Article courtesy of Irish Farmers Journal, May 2010

Matching breeding policy to suit farm Implementing a breeding programme that operates within the constraints of your farming system is essential, if you are to achieve a high level of output.

Last week, Justin McCarthy travelled to Kilcorney, Co. Cork to see how one farmer operating a suckler to beef system has tailored his programme to overcome problems with land type and farm fragmentation In the beef breeding supplement in April, I wrote an article detailing the importance of matching your breeding programme to the constraints of your farm.

The article detailed the three main pillars of output from a suckler herd as calf weight, calf quality and the number of calves you had to sell in relation to the number of cows that went to the bull. Honing in on anyone one of these factors when assessing how well your breeding programme is delivering is nonsense. To achieve a high level of output, you need to be scoring high on all three.

The price per kilo received or the top few weanlings sold is often used as the benchmark in the pub on a Saturday night when ranking the local weanling producers. Unfortunately, this ranking system doesn’t take into account the price received for the bottom 20% to 30% of weanlings and the empty cows that did not produce a calf either due poor conception rates or high mortality rates.

Most importantly of all, it does not take into account the importance of weight. In 2009, the top 10% of weanlings in the 200kg to 300kg bracket only sold for €3 per head more than the average weanling in the 300kg to 400kg bracket. This is despite the top 10% in the 200kg to 300kg bracket selling for €2.35/kg, with the average weanling in the 300kg to 400kg bracket selling for just €1.67/kg. The top 25% of weanlings in the 300kg to 400kg bracket actually sold for €140 per head more than the top 10% in the 200kg to 300kg bracket.

One farmer who has put time into designing a breeding programme that delivers on all three of the output pillars is William Murphy from Kilcorney, Co Cork. William, along with his wife Hannah and two sons, Barry and Evan, run a herd of 45 to 50 spring calving cows with progeny carried through to beef. William is a relatively new entrant into suckling having previously run a herd of 35 dairy cows.

Belgian Blue cross Friesian cow with AA crossed calf at foot.

The breeding policy on the farm is a prime example as to why you can’t assess how well a suckler farm is performing from looking over the hedge. To be honest, his Belgian Blue cows bred out of the dairy herd don’t look anything special and with an Aberdeen Angus bull used as the terminal sire the calves are good quality but, as weanlings, they certainly wouldn’t be show stoppers.

However, this breeding programme is delivering William a profit margin that, based on 2009 Teagasc profit monitor results, would place him well into the top third of suckler farmers in the country.

William explained how his breeding programme had to overcome two major problems on the farm. The first problem was land type. While the home farm, which is used to graze the suckler herd, is relatively dry, a number of the paddocks are extremely steep. Therefore, functionality of the bull was essential if good conception rates were to be achieved. In some paddocks, there would be a question mark over the ability of extreme muscled bulls to operate. Mature weight of the bull was also important. William explained that, in the past, he has run into problems with cows dislocating their hips when using a heavy bull on the steep ground. Therefore, the decision on what type of breed to select as terminal sire was based largely on land type.

Initially, the bulk of cows in the herd were AA X FR cows that had been carried over from the dairy herd. However, these cows are gradually being culled out of the herd with an increasing proportion of BB X FR heifers coming in as replacements.

The reason for culling the AAX cows was because when crossed back with an AA, the carcase weights of the progeny produced were too light and tended to be very fat. The progeny produced from the BB cows can not only be pushed to heavier weights but carcase conformation is far superior.

Another major constraint on the farms was fragmentation. The 179-acre farm is in three divisions with 91 acres located a 40-minute drive away from the home farm. Obviously stocking this farm with cows and calves was not a viable option, hence the reason why the decision was taken to operate a suckler to beef system.

YEARLING PROGENY

The out-farm is used to graze the yearling progeny over the second summer. Both steers and heifers are also housed on this farm during the second winter and slaughtered out of the shed.

This set-up was another reason why William decided to use an Angus bull as the terminal sire.

By using the Angus, he can sell all his cattle at once. When housed in the autumn, William contacts Charles Smith of the Certified Irish Angus beef scheme to agree a date when the cattle will be slaughtered. From housing through to eight weeks pre-slaughter, both steers and heifers are fed a diet of ad-lib silage plus 1kg to 2kg of meal per day. Then for the last eight weeks, meals are increased to ad-lib with silage removed from the diet and replaced with straw. After the eight weeks on adlib meal, the entire group are ready to be slaughtered.

