Tough year, good pregnancies
From the July 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
One lesson that can be learnt from the drought is the impact of breeding herd management on cows successfully joining, producing and rearing the vital ‘calf a year, every year’.
Results from pregnancy testing of beef herds this year have shown huge variations of results, with some big herds only reporting conception rates of 50 to 60 per cent and other herds achieving more than 90pc. The large variation was for several reasons, mostly related to cow management leading into calving and then through to joining.
Bylong EU Beef producer Andrew Wallings has achieved very high conception rates this year, despite it being one of the driest on record for the Bylong area.
“We joined near 700 females last year and have been able to achieve greater than 95pc conception rate from both our heifers and cows,” he said.
“This is a really good result and will enable us to get back to full production sooner, once the drought has really broken.”
Mr Wallings said he employed a number of strategies to maintain his cows in good health. “It was important to monitor and maintain the cow’s fat score. To do this I fed at slightly above maintenance with a mix of white cottonseed and hay,” he said.
“I also early weaned calves at three to five months, depending on the cow’s condition.
“This was half way through joining, so I still had some weeks of joining non-lactating cows.”
Bull condition has been another important factor in ensuring good conception rates. “Bulls were kept in good forward store condition so they were ready, willing and able when their services were required,” he said.
“Prior to putting the bulls out, we go through them and make sure they are right structurally and all their health treatments are up to date.
“We have also ensured that our vaccination program has been kept up to date for the breeding herd and we keep a close eye on the cows during joining to make sure all the bulls are working, they have not hurt themselves, and there are no other issues with the bulls.
“We also take bulls out of the their mob cows towards the end of the joining period and replace them with fresh bulls for the final few weeks to ensure that if there is a problem, the new bulls can cover the cows and prevent a total failure.”
Mr Wallings believes his supplementary feeding program and early weaning of the calves were critical in achieving this year’s high conception rate during the drought.
Contact Brett Littler, Mudgee, 02 6372 4700.
