Ralph Cator
Joining Meat Hall's Class of 2010 - Canadian Meat Business
Joining Meat Hall's Class of 2010 - Canadian Meat Business
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2009 with the last weaning date for the<br />
late-calving group, which involved two<br />
cow herds calving at different times at<br />
each of the research sites in Brandon,<br />
Swift Current and Lanigan. There the<br />
scientists followed the cow herds right<br />
from calving through to the time that<br />
the calves were weaned or separated<br />
from their mothers. After the calves<br />
were weaned, the male calves, or steers,<br />
were brought from all three sites to<br />
the Brandon Research Centre for the<br />
next phase of production, the finishing<br />
phase.<br />
During the finishing phase, the steers<br />
were split into two different feeding<br />
programs: a rapid (conventional)<br />
finishing with a short backgrounding<br />
period before high-grain feedlot<br />
finishing; or, a slow finishing system<br />
with a longer backgrounding period,<br />
pasture, swath grazing, and then highgrain<br />
feedlot finishing.<br />
“We wanted to be<br />
able to provide the<br />
information to beef<br />
producers here who may<br />
be thinking about making<br />
a transition from early<br />
calving system…to a<br />
later calving season…”<br />
– Dr. Bart Lardner, Western Beef<br />
Development Centre<br />
“This allows us to look at different<br />
opportunities for marketing those<br />
steers at different times of the year<br />
and varying the input necessary to<br />
get the animals ready for slaughter,”<br />
explains Dr. Scott. “Right now higher<br />
grain prices can increase the feed costs<br />
compared to lower forage costs. You<br />
can also weigh off the costs of the feed<br />
against the length of time that it’s going<br />
to take to finish them. Our colleagues<br />
at the University of Manitoba, Ms. Tanis<br />
Sirski and Dr. Derek Brewin and at<br />
AAFC Brandon and Summerland, Drs.<br />
Mohammad Khakbazan and Richard<br />
Carew, are looking at the economics<br />
of the whole system so we can provide<br />
the information to producers in terms<br />
of the different variables that we’ve<br />
examined and the impact they’ve had<br />
on profitability.”<br />
Preliminary results indicate that calf<br />
growth rate was significantly affected by<br />
location (Swift Current versus Lanigan<br />
and Brandon) and calving system<br />
(spring – early versus summer – late).<br />
Calf performance (average daily gain)<br />
was lower for calves in the late calving<br />
system compared to those in the early<br />
calving system. Cow reproductive<br />
efficiency (e.g., pregnancy rate, calving<br />
span, calving distribution over time,<br />
and weaning rate) was not affected by<br />
calving system. Body condition score<br />
decreased from breeding to weaning for<br />
cows in the late calving system, perhaps<br />
as a result of cold environmental<br />
temperatures coinciding with nursing<br />
calves.<br />
While the study is still on-going,<br />
preliminary results indicate that total<br />
production costs per head per year<br />
were lower in the late calving system<br />
compared to those in the early calving<br />
system. Increasing the number of<br />
days on pasture reduced overall costs.<br />
The late calving system decreased the<br />
amount of time required to feed cows<br />
in a drylot, therefore reducing the<br />
impact of this more expensive feeding<br />
system on total costs.<br />
The choice to consider changing<br />
the time of calving depends mainly on<br />
the ranch operator’s preference, but<br />
also on the herd size and the available<br />
labour, land and facilities. As noted<br />
above, preliminary results indicate that<br />
calf average daily gain was slightly lower<br />
for the late calving system, but delaying<br />
calving into the summer may be an<br />
efficient way for producers to reduce<br />
winter feeding costs.<br />
However, producers may have to deal<br />
with higher input costs during early<br />
spring calving period, compared to<br />
lower input costs during the summer<br />
calving period. Many beef producers<br />
also have crop operations, so summer<br />
calving might be a better balance of<br />
available labour on a mixed operation.<br />
Producers will also have to consider<br />
marketing options and calf prices<br />
when making the decision to change<br />
calving systems. Weather, feed supply<br />
and pasture condition are other factors<br />
that will affect decision-making.<br />
The study will be finished in early<br />
2011, including the analysis of cow-calf<br />
and finishing data, and the scientists<br />
hope to provide producers with more<br />
details on some of the pros and cons<br />
of early versus late calving so they can<br />
make their own informed decisions.<br />
Debbie Lockrey-Wessel is a communications<br />
advisor with Agriculture and Agri-Food<br />
Canada.<br />
meatbusiness.ca<br />
September/October 2010 Canadian Meat Business 23
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