Welsh beef calving interval

[Samcowman]

Saw this and though it needed putting into the main forum so more could see it.
With these figures it shows why there is no money in the job.

Written by Billy Wickham

Reducing cows’ intervals between calving is one of the key improvements that beef farmers should aim for in order to increase the efficiency of their herds.

The reason being, this will, therefore, increase the number of calves each dam produces in their lifetime.

The British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) has recently released calving interval data for beef cattle in Wales for 2019.

The data shows that beef cattle on average calved at 1,013 days old in 2019 – a figure which has fluctuated in recent years. Interestingly, this is up 12 days from the figure in 2018.

The BCMS report for 2019 shows that beef cattle in Wales produced a new offspring every 426.1 days. This is up from 422.7 days in 2018 but similar to the average calving interval in 2017.
Lower than average


One farmer whose calving interval is lower than the average is David Burnhill, who’s the head stockman at the Hean Castle Estate in Pembrokeshire.

The Hean Castle Estate has a herd of 90 pedigree Hereford cattle with the hope of increasing to 130 breeding females split between spring and autumn calving periods.


David Burnhill, head stockman at Hean Castle Estate

Burnhill explained: “At the moment, the herd’s calving interval is 369 days per animal. The management of the heifers in the spring is quite straightforward as they are selected from the previous year’s calves; selecting the more ‘well grown’, judging both by eye and weight.

“These heifers are then synchronised and served for easy calving. The second group of females are allowed to graze and grow and are then served during the winter period to calve in the autumn.



“Feeding must also be introduced on a rising plain with an aim to achieving maximum conception rates possible for both groups.”

Improving herd fertility and lowering calving intervals


Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) is working with a number of farmers who are working towards improving their herd fertility and lowering calving intervals through the Stoc+ project.

Stoc+ is a flock and herd health project which is one strand of the Red Meat Development Programme (RMDP), a five-year Welsh Government and European Union-funded initiative aiming to enhance the red meat sector in Wales.

Leading the project is HCC flock and herd health executive Dr. Rebekah Stuart who explains: “Breeding and fertility is one of the most important aspects of running an efficient suckler system.

“Poor herd fertility can have a major impact on farm output and income. It’s important to have a defined calving period, and setting clear objectives in terms of calving intervals.

“There remains scope for improvement in Wales. Producers should strive for a shorter calving interval period in order to improve their beef herd efficiency and therefore increase their likelihood of improved profitability,” Rebekah concluded.

The post Calving interval data for beef dams in Wales for 2019 released appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

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[Woolless]

There's no money in it calving heifers at three years old and having a 14 month calving interval, that's for certain.

 

[kmo]

I'll bet the 14 month interval is down to the way the statistician averaged the figures, rather than being a true reflection.

 

[Woolless]

I'll bet the 14 month interval is down to the way the statistician averaged the figures, rather than being a true reflection.

Do you think? There's only one way to do an average, surely?

 

[kmo]

Cow has her first calf at 24 months. Then calves regularly at 12 months intervals until she's eight (seven calves). She's culled when that one is weaned and fatttened ,@ approx 9 years old (100 months)
Her age divided by number of calves she's had is 14 months.

 

[Woolless]

Cow has her first calf at 24 months. Then calves regularly at 12 months intervals until she's eight (seven calves). She's culled when that one is weaned and fatttened ,@ approx 9 years old (100 months)
Her age divided by number of calves she's had is 14 months.

I see what you mean but I reckon if that was how they worked it out the interval would be even longer!

There's a lot of moaning about prices on here, and in many cases rightly so, but let's not kid ourselves. There's a lot of folk doing a pretty moderate job propped up by the sub.

 

[Samcowman]

Cow has her first calf at 24 months. Then calves regularly at 12 months intervals until she's eight (seven calves). She's culled when that one is weaned and fatttened ,@ approx 9 years old (100 months)
Her age divided by number of calves she's had is 14 months.

You could be right but pretty sure it will be standard industry how long it is since they last calved.

 

[M-J-G]

Calving at 3 isn't the end of the world as heifers can be kept pretty cheap and managed as cows.
2yo calvers generally need a bit more management for their first and second calves.

An average calving index much over 365 days is pretty poor as every day is around £3 of lost income, so a 400 index over 100 cows is around 10 grand.

 

[M-J-G]

Cow has her first calf at 24 months. Then calves regularly at 12 months intervals until she's eight (seven calves). She's culled when that one is weaned and fatttened ,@ approx 9 years old (100 months)
Her age divided by number of calves she's had is 14 months.

Surely they wouldn't be that stupid?

 

[Agrivator]

Folk who don't seem to understand farming, think that technical efficiency is the be all and end all.

 

[Agrivator]

And now that there is now no suckler cow premium or other headage payments, and in Scotland where there is now a headage payment on each beef calf produced, I don't think there will be many folk with suckler cows who don't aim for one calf a year from each cow.

But it is difficult to measure calving rate within a herd. How do you account for cull cows that are weaned at, say, 9 months, and are then fattened for a few months to maximize their cull value?

And then of course there are the eejits who stick to a limited bulling period, and cull perfectly good cows which, through no fault of their own, fail to get in calf before the bull is abruptly removed.

Theoretical farming is a doddle.

 

[Dave6170]

im doing ok compared to those fugures then.

 

[unlacedgecko]

And now that there is now no suckler cow premium or other headage payments, and in Scotland where there is now a headage payment on each beef calf produced, I don't think there will be many folk with suckler cows who don't aim for one calf a year from each cow.

But it is difficult to measure calving rate within a herd. How do you account for cull cows that are weaned at, say, 9 months, and are then fattened for a few months to maximize their cull value?

And then of course there are the eejits who stick to a limited bulling period, and cull perfectly good cows which, through no fault of their own, fail to get in calf before the bull is abruptly removed.

Theoretical farming is a doddle.

How is it through no fault of the cow's if she fails to conceive within the billing period?

Do you leave tups in year round as well?

 

[AGN76]

How is it through no fault of the cow's if she fails to conceive within the billing period?

Do you leave tups in year round as well?

Twins?
Bad calving?

 

[Agrivator]

How is it through no fault of the cow's if she fails to conceive within the billing period?

Do you leave tups in year round as well?

No, I don't think tups are capable of bulling cows.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Twins?
Bad calving?

Cow directly responsible for both of them.

 

[AftonShepherd]

And then there's the arseholes who think it's ok to call anyone an eejit that doesn't agree with their way of working!

A tight bulling period may not be for everyone, but it's one of the best management tools I have at my disposal.

 

[Ribble]

Cow directly responsible for both of them.

One of the South African holistic chaps said he sells any cow that calves twins on the basis that any animal among the great herds that had twins would likely be culled courtesy of a predator.

 

[Cvx1170]

But the data is based on the accurate & timely bcms user input

 

[Agrivator]

And then there's the arseholes who think it's ok to call anyone an eejit that doesn't agree with their way of working!

A tight bulling period may not be for everyone, but it's one of the best management tools I have at my disposal.

Why would you cull a perfectly good cow that slips a bit, and replace her with an unproven heifer?