RURAL NEWS // JULY 1, 2014
30 MANAGEMENT
Fast, slow beef finishing assessed Between 200 and 300 people turned out for the final seminar in Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Finished by 20 Months Northland beef programme last month. Gareth Gillatt reports HAVING ALL animals on a farm growing at the same pace could result in big risks for drystock farmers, delegates at the final Finished in 20 Months beef seminar in Northland
heard last month. The three-year Beef + Lamb New Zealand project ran multiple studies to find techniques which would let farmers get beef cattle to finishing weights
before their second winter, a key aim being to avoid having heavy animals on pugging prone clay soils when it gets wet. But some in the trial have argued even 20
months is too long and target kill weights need to be hit at 15-16 months so they can be sold before Christmas and the subsequent slides in schedule prices. Laurie Copland and consultant Gareth Baynham at the Finished by 20 Months seminar.
Most of the on-farm work in the project looked at crops and prioritising use of them by feed quality and stock class. Farmers using these ‘fast track’ systems have generally carried fewer animals/ hectare to achieve faster liveweight gain with animals putting on 1kg/day or more. Besides the concerns about not achieving kill weights before autumn’s lower schedules, researchers also acknowledged the need to control pasture quality in spring and autumn, particularly with kikuyu which can quickly become unpalatable if it gets away. AgFirst consultant Gareth Baynham analysed the impact using Farmax
modelling. In one scenario, 63 bulls bought at 250kg and run on 30ha (ie 2.1 bulls/ha) were finished at an average of 313kg carcass weight between January and March. That compares with a slow track system with 100 bulls bought at the same 250kg weight and run at 3.3 bulls/ha to be sold from November through to April after their second winter. Baynham says that in a year with average weather there is almost no difference in returns: $929/ ha from the 63 bulls and $905/ha from the 100 bulls. In years where the farm had a cold wet winter the fast-tracked system did slightly better, making $725/ha versus $605/ha
in the slow track system, but in a good year the fasttrack system made $834/ ha compared to $1354/ha from the slow-track. The reason was the stocking rate in the fast track system meant only 61% of pasture grown was used to produce 381kg cwt/ ha while animals at the heavier stocking rate used 78% of the pasture, producing 533kg cwt/ha. The take home message is that tools are needed to manage feed quantity and quality regardless of whether more or fewer animals are carried, says Baynham. Higher stocking rates carried longer can mean better use of flushes in growth but equally stock can go backwards faster during feed pinches
Are you a student or teacher at a rural primary school? Enter HP’s Rural Schools Competition and we could make your IT dreams come true! Just nd an interesting way to tell us why your school needs a technology top up. There are ve chances to win a share of HP technology valued at $20,000.
Find out more at: hp.co.nz/ruralcompetition Terms and conditions apply. Closing date for entries is 25 July 2014. Hewlett-Packard reserves the right to extend, modify or cancel the promotion at their discretion. They are not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition. Any changes to the competition will be notied to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter. This competition is open to New Zealand rural primary schools no larger than 300 pupils outside urban (city and town) areas. ‘HP technology’ includes HP desktops, notebooks, tablets and printers and support assistance. Prize value to consist of total recommended retail price (RRP) of HP products and any technical assistance to set-up technology or training teachers. A cash alternative will not be provided. The prize is not transferable. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be nal and no correspondence will be entered into. By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions. © 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.