We get behind the scenes at Teagasc’s beef research and the Derrypatrick herd
While debate continues to rage over the merits of the Beef Data Genomics scheme, the research behind beef genomics continues quietly in Teagasc’s research centre at Grange, Co Meath.
Adam Woods co-ordinates research on the Derrypatrick herd at Teagasc’s beef centre in Meath Derrypatrick Suckler Herd was established in 2009 to provide the beef sector with information similar to that being produced by the Teagasc dairy research centre in Moorepark, Co Cork.
The centre accommodates several herds that feed data into the scheme, including Teagasc’s flagship Derrypatrick Suckler Herd.
It was established in 2009 to give the beef sector a constant flow of information similar to that stemming from the likes of the dairy herd at Curtins in Moorepark.
In theory the challenge was straightforward – to build on the success of the Economic Breeding Index (EBI) in the dairy herd by creating a similar but different one for the beef herd. With the EBI returning an estimated €750m to dairy farmers since its launch in 2001, researchers turned their attentions to the profit-starved beef sector to work the same magic. However it has highlighted some issues in relation to cow type.
The first beef index, launched in the 2000s, was called the Suckler Breeding Value (SBV).
It was plagued with two problems. The first was easy to spot – it suffered from low reliability because there wasn’t the same flow of data coming through the beef sector as was the norm in milk recording dairy herds.
As a result, the reliability of the data was, at times, dubious to say the least.
The second problem took a little longer to emerge. The index was too heavily weighted in favour of animals that had superior beefing characteristics, and not heavily enough on key management issues such as fertility and milkiness.
In a way the SBV worked in that the carcase conformation and kill-out weights of the national herd increased significantly with each passing year.
The problem was that fertility levels were regressing, to the extent that beef farmers began to lose millions every year in reduced output.
A new pair of indexes were developed, this time with one focusing on terminal traits, and another for maternal traits.
A key aspect of a profitable suckler cow is the ability to wean a calf that weighs at least 350kg throughout her lifetime
But the indexes didn’t catch on. Some felt that farmers were confused about what they should be using, and breed societies were reluctant to include genetic ratings in their sales catalogues.
In the background, ongoing suspicions that the indexes were still not reliable were borne out, with many cases of five star bulls suddenly dropping to two star ratings within a couple of years.
The focus at Derrypatrick also continued to change, with the bull-beef crisis of 2013 triggering a move from concentrating on the performance of continental offspring to more early maturing breeds like Angus that were guaranteed to produce carcases that would meet every supermarket specification.
Adam Woods is the Teagasc man charged with ensuring that the management of the Derrypatrick herd is not only best-in-class, but also generating valuable data that will help the development of the sector.
Scanning
Scanning of the cows has just been completed, and Mr Woods is happy with the initial results.
“It looks like we’re still on target to get 80pc of the 95 cows bred within six weeks, so fertility is on track,” he said.
He acknowledges that the focus of research at the herd could go several different directions over the coming years.
At the moment we are comparing early maturing vs late maturing terminal sires and we are midway through this project.
It’s a little early to draw any conclusions as we have low numbers of animals slaughtered but at the moment both breeds are comparing quite well
“But that throws up the question as to whether the Derrypatrick herd should be focusing on maximising the profitability of the enterprise, or working on figuring out research issues that we still don’t have information for.
“For example, one question is whether we should be looking at different stocking rates or including clover in the system to see what effect it has on profitability.”
But one issue that he is clear on is the benefit that genomics can bring to beef farmers – if they accept it en masse.
“Farmers will often point out the small cow in the corner of a field that weans the heaviest calf each year.
“They know that the big fancy cow often does not always perform to her appearance.
“This is where genomics can play an important role in identifying profitable animals from a very early age so they can be brought into the herd as replacements,” he says.
“Nobody is saying for a suckler farmer to start picking their replacements off paper.
“At the same time, they shouldn’t ignore the advantages of the new Beef Data and Genomics programme as a tool to accurately identify the most profitable, maternal-type cows for the future.
“This programme is a world first in beef breeding and will capitalise on years of data already generated in the Suckler Cow Welfare scheme.
“Out of all the things that a suckler farmer could do to make themselves more profitable over the coming years, I really do think that genomics has huge potential.”
Weekly updates on Derrypatrick can be accessed online at http://www.teagasc.ie/beef/derrypatrick-herd
(Source – Irish Independent – Indo Farming – Darragh Mc Cullough – 15/07/2015)
Proven Winners in The Bovine Genetic Lottery
Despite the ongoing debate about what constitutes the ideal suckler cow, a few key points are clear.
Any of the common beef breeds out there can produce efficient suckler cows. But it is the maternal traits within these breeds that will determine just how profitable that cow will be.
Here’s the top five suckler cow traits that you should be looking to maximise.
Derrypatrick Suckler Herd was established in 2009 to provide the beef sector with information
1 Fertility
Fertility is the most important aspect of an efficient suckler cow. Nationally, we have taken our eye off the ball on this one. Herds should have an average calving interval of 365 days.
The reality is that the average calving interval of an Irish suckler cow in 2014 was 412 days, which meant that farmers only produced 0.8 calves per cow last year.
This means that in a herd of 10 cows only 8 calves are being weaned. Yes, part of the problem includes calf mortality, but this is also a part of the fertility picture, because we need to be able to breed cows that calve easily.
These low performance figures carry through to many other aspects of the farming operation, and not just the obvious ones such as output and profitability.
Grassland management also becomes less efficient because prolonged calving seasons results in many grazing groups, staggered vaccination periods and generally more labour as a result.
2 Milk yield and weaning weight
The beef industry here has improved its carcase confirmation and weights over the last 10 years.
But this gain has been at the expense of maternal traits such as milk and fertility.
By producing a heavy calf at weaning, you avoid having to put weight on the animal at other more expensive phases of the production cycle, such as during the finishing period.
The weaning weight also pretty much determines what the sale weight is, which of course translates into the euro being generated by the cow.
There are two ways for you to increase the milkiness of your cows, and thus the weaning weight:
• Breed your own maternal replacements through the use of maternal bulls.
• Purchase maternal replacements from the beef herd or purchase maternal replacements from the dairy herd.
There are positives and negatives to each option.
Breeding your own involves the smallest initial spend.
However, if you are starting from a low fertility base, it may make more sense to start from scratch by buying in more maternal-type cows instead of losing years gradually improving your herd through better breeding policies.
The roll out of new mart data boards showing the new replacement index in livestock marts from 2016 on will help farmers identify these animals in livestock marts.
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3 Go for R grade
E and U grade animals look great in the sales ring, and certainly pull in the top prices.
But are they generating more profit for their owners than their R grade counterparts?
Excessively muscled animals can cause a lot of trouble when it comes to calving time, whereas a good R grade cow with length and a wide pelvis ticks all the boxes.
Ideally, she should be a cow that has the ability to gain condition during the cheap grazing season and call on body reserves during the expensive winter period.
Believe it or not in the dairy herd, there are animals out there that will generate identical condition and milk yields, but consume up to 2.5kgDM less per day than the average.
There’s only one way you are going to identify that animal though, and that’s by trusting the data being generated through the indexes.
4 Feet and udders
A cow should also have good feet for longevity and a good udder for ease of suckling for the young calf.
5 Docility
There’s no point in having super productive and fertile cows if nobody can handle them without taking their life in their hands.
Suckler cows must also be docile, especially with more and more suckler farmers becoming part-time, making ease of management crucial when trying to get all the work done in the evenings or at the weekends.
(Source – Irish Independent – Indo Farming – Adam Woods – 15/07/2015)