WITH calves now at foot on beef properties across the North Coast and seasonal forecasts still tending toward a drier-than-normal spring, strategies such as early weaning and temporary calf removal are on the minds of breeders.
Early weaning was implemented widely across the Northern Tablelands and, to a lesser degree, on the coast during the past season of dry conditions.
The success in terms of maintaining cow condition and good re-joining rates appears to have fuelled increased interest among Northern Rivers weaner specialists.
Speaking at a Casino beef producers field day last week, North Coast Local Land Services (LLS) livestock officer Nathan Jennings said depending on what spring brought, early weaning could be the go-to plan for many of the region’s producers given the hard year they’ve had.
Setting up the breeding herd for next year should be the priority and an understanding of why and how early weaning works, and the key elements to getting it right, was critical, he said.
Taking calves off as young as two to five months, where typically they would be weaned on the coast at six to 10 months, was about reducing the energy demands on the mother, therefore enabling her to better maintain and possibly increase body condition before calving next year.
Mr Jennings used the field day, organised by the LLS and rural suppliers Norco and attended by about 65 producers, to outline research on the energy requirements of breeders.
The research showed a 450 kilogram Bos indicus-Bos taurus cross – typical of coastal breeders – needs about 111 megajoules of energy per day when her calf is three months. At six months, she needs about 133MJ and receiving less than that will mean she drops weight.
“In a hard season, when it’s very unlikely that can be met by available feed in the paddock, pulling the calf off early releases that energy demand,” Mr Jennings said.
“The better condition a cow can calve in, the sooner she will begin cycling.
Early weaning is a strategy that extends the recovery time between weaning and the following calving.
“The aim is to maintain the body condition of breeders so they calve ideally in fat score 3, to ensure a higher percentage of cows cycle sooner.”
What options, then, for the calves?
The advice from animal production experts at the field day was to consider all avenues, know your feed costs thoroughly, have a plan and set a point when the situation is reviewed to take into account changing markets and costs.
“Weigh up what the calves are worth immediately with what the break even point will be if you take them through,” Mr Jennings said.
“If you do decide to feed, do the numbers on what they’ll require and come up with what sale rate will have to be realised to break even.”
Producers particularly needed to be realistic about expected growth rates, he said.
A high quality diet was critical. Early weaned calves need to receive a diet with at least 16pc crude protein, 11 MJ of metabolisable energy and free access to a reasonable quality fibre source.
“Start calves onto rations slowly – 1kg/head/day, increasing by 0.25kg /head every second day,” Mr Jennings said.
Boosting cow fertility at Mallanganee
TEMPORARY calf removal, a method that “tricks” the cow back into cycling, was another option discussed at the Casino field day.
When a cow calves and is lactating, the suckling stimulates the production of prolactin, which has a limiting affect on the hormone that drives cycling.
Livestock officer Nathan Jennings said the literature agreed after 48 hours of removing that stimulus, reproductive hormones began to kick back in.
Bruce and Sandra Jorgensen, who run a predominantly Simmental European Union-accredited herd targeting the end-of-March weaner steer market, have used temporary calf removal for the past five years with success.
The strategy is only used on first-calving heifers and Mr Jorgensen said the key was ensuring the heifers were in good body condition.
Research showed in cows with less than three millimetres of fat, when the calves were temporarily removed it would be very unlikely to see an increase in cycling or pregnancy rates but more than 4mm fat the trend was toward increased pregnancies.
However, this was small, Mr Jennings said.
Most beef cows will return to producing similar levels of milk after the temporary calf removal.
“Those calves are always up there with the rest of our weaners come market day and we only need to get another one or two calves to make it worthwhile,” Mr Jorgensen said.
The Jorgensens, who run the 145 hectare “The Valleys” near Mallanganee, west of Casino, plus a nearby 200ha, hosted the beef producers’ field day.
They have in place an extensive vaccination program, where cows and bulls get seven-in-one, plus treated for pestivirus, and bulls are also vaccinated for three day sickness and vibriosis.
Their calving rates are now at 93 per cent, which Local Land Services veterinarian Phil Kemsley (pictured with Mr Jorgensen) said was a good result on the coast.