What is the current performance of your herd?
Meat & Livestock Australia January 16, 2024
It is important to consider all aspects of your herds current performance, how you compare to similar operations in your region, and what realistic targets are for your production system and environment. This will give you a comprehensive understanding of how your cattle perform across a range of economically important traits. Without understanding the baseline of where you are starting it will be difficult to know which traits to target and to measure progress from the investment.
Review the performance of your herd, both at a cow herd and progeny level.
Cow herd performance
- What percentage of your heifers fall pregnant?
- What percentage of your mature cows fall pregnant?
- What percentage of animals conceive in the first cycle?
- At what age are your maiden heifers calving?
- What percentage of your heifers calve without assistance?
- What percentage of your mature cows calve without assistance?
- What is your weaning rate?
- What is the average weight of your mature cows?
- What is the average weight of your weaners?
Sale/Slaughter progeny performance
- What is your average turn-off age and weight?
- What percentage of animals achieve the market specifications (e.g. weight, age, company specifications, MSA grading)?
- Are your cattle not meeting your target markets for any other reason(s)?
- Why are animals failing to achieve market specifications? Are they:
- Under or over weight?
- Under or over fat?
- Dark-cutting?
Remember, phenotype is influenced both by genetics and environmental factors. To improve the factors mentioned above, you may be able to make improvements in management alongside improvement in the underlying genetics of your herd.