencies became apparent at grass, with steers averaging just shy of 1.3kg daily liveweight gains while the bulls managed over 0.2kg/day more than steers at just under 1.5kg/day.
If we look at the increased production efficiency towards the end of the grazing period, the extra 21kg liveweight gained by the bulls compared to the steers is worth over €48/head valued at €2.30/kg. At the given stocking rate of the trial, that equates to over €380/ha additional output from grass for the bulls compared to steers.
Housed finishing period
At the end of the 100 days at pasture, the cattle were rehoused and adapted to an ad-lib concentrate diet over a three week period. Transitioning from a grass-based diet to a high concentrate diet takes careful management. Increasing the level of concentrates in the diet too quickly will cause digestive upsets, acidosis and in severe cases, this can lead to laminitis.
As a rule of thumb, the level of concentrate fed should increase by one kilo every second day until the animal reaches ad-lib feeding. A source of fibre should always be available to the animals. At Grange this is provided using grass silage. However, it is important to restrict the availability of silage as concentrate feeding increases. Some animals will naturally fill themselves with silage and not increase concentrate intakes. This can have a negative effect on growth rates and cause digestive issues as the availability of concentrates becomes greater where animals then gorge themselves.
Finishing performance
Performance of the bulls during the indoor finishing period was once again superior to that of the steers, with daily liveweight gains of 1.8kg and 1.5kg respectively. This meant that at the point of slaughter in October, when the animals were on average just under 19 months old, the bulls weighed 711kg compared to the steers at 651kg (Table 2).
The bulls also had a greater kill out percentage at 57.1% compared to 55.9% for the steers. This led to average carcase weights of 406kg and 364kg for bulls and steers respectively.
Bulls also graded one score better than steers, with their average carcase grading a U- compared to an R+ for steers. Carcase fat score was lower for bulls, achieving a score of between 2+ and 3- while the steers average fat score was between 3- and 3=. It is worth noting that all carcases met the minimum carcase fat specification of 2=.
Indoor system
The other two groups on the trial, were adapted to the same barley based concentrate offered ad-lib right through to the same point of slaughter as the grass-based treatments, instead of going to grass with their comrades.
It can be clearly seen from the red lines in Figure 1 that the steers (broken red line) kept pace with the bull group (hard red line) for the first 80 days or so.
After this, the bulls continued a nearly straight line growth curve as the steer group tailed off much sooner.
Liveweight gains for the first 100 days of the ad-lib indoor period was 1.8kg for the bulls compared to 1.65kg for the steers. The final 75 days of the finishing period saw the bulls achieve a daily liveweight gain of 1.35kg versus just almost 0.9kg for the steer group.
When feeding steers for that period of time ad-lib there was always going to be a tail-off in growth rates, but the experiment was designed to compare bulls and steers and push them to their production limits.
Slaughter data
This meant that at the point of slaughter, the indoor bulls weighed 728kg compared to the indoor steers at 683kg. Once again, kill out percentage was significantly greater for the bulls at 57.5% compared to the steers at 56%. This resulted in a carcase weight differential of 37kg between bulls (419kg) and steers (382kg).
Conformation score was on average one score greater for the bulls, with the indoor group averaging a U- and the indoor steer group averaging R+. The fat score difference was similar to the grass based groups with bulls coming in at an average 3= and the steers at between 3= and 3+.
Efficiency
Comparing the overall efficiency of the bulls and steers on this trial, there was a 17% increase in liveweight gain in favour of the bulls. At the same age of slaughter, bull carcase weight was 10% greater.
These findings are in line with multiple other international studies, where the data suggests an increase in liveweight gain of between 8 – 17%, an increase in carcase weight of around 9 – 14% and an increase in feed efficiency of 13 – 17% for bulls compared to steers reared similarly.
Read more
Beef farmers driven to the wall – Sinn Féin
Beef grazing: holding back the floods
There has been a huge increase in the number of young bulls slaughtered in Ireland over the last 15 years. In 2003, young bulls accounted for less than 6% of the annual prime male kill. This increased rapidly in the following years, peaking in 2012 at 30%, hitting a low of 19% in 2015 and settling at around 22% over the three years.
Interestingly, while the percentage of males slaughtered as bulls has reduced by about 8% since the peak in 2012, the actual figures show the reduction isn’t as steep, with 208,742 young bulls slaughtered in 2012 compared to 205,874 last year.
The rise in the number of bulls is mainly due to the increased production efficiencies of bulls compared to steers reared similarly. In recent years, research was carried out at Teagasc Grange as part of the PhD thesis of Kevin McMenamin to better understand the full extent of these increased efficiencies.
The trial consisted of 60 commercial Charolais and Limousin sired bull weanlings purchased at various marts around the country. On arrival to the farm, the protocol at Grange ensures all bulls get a worm dose as well as a pneumonia and clostridial vaccination. Stock are then returned to grass for two to three weeks, provided weather conditions are suitable. This allows the new arrivals time to settle in to their environment, reducing the amount of stress on the animals and keeping any sickness to a minimum. Daily herding involves feeding a small amount of concentrate under the electric fence. This makes it much easier to identify any sick animals that are slow to feed or reluctant to eat.
