Vets and consultants are urging suckler farmers to quantify how expert their cows really are at rearing beef by looking at a dogie's 200-day weight equally a percentage of cow weight at weaning.

Vet Kaz Strycharczyk of Blackness Sheep Subcontract Health believes tracking this central performance indicator (KPI) is a good way of agreement suckler cow efficiencies.

On most farms, an ideal target is for a moo-cow to wean 50% of her weight, he says. Therefore, a 700kg cow should produce a 350kg calf at weaning.

See likewise: Advice on weaning and creep feeding suckled calves

Yet, this indicator varies hugely. Black Sheep Farm Health ran a competition with seven of its jump-calving suckler herds.

Herds varied in size from 30 to 200 cows only were mostly native breeds. Farmers were asked to weigh cows and calves at weaning.

Results showed:

  • Average dogie to cow ratio ranged from 41-63%
  • Within herds, the best performing cows reared 57-101% of bodyweight
  • The worst performing cows weaned 24-42%.

Think about cow size

Heavier cows don't ever produce the biggest calves and aren't ever the well-nigh efficient.

For instance, two cows may each produce a dogie that's the same weight at 200 days. And, if i dam is heavier, she is costing more to feed and is less efficient than the lighter moo-cow.

This will affect margin. However, the smaller cow is merely more efficient if she calves easily, holds condition and gets back in calf.

Independent consultant David Hendy references one farm where cow size varied from 500kg to 870kg. The smallest cow produced a calf 33% heavier every bit a percentage of cow weight.

This would be impossible to establish without weighing cows and calves at weaning.

Computing performance at weaning tin can assistance you:

  • Decide the right size of cow for your private farm
  • Establish the optimum weight or breeding for the farm
  • Meliorate herd uniformity to aid with feed efficiency and create an even batch of calves.

Below, Mr Hendy sets out how to calculate your herd'southward efficiency and Mr Strycharczyk explains why this is important and what yous should do with the results.

How to calculate a calf's 200-solar day weight every bit a percentage of cow weight

Counterbalance all cows and heifers with their calves at weaning using the following calculations:

ane. Piece of work out your 200-solar day baseline boilerplate weaning weights

As calves may exist different ages at weaning, this removes any variability and makes the figures comparable year-on-year.

(Average weaned calf weight ÷ average age in days at weaning) 10 200 days = 200-day baseline average weaning weight

For example: (350kg ÷ 240 days) x 200 days = 292kg

2. Summate the percentage sum of barren cows and dead calves (calf bloodshed from birth until weaning)

Percent of barren cows + per centum of calf bloodshed = X%

For case: 5% + v%  = 10%

Take that number from 100% to get a figure for the percentage of in-dogie cows and alive calves

For example: 100% – x% = 90%

3. Calculate the 200-day true average weights of calves

200-twenty-four hours baseline average weaning weight 10 per centum of in-dogie cows and live calves = Xkg

For example: 292kg ten 90% = 262.8kg

4. Work out herd'due south average 200-day calf weight as a ratio of moo-cow weight

(200-day average weight of all calves ÷ average weight of all cows) 10 100 = X%

For instance: (262.8kg ÷ 650kg ) x 100= xl.iv%

How to use the figures

The key is to collect data for your farm and compare it year-on-year with a view to improving.

A weaning pct of 40% should exist a minimum target. If your herd is under this:

  • Look at private cows producing below boilerplate and ask why. Is it age, breed, or bull, for example? Can this exist used to inform alternative policy?
  • Can fertility exist improved? Target weaning 95 calves for every 100 cows put to the bull.
  • Are the calves suffering from a worm burden or affliction challenge?
  • Look at above-average cows and use this as part of your choice criteria for breeding replacements.

Central considerations

The KPI is only 1 factor influencing convenance decisions and should non be looked at in isolation. Attributes such every bit good feet, udders and temperament are key.

"On this measure, what you're looking for is a cow consistently rearing a dogie heavier than the average while not going lame, getting in calf, and with a adept temperament," says Mr Strycharczyk.

Information technology'southward also important to consider:

  • Was information technology a good year for grass growth? Were cows in peculiarly proficient status?
  • Did you creep-feed? If you fed creep ane yr and non the next, the figures won't be directly comparable, but the information could be used to highlight the benefits of creep on calf weight to cow weight ratio.
  • If you accept variable breeds, which performed all-time on your system?

Case report: Dan Burling, Concatenation Farm, Over, Cambridgeshire

Dan Burling

Dan Burling © Terry Burling//

Farm Facts: Concatenation Subcontract, Over, Cambridgeshire

  • Farmed by Dan Burling, his brother, Stuart, and father, Brian
  • 500ha (1,236 acres) grazeable expanse for cattle – crude, low-input RSPB ground
  • 500ha of arable – mostly milling wheat
  • 280 bound-calving Stabiliser cows
  • sixty% of heifers kept equally replacements. Nigh of the rest sold for breeding
  • Virtually males finished as bulls and sold deadweight to Woodheads or Dunbia
  • Bull finishing weights of 370-380kg deadweight at 12-13 months, grading R4L (mostly low Us)

For Dan Burling, who farms with his brother, Stuart, and father, Brian, agreement dogie weight as a percentage of cow weight helped confirm that convenance a smaller, more than uniform herd was the correct path.

The suckler herd was mainly large, Salers-cross cows put to a continental bull to produce a big carcass dogie. Calving issues were an ongoing trouble.

Later using a Stabiliser bull on some of the cows, Mr Burling realised that the smaller females brought big benefits: calving ease and calf vigour improved and more cows could exist carried on the aforementioned area of country.

The Stabiliser-cross calves also finished quicker. As a result, the determination was made to movement to a Stabiliser herd.

Keen to brand informed decisions based on data, he joined AHDB Beef & Lamb'due south Progressive Beefiness Group and began benchmarking various parameters, including calf weight as a percent of moo-cow weight.

The figures showed that the continental-cantankerous cows weighing 800kg weaned xl% of their bodyweight, on average, compared to about 50-52% for smaller, Stabiliser-blazon cows of nearly 650kg.

"It highlighted that the right thing to do was to take a smaller cow," Mr Burling recalls.

Prior to making breed changes, average cow size was higher and there was variability betwixt cows.

This meant cows often had to exist split and fed co-ordinate to size and weight. .Now, cows average well-nigh 650kg and the herd is more fifty-fifty, which has helped feed efficiencies.

Mr Burling stresses that considering of its relatively low heritability, farmers should not look at weaning weight as a ratio of cow weight in isolation or put too much emphasis on it.

Correcting all figures to a 200-day weight is also important to allow fair controlling. Body condition score should also be noted at the same fourth dimension as weighing.