Beef Production Farming
Beef cattle are large ruminant animals that are raised for their meat. The beef industry is one of the second largest industry in animal production in the world because a lot of people consume beef meat in their daily meal. This article will have a look at the management in beef production that will help you to be more efficient in your beef production.
Beef Cattle Production Systems
There are three production systems available in Beef production and these are:
- Cow-calf beef cattle production system, that is used to produce Beef calves for marketing purposes.
- Purebred breeding beef cattle production system, that is used to produce bulls (male Beef cattle) which are used for the operation of cow calf.
- Slaughter beef cattle production system, that is used to fatten cows calf for slaughter.
Beef Breeds
When selecting beef breeds, you should consider certain characteristics and purpose of keeping your beef or the type of farm operation that you want to venture in as some beef are bred to have more carcases while others have different priorities. The following are Beef breeds available.
1. Angus
It is a beef breed that endures harsh weather conditions and has potential to weight up to 1,045 kg for a bull and 568 kg (1,252 lbs) for a cattle.
The breed gives an average milk yield of 1,820 kg and it matures early while at the same time giving a high carcass yield.
2. Charolais
Charolais breed has a medium to large body frame size and most of them have white coat or white to cream coat. Under good management a bull of this Beef breed weights an average of 1,136 kg, while a cow could weight an average of 727 kg. They produce an average milk yield of 1,818 kg.
3. Herefords
Herefords breed has red colour and medium frame body size. The breed has a potential to weight an average of 1,045 kg for the bull and an average weight of 682 kg for the cow. This breed gives an average milk of 1,588 kg.
4. Limousin
The Limousin breed has a reddish gold colour and medium framed body size. Under a good management it can weight an average of 1,091 kg for a bull and an average weight of 727 kg for a cow. It gives an average milk yield of 2,272 kg.
5. Shorthorn
Shorthorn breed has red to roan to white colour and is of medium. It has a potential of weighing an average of 1,045 kg for a bull and a weight of 636 kg for a cow. Shorthorn is able to give an average milk of 1,814 kg.
Selecting an Animal
Purchasing and Selecting Stock
A beef cattle farmer is supposed to make an important decision about a type of beef operation which he/she must undertake as there are two types of them. The farmer can operate a cow calf farm which mainly focuses on breeding and raising of Beef calf until they reach weaning stage.
The farmer can also decide to take a Beef finish operation farm system that aims at fattening and slaughtering of beefs for sales. A farmer buys a weaned heifer or a steer. However, some beef cattle farmers are able to operate successfully a combination of these two.
As a Beef farmer you should keep the following points in mind when you are deciding between finishing a heifer or a steer for market:
- Heifers grow slower, but will fatten at a lighter weight than steers.
- Depending on the breed, heifers will likely finish approximately 70 kg (154 lbs) lighter than steers. So, if you finish a heifer and a steer at the same weight, the heifer will be fatter than steer.
- Heifers are often more active than a steer, so they require more energy per unit of grain and more feed per unit of weight gain than a steer.
- There is always the possibility the heifer may be or become pregnant.
- Heifer calves can often be purchased at a lower price than steers.
- Instead of being slaughtered, heifer calves may be bought as breeding stock.
Crossbred or Purebred?
Another decision you should make as a farmer is whether to buy a purebred (single breed) or a crossbred (mixture of breeds). A purebred calf is one whose parents are of the same breed, with no other breeds present in their background, while a crossbred calf has parents of different or mixed breeds. The calf will have characteristics of more than one breed, and, hopefully, the most desirable characteristics of each. Commercial breeders often prefer crossbred Beef animals for the following reasons:
- They may inherit the desirable characteristics of each breed, which make them prolific in Beef production industry.
- Crossbred calves often have hybrid vigour which make their performance greater than the average performance of their parents. Hybrid vigour is present if Beef traits are enhanced due to the mixing of parental genes. Most often, the greatest improvements are in fertility, growth rate, and feed conversion.
- Due to higher milk production, some breeds of cows have higher pre-weaning gains.
- Crossbred calves will finish earlier than some of the larger-framed purebred cattle.
Assessing an Animal’s History
A Beef cattle history and previous management will affect how your Beef grows, develops, and maintains its overall health. When building a comprehensive history of your Beef Cattle, you should consider the following:
- Date of Birth/Age Verification
- Ask for an age-verification certificate.
- Does the certificate match the tag number?
Places for Buying Beef Cattle
As a farmer you should also make an important decision on where to buy a good Beef breed, which will perform well snd give desired results. In answering where to buy question, two options are available.
The first option you have is to purchase your Beef cattle at auction or by buying them from a private seller and each of these has advantages and disadvantages.
You should acquire more information about the past history which relate to its performances.
Conformation
As a Beef farmer, you should buy beef cattle which have desirable characteristics. One of the desirable characteristics is the body size (shape) of your Beef animal. It should be well distributed in size and should be well shaped.
You should also well check these qualities such as body frame size, muscling, volume and performances among others.
Care and Management
As a beef farmer you should have a good care for your Beef cattle to have a good healthy and be more efficient. You should ensure enough feeds and water is available all the time.
Whenever you notice any sign of sickness in your animal, you should call a local veterinary officer immediately, to check up your animal and medicate them.
Housing
A beef cattle house should be strong and of good quality. It should have a good air circulation (well ventilated) while at the same time be easy to clean. This will result in high efficiency rate of your Beef production.
All your Beef cattle having different age sizes should be kept at different sections. You should ensure each Beef cattle is given enough required space which would enable it to have freedom of movement. You should avoid exposing your Beef cattle to excessive sunlight all the time.
The 21-Day Cycle
The estrus cycle of the cattle is usually 21-days. This means, you can successfully breed your beef animal within. After a successful mating, the cow will have a gestation period of 283 days (period of pregnancy).
Calves Management
After successful mating and giving birth, you should make sure your calves are able to feed colostrum milk from their mother for them to have a good immunity in their body which helps them fight against diseases. You should introduce roughages and other feeds ration later.
Weaning
You will likely wean your calves at around 90 to 100 days.
After Weaning
You should provide nutritious feeds, that will enable your Beef to fatten quickly for sale. Your Beef cattle should be gaining an average weight of 0.8 to 1.0 kg per day.
You should control your Beef animal from gaining excessive fats. This can be done by providing low energy feed ration.
Dehorning
You should remove the cattle horn while they are at a tender age. Various methods are available for dehorning, but the easiest is through breeding. You should cross breed hornless bull for offering to have no horn. A dehorned cattle is easy to handle.
Castration
This is the removal of testicals on male Beef cattle having undesirable characteristics and will not be used for breeding purposes. You should castrate your male Beef as early as possible. You can castrate your male Beef cattle during its first week. You should seek help from your local veterinary officer.
Feeding
Cattle are ruminant animal and have four chambers. This means they digest fibers which otherwise cannot be digested by human stomach. You should provide roughages to your cattle. You should make sure also to provide nutritious feed for your beef animal to fatten and mature early.
Health
You should ensure your Beef cattle are healthy and strong, and whenever you notice strange things consultant a local veterinary officer immediately.
Healthy animal can easily be achieved through a good management system and well practicing biosecurity measures. You should ensure your beef house is clean and dry all the time as this can be a source of diseases.