Half of the cattle were then castrated two weeks prior to the start of the trial. For the first winter, both groups of bulls and steers were treated the same. They were housed in a slatted shed with five animals per pen. The diet was 69 DMD grass silage fed ad-lib and 3kg of a barley based concentrate fed once daily on top of the silage. During this period, there was no significant difference in daily liveweight gains between the bulls and steers.
At the end of the winter period they were divided into one of four treatment groups:
Bulls, grazed for 100 days, re-housed and fed ad-lib concentrates through to slaughter (Bull GO/AL).Steers, grazed for 100 days, re-housed and fed ad-lib concentrates through to slaughter (Str GO/AL).Bulls, indoors on ad-lib concentrate through to slaughter (B AL)Steers, indoors on ad-lib concentrate through to slaughter (Str AL).Grass comparison
The grazing groups went to grass in late April. They were rotationally grazed on a six paddock farmlet, and moved on average every two to three days. The stocking rate was 6.58 bulls or steers per hectare. This gave a mean stocking rate of 3,250kg liveweight/ha for steers and 3,375kg liveweight/ha for bulls. Average pre-grazing sward height was 10.4cm (1720kgDM/ha) with an average post grazing sward height of 4.6cm.
Performance at grass was very good for both steers and bulls, however the increased production efficiencies became apparent at grass, with steers averaging just shy of 1.3kg daily liveweight gains while the bulls managed over 0.2kg/day more than steers at just under 1.5kg/day.
If we look at the increased production efficiency towards the end of the grazing period, the extra 21kg liveweight gained by the bulls compared to the steers is worth over €48/head valued at €2.30/kg. At the given stocking rate of the trial, that equates to over €380/ha additional output from grass for the bulls compared to steers.
Housed finishing period
At the end of the 100 days at pasture, the cattle were rehoused and adapted to an ad-lib concentrate diet over a three week period. Transitioning from a grass-based diet to a high concentrate diet takes careful management. Increasing the level of concentrates in the diet too quickly will cause digestive upsets, acidosis and in severe cases, this can lead to laminitis.
As a rule of thumb, the level of concentrate fed should increase by one kilo every second day until the animal reaches ad-lib feeding. A source of fibre should always be available to the animals. At Grange this is provided using grass silage. However, it is important to restrict the availability of silage as concentrate feeding increases. Some animals will naturally fill themselves with silage and not increase concentrate intakes. This can have a negative effect on growth rates and cause digestive issues as the availability of concentrates becomes greater where animals then gorge themselves.
Finishing performance
Performance of the bulls during the indoor finishing period was once again superior to that of the steers, with daily liveweight gains of 1.8kg and 1.5kg respectively. This meant that at the point of slaughter in October, when the animals were on average just under 19 months old, the bulls weighed 711kg compared to the steers at 651kg (Table 2).
The bulls also had a greater kill out percentage at 57.1% compared to 55.9% for the steers. This led to average carcase weights of 406kg and 364kg for bulls and steers respectively.
Bulls also graded one score better than steers, with their average carcase grading a U- compared to an R+ for steers. Carcase fat score was lower for bulls, achieving a score of between 2+ and 3- while the steers average fat score was between 3- and 3=. It is worth noting that all carcases met the minimum carcase fat specification of 2=.
Indoor system
The other two groups on the trial, were adapted to the same barley based concentrate offered ad-lib right through to the same point of slaughter as the grass-based treatments, instead of going to grass with their comrades.
It can be clearly seen from the red lines in Figure 1 that the steers (broken red line) kept pace with the bull group (hard red line) for the first 80 days or so.
After this, the bulls continued a nearly straight line growth curve as the steer group tailed off much sooner.
Liveweight gains for the first 100 days of the ad-lib indoor period was 1.8kg for the bulls compared to 1.65kg for the steers. The final 75 days of the finishing period saw the bulls achieve a daily liveweight gain of 1.35kg versus just almost 0.9kg for the steer group.
When feeding steers for that period of time ad-lib there was always going to be a tail-off in growth rates, but the experiment was designed to compare bulls and steers and push them to their production limits.
Slaughter data
This meant that at the point of slaughter, the indoor bulls weighed 728kg compared to the indoor steers at 683kg. Once again, kill out percentage was significantly greater for the bulls at 57.5% compared to the steers at 56%. This resulted in a carcase weight differential of 37kg between bulls (419kg) and steers (382kg).
Conformation score was on average one score greater for the bulls, with the indoor group averaging a U- and the indoor steer group averaging R+. The fat score difference was similar to the grass based groups with bulls coming in at an average 3= and the steers at between 3= and 3+.
Efficiency
Comparing the overall efficiency of the bulls and steers on this trial, there was a 17% increase in liveweight gain in favour of the bulls. At the same age of slaughter, bull carcase weight was 10% greater.
These findings are in line with multiple other international studies, where the data suggests an increase in liveweight gain of between 8 – 17%, an increase in carcase weight of around 9 – 14% and an increase in feed efficiency of 13 – 17% for bulls compared to steers reared similarly.
Read more
Beef farmers driven to the wall – Sinn Féin
Beef grazing: holding back the floods
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