Demonstration Site Project - Orsedd Fawr
Finishing Beef Off Grass by 18 Months of Age
Project aims:
- Produce finished cattle by the age of 18 months off forage alone on an organic suckler cow farm through improved grass management and regular monitoring of endoparasites.
Strategic objectives:
- Improve grass utilisation, growth and quality through rotational grazing.
- Target stocking rate is set at 2000kgLW/ha
- DLWG target of <1kg during grazing period from March to October
Project in practice:
- Spring calved calves will be weighed at housing and fed the best quality silage available through winter and weighed every four weeks to monitor performance.
- A 5.3ha will be subdivided into paddocks using permanent and temporary electric fencing to graze steers form turnout in March at 12 months of age through to October, when they will be ready for market as fat cattle.
- Predicted dry matter intakes will be calculated and grass will be measured weekly to manage the grazing rotation and feed budget. Regular laboratory analysis will monitor grass quality throughout the season.
- Cattle will be weighed each time they finish a rotation to monitor daily liveweight gain.
Project update:
- Electric fence infrastructure has been installed. Combination of permanent and semi-permanent fences allows the 5.3ha block to be divided into 17 cells.
- Calves performance monitored throughout winter in order to achieve target turnout weight of 400kg +
- 8 steers which will not hit target turnout weight will be turned out early to set the rotation.
- 18 steers which have hit target turnout weight will then join them as they start the second rotation, with stocking rate at 2000kgLW/ha
Project Updates:
Video: Orsedd Fawr Demonstration Site - Finishing Beef Off Grass by 18 Months of Age
Report: End of grazing season 1 review at Orsedd Fawr
Technical Publication (Issue 8, page 4): Finishing Cattle at 18 months from forage
Automated heat detection in the field
Final Report
Gwyn Parry, Orsedd Fawr, Pencaenewydd was keen to try and access a wider genetic choice for his spring calving suckler herd this season, therefore he chose to use artificial insemination (AI) on some of the cattle.
Being a spring calving herd, the cattle are out on grass during bulling time, meaning that spotting the heats through observation alone can be very time consuming. To aid the process, Gwyn turned to technology and decided to trial the MooCall HEAT collar.
The MooCall HEAT collar was fitted on a vasectomised bull and all breeding cows were tagged with a simple ID tag (green tags).
The collar, which weighs around 6kg, contains all the technology and batteries for the system and will work anywhere outdoors, regardless of topography. The system monitors the position of the cow tags in relation to the collar. In order to trigger a heat signal, the bull must mount the cow, and then the farmer is notified via text message and a notification on the MooCall HEAT app. The battery life of the collar is 8 to 12 weeks, and the farmer is notified via text message when battery power is low and is in need of a recharge.
All the AI work was done by a technician who arrived on the farm at 7:30am every day. Gwyn drafted the cows that were bulling every morning in the handling pens in the yard, with 6am the cut-off point i.e. anything bulling later than 6am was inseminated the following day. The cows were kept in the fields closest to the handling pens during this period to limit the additional labour as much as possible.
The cows were split into two mobs, with the vasectomised bull running with 50 cattle initially, and the remaining cattle running with an entire bull. Gwyn had purchased 50 straws and once they had all been used, the vasectomised bull was removed and an entire bull introduced to pick up repeats.
Results
At Orsedd Fawr, all cows were detected in heat and submitted for AI at least once between 3 July and 30 July 2019, by which time all straws were used and then an entire bull was introduced to the herd.
By using scanning results and the AI date, it appears that 26 of the cattle stood to the AI on the first cycle, giving a 52% in-calf rate to AI. It is worth noting that 3 of the 50 cows were barren and did not stand to the bull either. If we remove these from the calculations then the in-calf rate increases to 55%.
Financial considerations
The system itself cost £1,095 and includes 1 collar, 50 cow tags along with network service, notifications, and software updates for 12 months. The annual subscription thereafter is £250. The use of the Moocall Breedmanager app is free. Additional tags are sold in packs of 25 at a cost of £70 per pack.
The collar-to-cow ratio is determined by the vasectomised bull’s capability to cover the cows, 1 bull to 50 cows being the upper limit for a mature bull. To achieve the best results over the course of an entire season, this animal needs to be in optimum health and have a good libido.
Purchased straws, storage and service fee’s need to be taken into consideration, but these can be offset to some extent by either eliminating the need for a stock bull, or the possibility of reducing bull numbers.
There is a veterinary cost to produce a vasectomised bull, which will vary from practice to practice. Theoretically, once this operation is undertaken, the animal could be used for this purpose for as long as he is in good health, but these animals have a tendency to become aggressive and dangerous over time, so it is recommended that these animals are only used for one season then sold to the abattoir. It is not advised to vasectomise a dairy breed bull, as these have a tendency to be more dangerous.
Additional labour is a considerable factor when practising AI. The cattle at Orsedd Fawr are rotationally grazed and are shifted regularly, making it easier to some extent. The amount of additional labour is very farm specific, with mob numbers and proximity to handling facilities key factors. The Moocall HEAT system, however, significantly reduces labour that would be involved if visually observing cows to detect heats.
This system is also suitable for indoor use depending on stocking rate and housing type. There were occasional false heats detected at Orsedd Fawr, these typically lasted less than 2 hours. These were ignored by Gwyn if they did not fall around the 21-day mark post the last heat unless the cow was obviously on heat.
It would be good practice to introduce the bull with the collar to the cows one cycle before the proposed AI start date, to see how he behaves with the cows and to make any adjustments if needed.