Beef Cattle Industry Lecture PDF

THE BEEF C AT T L E INDUSTRY LUISA SOARES LMV, FHEA, MRCVS LECTURE B IN PRODUCTION ANIMAL MEDICINE  LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this lecture should be able to Describe the structure of the UK beef sector. Describe the annual management cycle. Indicate the import...

THE BEEF C AT T L E INDUSTRY LUISA SOARES LMV, FHEA, MRCVS LECTURE B IN PRODUCTION ANIMAL MEDICINE  LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this lecture should be able to Describe the structure of the UK beef sector. Describe the annual management cycle. Indicate the importance of nutrition, body condition scoring and breeding management. Estimate the value of beef animals. Describe important husbandry protocols. Describe the different types of beef production systems. Describe the key components of beef cattle husbandry. 2 https://www.nationalbeefassociation.com/workspace/pdfs/l andscapes-without-livestock-report-by-luc+eblex.pdf 3  ~ 50% of the beef we eat come from dairy progeny #universityofsurrey 4  BEEF PRODUCTION CAN BE DIVIDED INTO 4 MAIN SECTORS Pedigree breeding herds. Commercial beef suckler herd. Young stock rearing units. Fattening units. 5  PEDIGREE BREEDING HERDS Producing breeding bulls and high value breeding stock. Used in commercial beef and dairy herds which breed and rear animals for slaughter. 6  W H AT M A K E S A G O O D B R E E D I N G B U L L ? Estimated Breeding Value (EBV). A figure that indicates how much better or worse an animal is when compared with an average animal in the breed. Calculated from the performance records of the cattle. It calculates an accuracy of the EBV value based on how much data is available for that animal. Higher accuracy in animals that have produced recorded calves. An Index of 100 = the breed average. Variations in the index relate to whether the bulls EBV is in the top/bottom % for that breed. Maximum index 130 means the bull is in the top 1% of the breed for that trait. 7  AVA I L A B L E B E E F E BVS Gestation length: -ve = shorter. Calving ease: +ve = easier. Birthweight: -ve = low. 200 day weight. 400 day weight. Muscle score - based on carcase conformation. Fat depth – U/S backfat. 200 day milk kg. Beef value - carcase income. To estimate the impact of EBVs on the progeny of the animal, half the parent EBVs before adding together. 8 THE LIFECYCLE OF THE DAIRY COW Pre-weaning calf Weaned calf Close-up cow Breeding heifer Store animal Fattening animal Block service of cows 10  COMMERCIAL BEEF SUCKLER HERD Herd producing young stock destined for slaughter as a beef carcase. Spring born calves, weaned at 5-9 months. Kept as replacements or sent to finishing unit. Suckler cows kept specifically for beef calf production. Suckler cows usually run with bull vs AI. Suckler herd calves in Spring or Autumn. Aim one calf per year. 11  COMMERCIAL BEEF SUCKLER HERD Spring calving. Based on grass grazing and out-wintering. Calves weaned in the autumn. Autumn calving. Need conserved forages. Need adequate building and bedding. Calves weaned at turnout or over the summer. Both systems need adequate labour over calving. 12  COMMERCIAL BEEF SUCKLER HERD Compact calving season so: easier calf management as all at same age. Older calves heavier at weaning. Reduced calf disease and mortality. Easier feeding of cows as all at same stage. Keep correct BCS. Cows calving early have longer to get back in calf. 13 14  NUTRITION OF BEEF ANIMALS Feed costs 75% total variable costs. More extensive use of grazing. Lower milk yield so reduced outputs and inputs. https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/feeding-growing-and-finishing-cattle-for-better-returns 15 NUTRITION OF GROWING BEEF ANIMALS https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/feeding-growing-and-finishing-cattle-for-better-returns 16 NUTRITION OF FINISHING BEEF ANIMALS https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/feeding-growing-and-finishing-cattle-for-better-returns 17 NUTRITION OF SUCKLER COWS https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/feeding-suckler-cows-and-calves 18 BODY CONDITION SCORE BCS affected by nutrition. Feed costs 75% total variable costs. 19  BODY CONDITION SCORE Winter feeding/BCS (assumes BCS 3.0 on housing). Spring calvers loss 0.5 kg/day 1 BCS over housing period (100kg). Autumn calvers loss 0.25kg/day until in calf then 0.5kg/day. Cows need to gain 100kg (1BCS) in grazing season. Therefore BCS mid-season identify problem cow. 20 P E N N S TAT E B C S M E T H O D https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/body-condition-scoring-flow-chart https://www.nadis.org.uk/disease-a-z/cattle/condition-score-bcs-in-beef-herds/ 21 BCS 2 22 BCS 3 23 BCS 4 24 BCS 5 #universityofsurrey 25 S U C K L E R H E R D TA R G E T S 26  YOUNG STOCK REARING UNITS Take calves from the dairy sector. Young animals have variable resilience and are put at high risk by mixing and allowing exchange of pathogens. Biosecurity very difficult. Relies on biocontainment and resilience. 27  F AT T E N I N G U N I T S Take young stock from both the suckler herds and rearing units, and they fatten them for slaughter. Tend to be fairly resilient animals, with impact of disease minimised by good husbandry and early detection. BRD and BVD can have big impacts. Chronic disease less relevant. Take young stock from both the suckler herds and rearing units, and they fatten them for slaughter. Tend to be fairly resilient animals, with impact of disease minimised by good husbandry and early detection. BRD and BVD can have big impacts. Chronic disease less relevant. 28  FAT T E N I N G U N I T S 4 main feeding phases of beef cattle as they arrival at finishing units: Backgrounding for 35 days. Animals recover from transportation stress and hierarchical competition, get used to novel housing and feeding conditions, and encounter new microorganisms in the environment → BRD Transition for 35 days. Growing for 60 days. Finishing for 60 days. These phases allow gradual transition (over 2-3 weeks) from forage based to high concentrate (90%) based diets whilst minimising the risk of acidosis. Fibre is often fed separately in racks or round bale feeders - 1-1.5 kg/day straw. 29  FAT T E N I N G U N I T S Finishing cattle relies on a short period of maximum liveweight gain to meet market specification. Energy, particular in the form of starch, is used to drive liveweight gain. Increasing energy content increased growth and fat deposition. Diet can effect fat colour. Carotenoid pigment in green forage = yellow colouration. Cereal diet = whiter fat. Age at slaughter effects meat toughness. Aim to slaughter