Seeking the best ‘outcast’ cows

COULD THE best beef cow of the future be what’s currently considered a cast-off from the dairy industry?

That’s what a long-term trial at Massey University’s Tuapaka research farm on the outskirts of Palmerston North aims to find out.

The trial is based on what many dairy farmers have until now regarded as their ‘outcasts’: calves sired by beef bulls put over the tail end of the herd.

Dr Rebecca Hickson and Professor Steve Morris are running the Beef + Lamb NZ-funded trial with a herd of 200 cows. The cows are either pure Angus, Angus-Friesian, Angus-Jersey, or Angus-Kiwicross.

They’re being mated with Hereford, Angus, Simmental and Charolais bulls.

The objective is to determine the best beef cow based on its ability to: 

• Calve at two years of age.

• Achieve good weaning percentages.

Not be too heavy.

• Produce big calves while cleaning-up pasture.

• Carry body condition to get through tough times. 

• Produce progeny that grow well beyond weaning and taste good.

Hickson says it is about comparing cows of different live weight and milk production to see which are the most efficient on a number of criteria, in particular number of calves weaned, calf weights and cow feed requirements. They are looking for the perfect beef cow: a cow that meets all the above criteria and does so with the least inputs.

While it’s still early days in the trial, after four lactations some trends are starting to show up.

“What we are seeing is the reproductive performance – that is the number of calves weaned and inter-calving interval – and pregnancy rates are all very similar.

“The differences that are coming in [are] that the high milk yielding cows are producing heavier calves versus the lower milk cows which are producing lighter calves.”

Based on the results so far, Hickson says her current favourite is the Angus Kiwicross but they need to see if trends to date continue for another three years at least, and if any problems such as overly big udders or mastitis emerge that might not in a genuine beef cow.

“So far the Angus Kiwicross is in front because she is a moderate sized cow, so she’s a relatively low cost animal to run, but she’s producing great big calves.”

Hickson notes a lot more Kiwicross calves are coming out of the dairy industry and their potential is relatively unknown. Many show up with Jersey markings and people tend to shy away from them, but she says based on the results of the Massey trial to date, there is no reason to. In fact, they could be a good option.

“We hope that more people purchasing four days old calves or weaner calves are willing to purchase beef crossbred calves and it would be nice to see to more of those calves coming into the 

beef industry, as opposed to going on the bobby truck.

“Certainly, as a breeding cow they are a sensible choice. What we are really doing is putting the numbers out there. If farmers haven’t tried it, they don’t know,” says Hickson, noting the Friesian-Hereford was the cow used historically where farmers wanted a dairy-beef cross herd.

A common comment with such cows was that they would do well for a few years then develop problems as they got older.