MANAGEMENT
Breeding cows
Beef cow role ever expanding Peter Andrew champions the role of the beef cow as an enabler for sheep and finishing cattle in Gisborne and Wairoa.
T
he Gisborne and Wairoa districts are really the home of the breeding cow. We have just over 50% of the farms stocked by cattle with a large percentage being the trusted old breeding cow. I think it is timely to have a good yarn about this matriarch of the hinterland. The cow certainly has a tough row to hoe. She is a jack of all trades. What are the roles of our beef cows on the farm? Their employment agreement job description or advertisement might read: • We do not really want you to eat in a drought.
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• During winter when grass is a little scarce, we want you to grow a foetus whilst losing weight. • In spring we want you to get in calf whilst being fed what is left over from all other stock classes. • We would then like you to produce a huge weaner so that we can brag to our farmer mates. On many farms her main job is to tidy up the rubbish so that other stock can get on and do their stuff. There is no doubt on most breeding farms that the sheep policy and finishing cattle owe a huge debt to the work that the cows do. This is especially the case now
that we have moved to a higher pasture residual style of farming with our highperformance sheep systems. Basically, on many of our farms successful sheep meat sales are a big driver of farm income. However, it is only really achieved through the huge amount of work that is put in in the back room by the breeding cows. They are often the first tool off the rack that is used to hold the feed quality in the sweet spot (Phase 2). Subtly, the cows are sped up or down with the weekly variation of pasture growth. This is also what they should do as at present they do not earn as much as the high-profit bull beef and
Country-Wide Beef
May 2021