Long-term performance of beef cattle herds on Mediterranean rangeland

Transcription

1 Long-term performance of beef cattle herds on Mediterranean rangeland Eugene David Ungar Department of Agronomy and Natural Resources Institute of Plant Sciences Agricultural Research Organization - The Volcani Center Israel

2 Cattle production in Israel: DAIRY: highly intensive; no grazing; high input, high output; national genetic improvement scheme; good data recording and analysis BEEF: very extensive; mother herd on rangeland; low input, output??; chaotic breeding program; poor data recording and analysis

3 BEEF SECTOR Lack of solid data on production efficiency Getting worse? Interest in long-term data Captures the bigger picture Can show slow, but important, trends

4 Objective To quantify the biological performance and production efficiency of beef cattle herds on rangeland Ultimately Analyze the relationship between management and production efficiency Provide normative indices for the economic analysis of the herd and sector Provide basic functions for the simulation and optimization of the system

5 Approach Characterize system & management Climate, topography, vegetation Grazing management; area per cow Breed Breeding seasons Culling and replacement policy Supplementary feeding Veterinary care Compute herd level performance from data at the individual animal level

6 Data analysis at the animal herd level Standardized method of data analysis Boker Tov software package System for organizing and manipulating data based on Microsoft Excel Uses macro language for running algorithms for data input/output, table building and analysis About 7, lines of macro programming code Ungar, E.D. (22) BokerTov: A record-keeping and analysis program for beef herds at pasture. Agronomy Journal 94:493-5.

7 Core data structure Basic data on each cow: Identification Birth date Entry date to cow population Birth date and identification of all calves born to the cow Exit date from cow population for any reason Exit code No data on pregnancy diagnosis Basic data on each calf: Identification Gender Mother identification Birth date Weaning/exit date from the system for any reason Weaning/exit weight Weaning/exit code

8 Expression of production efficiency OUTPUT INPUT = Calf (number or weight) Cow-days in the system Gross calf production: live, dead, stolen, lost etc Net calf production = marketable Cow-days in the system = from entry date into cow population till exit date from system (or date of analysis)

9 Ways of examining production efficiency Global summary of system in a single number Production efficiency according to three axes: Chronological time Age of cow Time of cow entry into system ( cohort ) Compute for system as is OR for average cow

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11 Keshet (owned by collective) 25 years data 22 cows, 1694 calves Local cows, mixed Simford (Simmental x Hereford) Bulls: Simford, Simmental, Charolais, Brahman Calving: July peak; wide Weaning: season A May/June; season B July

12 Keshet: herd size and age

13 Keshet: seasonality of calvings 3 2 מס וולדות lves born ס' 1 Number of cal חודש המלטה Birth month

14 Overall production efficiency of entire herd Included all 224 cows (that calved at least once) They accumulated 15,487 cow-years and produced 1,694 calves Gross Production efficiency: 1,694 15,487 =.69 calves per cow-yr Calf losses of 8.9%: Net Production efficiency: 9,737 15,487 =.63 calves per cow-yr Mean weaning wt 252 kg: 159 kg per cow-yr

15 Proportion of calves שיעור וולדות production ליצורfor Number of calves (live or dead) Agricultural year Cow age at calving (yr) Year of cow entry

16 Predation rate Mortality rate שנת כניסת האם לעדר גיל האם בהמלטה (שנים) שנה חקלאית Agricultural year Cow age at calving (yr) Year of cow entry Theft/loss rate

17 Calves/cow-yr Gross production efficiency Calves/cow-yr Net production efficiency Agricultural year Cow age at calving (yr) Year of cow entry

18 45 years data 944 cows, 6697 calves Breed: local Baladi, Brahman, Simmental Calving: Sept peak Weaning: June & Aug Shoshana (family owned)

19 Shoshana: herd size and age 35 N cows Age Age (years) N cows 2/1956 8/1961 1/1967 7/1972 1/1978 7/ /1988 6/ /1999 5/25 Date

20 Shoshana: seasonality of calvings 3 calves born Number of Birth month

21 Overall production efficiency of entire herd Included all 944 cows (that calved at least once) They accumulated 9,57 cow-years and produced 6,697 calves Gross Production efficiency: 6,697 9,57 =.74 calves per cow-yr Calf losses of 5.4%: Net Production efficiency: 6,334 9,57 =.7 calves per cow-yr Mean weaning wt 24 kg: 168 kg per cow-yr

22 Proportion of calves for production Number of calves (live or dead) Agricultural year Cow age at calving (yr) Year of cow entry

23 Calves/cow-yr Gross production efficiency 1999 Calves/cow-yr Net production efficiency Agricultural year Cow age at calving (yr) Year of cow entry

24 Conclusions Both herds widely regarded as being managed at a high level Overall efficiency levels far below potential Decline in production efficiency according to year of entry (cohort) Why??