IF BEEF producers have learned one thing in recent years, it is the need to be flexible.
For Jim and Suzy Martin, flexibility has meant adding a Charolais herd alongside their main enterprise, the Welcome Swallow Angus stud, to expand the breeding options they can offer their customers.
- AT A GLANCE
- Who: Jim and Suzy Martin
- What: Beef cattle
- Why: Expanding breeding options
- Where: Benalla, Victoria
- Report: JOHN PARRY
"In recent years, kilograms of beef per ha has been driving profitability for our clients and this means we should explore all options," Jim said.
Angus breeders have formed the backbone of the Martins' enterprise at Benalla since 1994.
About 380 registered Angus breeders are joined each year, predominantly through embryo transfer or artificial insemination using leading Breedplan performance recorded genetics.
But the push for more kilograms of beef per ha convinced Jim and Suzy to established a registered Charolais seedstock herd, based on American genetics renowned for easy calving and good fat cover.
"It provides our clients with a cross breeding option that allows them to preserve the investment they have made in maternal genetics in the short term and also produce more kilograms of beef per ha," Jim said.
To assist customers decide the best option, Suzy has been working with Dr John Webb-Ware, the co-ordinator of the More Beef from Pastures program run by Meat and Livestock Australia.
The outcome has been a cost-benefit analysis comparing Charolais and Angus sires over Angus breeders in a commercial herd.
Two systems were compared - a self-replacing Angus herd and an Angus herd using a Charolais terminal sire with replacement Angus females bought in.
Assuming steer turnoff weights of 465kg (terminal) and 435kg (self-replacing), the terminal sire system produced 6 per cent more beef/ha (336kg/ha compared to 320kg/ha) for a gross margin of $371/ha for the terminal system compared to $339/ha for the self-replacing system.
The key variable affecting profitability of the terminal enterprise is the cost of replacement cows of similar genetics.
At $800 a head the system works well; however, at a replacement cost of $900 a head the benefit is marginal ($352/ha).
One important challenge when replacing cows is to identify suitable cows from a genetic perspective and cows that come from a narrow calving span so that they fit to a tight calving pattern from year one.
An alternative for many is to mate only a proportion of cows to a terminal system while mating enough purebred cows to supply the terminal herd.
Dr Webb-Ware said cross breeding without compromising maternal genetics could be an effective way to produce more kilograms of beef a ha.
"However, it is important that the kilograms you do produce meet market specifications," Dr Webb-Ware said.
"Cross breeding with some European breeds may deliver progeny with strong growth rates but meeting market specifications for fat cover may be difficult."
The Martins have addressed this concern by paying particular attention to estimated breeding values to ensure the genetic potential is there to satisfy market requirements.
Calving difficulty was another issue when crossing British breed cattle with larger framed European cattle.
The Martins are mitigating the risk by selecting for low calving weights within their Charolais herd.
While Angus remain the Martins' core business, flexibility as a stud is important.
"Rather than being a fundamental shift in thinking, our investment in Charolais is an acknowledgment that times and market requirements change and that the key to success is flexibility and adaptability."
Jim said Angus breeders were well aware of the challenge to grow more beef .
The Martins are now working with AI technician Dale Edwards from High Country Heifers and a commercial producer to compare the progeny of the Charolais cross with the new generation of Angus.
