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Last week, the first of three mart demos was held at Camlough Mart. Along with practical advice for dealing with calving issues and getting calves off to the best possible start in life, Paul Jamison gave an update of how his suckler herd has progressed since joining the BETTER Farm programme in 2017.
Any heifer that is not suited to breeding, or scanning empty, is fattened
Paul farms 100 acres of grassland near Dromore, Co Down, in partnership with his father, Thomas. Since joining the programme, numbers have increased to 75 cows and heifers calving down this spring, from around 60 animals in the beginning.
All cows are spring-calving, with male progeny finished as young bulls. As the herd has been increasing in numbers, heifers have mainly been held for breeding. However, any heifer that is not suited to breeding, or scanning empty, is fattened.
Outlined are five key changes to the farming system since joining the BETTER Farm programme.
1 Farm finances
Gross margin (GM) for the farm at the outset of the programme was £478/ha and generated from an average of 56 cows weaning their calves in 2016.
It increased to £857/ha by 2017, and in 2018 it was £755/ha. Last year, GM decreased due to a combination of factors such as increased concentrate feed costs and higher mortality during the spring calving period.
However, the rise in cow numbers means that herd output is set to increase significantly. The farm has potential to reach a GM of £1,100/ha once the herd settles at its target of weaning 70 calves annually and the calving period tightens into March and April.
2 Calving pattern
With an intensive bull beef finishing system in operation, the herd needs to settle into a compact calving period of nine to 10 weeks, starting in early March.
To be fair to Paul, the herd was making significant progress in this area. In 2018, herd fertility was excellent, with a calving index of 364 days.
However, an injury to a new stock bull last year meant there was a short period during July when cows were not being served.
His target is to have 60 cows calved during March and April, with all calving completed by early May
This will have a negative impact on the overall fertility figure in 2019, although Paul is confident that cows will generally come forward in calving dates over the next couple of years.
His target is to have 60 cows calved during March and April, with all calving completed by early May. Due to problems with the stock bull, calving will run into June this year.
Late-born male calves will be too light at housing and unlikely to reach a suitable finishing weight until next July or August. Such a prolonged indoor finishing period makes the economics of finishing June-born animals as young bulls highly questionable.
In contrast, the March and April-born bulls are more likely to be above 300kg at housing time and will finish by May to June.
3 Maternal traits
Cow type is mainly purebred Limousin crossed back to Limousin sires, so hybrid vigour is lacking in the herd. As a result of the breeding programme, there are several cows with low milking ability.
The performance of two homebred cows with calves at foot was discussed during the demo. One cow calved for the first time on 23 April 2018 and is scanned to calve again on 4 April 2019, giving a calving interval of 343 days. At weaning, she weighed 580kg with her calf weighing 262kg, giving a weaning percentage of 45%. Calves were weaned at 200 days old.
The second cow calved for the first time on 17 April 2018 and is due to calve again on 25 March, giving a calving interval of 342 days. At weaning, the cow weighed 700kg with her calf weighing 222kg at 200 days old, which is a weaning percentage of 32% of a mature cow’s weight.
Now that the herd has reached its target number of breeding stock, Paul can be more selective when culling and remove cows that wean lighter calves
The example highlighted how important milking ability is in the herd. Both cows are the same age, calved at a similar time, bred to the same sire, managed in the same way, yet there is 40kg difference in weaning weight.
At a liveweight value of 220p/kg, the heavier cow produced £88 less output from weaning a lighter calf.
As the herd operates a finishing system, lighter calves at weaning results in a longer period to reach slaughter weight, thereby increasing feed costs.
Now that the herd has reached its target number of breeding stock, Paul can be more selective when culling and remove cows that wean lighter calves.
This will help to speed up the rate of genetic progress in the herd, and when combined with a tighter calving period, calf housing weights should increase.
4 Changing breed type
In 2018, new genetics were introduced to the herd to increase hybrid vigour in cows. New stock bulls were purchased with Simmental and Angus sires joining the herd.
The Simmental bull did cover cows before he had to be replaced due to injury. The Angus bull was selected as a dual purpose sire, but his main role will be to produce replacements.
The bull has EBVs in the top 10% for gestation length, milk and scrotal size, which indicates he should produce fertile daughters with improved maternal traits. The bull also has growth and carcase traits in the top 20% of the breed.
Changing herd genetics through breeding alone is a slow process, so Paul also purchased in-calf heifers in 2018.
After a difficult calving period last year, when a number of calves aborted due to mycotoxins in silage, Paul had additional cows to cull.
The cull value of his cows more than covered the cost of purchasing in-calf heifers
With the cow trade returning strong prices for good-quality beef animals last June, Paul culled animals with little hesitation.
The cull value of his cows more than covered the cost of purchasing in-calf heifers. To reduce the potential disease risks of buying-in stock, the heifers were sourced from a farm within the BETTER Farm programme.
As this farm operates with a high health status and follows a strict health plan, the heifers were an ideal replacement choice for Paul.
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