A 15-month-old Aberdeen Angus steer out of a Belgian Blue cross Friesian cow

With William having to incur a round trip of almost 1.5 hours, being able to slaughter the entire group at once is a major benefit as it would take as long to go down and feed five cattle as 40.

Another factor with the Aberdeen Angus is that the heifers tend to be slaughtered at 19 or 20 months of age with the steers gone off the farm by 22 months.

This means that all the beef cattle are sold off the farm before calving starts in the spring. This is an important consideration as William would not want to be away from the yard for over two hours each day during calving.

IS THE BREEDING DELIVERING WELL?

WILLIAM Murphy has put time into developing a breeding programme that delivers under the constraints of his farm. The Kilcorney man doesn’t produce weanlings that will attract fancy prices in the mart. His goal is to produce good quality R/U grade steers and heifers that will finish at 18 or 22 months and will achieve a high percentage of total liveweight gain from grass.

The breeding programme is delivering on all three of the output drivers while, at the same time, overcoming farm specific challenges such as land type and fragmentation. Despite the terrain, he is achieving high fertility rates and is focused on keeping the calving pattern tight with the breeding season limited to 12 weeks. He is achieving a high weaning rate as a percentage of cows that went to the bulb and mortality rate at 28 days is 4%. In terms of carcase weight, he is achieving 300kg to 320kg carcases for the heifers and from 350kg to 360kg for the steers.

It is also important to factor in that William is producing a premium product, which through the Certified Angus scheme is receiving a 10c/kg bonus. In my view, one of the most impressive achievements of William’s breeding programme is the fact that he identified a cow type that will make up for weaknesses in the bull.

The bull should always bring something new to the party, e.g. it should make up for any weakness in the cow. In this case, land type limited William as to the type of bull he could use. Therefore, his focus has been to bring a cow through into the system that makes up for weakness in the bull.

Although the BBx cows are certainly not oil paintings, they still have that muscle gene — albeit is dormant in the cow. However, you can see it coming through in the calf and this is the reason why William is consistently hitting R/U grades for conformation and is consistently winning the prize for the best pen of AA steers and heifers at the annual show and sale in Bandon mart.

William Murphy along with sons Brian and Evan. The father and son team have won top prize for the best pen of Aberdeen Angus steers and heifers at the Bandon mart autumn show and sale on numerous occasions.

This year, he has brought in a number of Saler heifers into the herd. In my view, this is a mistake. While these heifers may increase the frame and carcase weight, this could be at the expense of conformation. To get the full benefit of the Saler, you need to be crossing with a muscular bull.

Nonetheless, farmers across the country could learn a lot from this breeding programme. Firstly, it is focused on herd output and not the output of individual cows. Secondly, it clearly demonstrates how a well-designed breeding system can overcome various individual farm constraints, while still managing to deliver on all three drivers of output. More farmers need to stand back and look at how suited their breeding programme is to their farm.

Capturing the Angus premium

CHARLES Smith, manager of the Certified Irish Angus beef scheme, joined me out on Williams farm to discuss how farmers can maximise the price they receive for Angus cattle.

Charles oversees the procurement and certification of 400 to 500 Angus cattle per week. These cattle are either slaughtered through the Kepak plants in Clonee, Watergrasshill, Athleague and Kilbeggan or the two AIBP plants in Bandon and Waterford. Both the AIBP group and Kepak have secured premium markers for certified Angus both in Ireland and across the Continent.

According to Charles, one of the main challenges he faces is securing adequate supplies of cattle each week to meet the demands of these markets. He says there is demand for over 600 cattle per week but the problem is sourcing them.

Surprisingly, it is not the number of Angus cattle available that is the problem. It is getting farmers to sell them through the scheme. Despite offering a 10c/kg premium above the base price for cattle that are booked in through the scheme, many farmers still continue to send animals directly to the factories.

As these animals are not certified and therefore not eligible for the premium markets, the farmer selling them losses out on the premium, which can be worth from €26 to €35 per head.

The 10c/kg premium is paid on carcases grading Oor better on conformation and up to 4+ on fat score. Apart from booking the cattle in through the certified scheme the animal must be:

• Sired by a register purebred Angus bull or AI.
• Polled.
• A minimum of 60days in the vendor’s herd.
• From a farm that is a member of the board Bia Quality Assurance Scheme.
• Declared on the identity card as being Angus or Angus Cross.

On the future of the premium, Charles says the plan is to increase the 10c/kg premium to 15c/kg during off-peak periods. This is likely to kick in this winter for farmers who book cattle in advance. If you want to know more about selling cattle through the Certified Irish Angus scheme, then you can contact Charles Smith on 086 8518368.