Beef production from Charolais, Brahman and Hereford sired calves under commercial management.

Abstract

Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. (1974) 10; 17 BEEF PRODUCTION FROM CHAROLAIS, BRAHMAN AND HEREFORD SIRED CALVES UNDER COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT M.P. DELAND*, J.E. JAKES** and W.G. GILES* Summarv The value of Charolais, Brahman and Hereford sires in beef production was assessed in two commercial Hereford herds in the South-East of South Australia. At 240 days of age the differences in weight were greater between herds than between breed groups. Brahman crosses grew more slowly than straight Herefords in both herds, whereas Charolais crosses showed a 10% advantage in one herd and none in the other. These trends continued to 22 months. Carcass data were collected for animals at 9 and 22 months old. I. INTRODUCTION In an effort to improve production, beef producers in the South-East of South Australia introduced Brahman bulls and Charolais semen without knowing how these breeds performed under South-East conditions. Since the value of any breed depends on the results obtained commercially, co-operation was sought from private producers to determine the commercial value of these breeds. This paper reports observations on beef production from crossbreds on two properties. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS (a) Properties Two properties, one at Nangwarry (lat. 37'31',long. 140'55') and one at South Killanoola (lat. 37'10', long. 1400401), each carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 breeding cattle plus sheep, were used for the observations. On both properties cows grazed improved pastures of subterranean clovers, phalaris and perennial ryegrass at a stocking rate of about 1 breeding cow per I,5 hectares. (b) Animals and Management Grade Hereford cows of mixed ages, excluding maiden heifers, were artificially inseminated with semen from one of the following: Hereford semen from three bulls in the top 3% of their performance test group at Struan Research Centre; Charolais semen from Salopiau and Superieur purchased from the U.K. Milk Marketing Board; and Brahman semen from Belmont 1 - 315 and . Dasbrahman Pablos Aristocrat purchased from Wacol, Queensland. Cows in oestrus were marked by epididectomised bulls fitted with marking devices. The cows marked each day were yarded the next morning. from Struan Research Centre visited the properties each day to inseminate cows and ensure a random allocation of the breeds. Fifty doses of semen breed were used on each property. chinball Inseminators the of each \ At birth, calves were ear-tagged and weighed. Difficult calvings were noted, and assisted by the owner as he saw fit. The male calves were castrated at2- 3 months and weighed at an average age of 240 days. * Department of Agriculture, Struan Research Centre, P.M.B. 126,Naracoorte, South Australia, 5271. ** Present address: Box 804,Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, 2650. 17 On the basis of this weight the calves were allocated to two groups, of similar mean weight, for slaughter at an average age of 9 or 22 months. Carcass composition was assessed by shin dissection (Butterfield 1964). III. RESULTS Difficult calvings were few on both properties (Table 1) and no significant differences were noted. TABLE1 Difficult calvings in the two herds South Killanoola Birth weights and 240 day weights are given in Table 2, South Killanoola calf birth weights were significantly heavier than Nangwsrry calf birth weights but 240 day weights showed a reversal of this trend. At 9 months of age significant differences in carcass weight occurred between herds in Hereford and Charolais groups. Within herds, Charolais calves had a higher percentage of muscle than Herefords (Table 3). At 22 m.onths of age the trends noted in the 9 month group were evident; however, ther e were no s'tatisti tally signifi cant di fference s. IV. DISCUSSION , Brahman and Charolais sires compared with Hereford on Hereford cows did not consistently affect either the incidence of difficult calvings or the growth rate of the calves. The effect of Froperty was greater than that of breed. Charolais-sired carcasses, however, did have significantly more muscle than Hereford carcases. Care should be exercised in interpretation of composition estimates as formulae were originally obtained from British breed and Brahman data only. With the limited informa'Gion on sires used, relative to the breed performance as a whole, it is not possible to conclude that the results observed are typical for tire breeds involved. It does indicate that use of a particular group of bulls available to the Australian industry may not give the same results as obtained overseas (Mason 1971) for similar breeds or crossbreds. These results point to the need for producers to assess sires for production under their own management rather than use levels of ;>roduction obtained elsewhere 18 TABLE 2 Birth and weaning weights of steers from the two herds v. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Finance for this project was provided by the Commonwealth Extension Services Grant. We are grateful to Mr. RX. Seymour and Mr. W.J. Murray of South Killanoola and Mr. I. McLachlan of Nangwarry for the use of facilities and staff on their properties, and to Mr. R.W. McNeil and personnel of Struan Research Centre, who have assisted during the experiment. VI. REFERENCES BUTTERFIELD, R.M. (1964). In 'Carcase Composition and Appraisal of Meat (C.S.I.R.O.: Melbourne). Animals'. MASON, I.L. (1971). - Anim. Breed, Abstr. E:l. 20