The Sunday News
Mhlupheki Dube, Farming Issues
THERE are a number of production indicators which one can use to gauge and guide the production in the beef enterprise.
These are the pointers which help to decide which animal is performing better than the other, which animal should I cull and sell, which one should I keep as breeding stock.
While there are a number of production indicators in a beef enterprise, this week we want to look mostly at the weight as a production indicator in your beef enterprise.
A lot of production parameters are weight based yet not many livestock farmers pay attention to weight except when it is time to sell.
Let us begin at the weight of calves at calving stage.
While heavier calves are likely to cause dystocia especially when born to lighter dams or heifers, a heavier calf at birth is likely to perform well in all subsequent production parameters.
Brahman
Save for Brahmans which naturally have calves born smaller, very light calves in weight will most likely grow to be weaklings.
The next weight-based indicator will be your weaning weight and there is always a positive correlation between calving weights and weaning weights.
Heavier calves usually wean heavier unless there are other management or health issues along the way.
Weaning weight is a very important production indicator because it has a bearing on the next production measurement.
If you are weaning steers for a example, heavier weaning weights will give you steers that will grow and give you excellent weight gains in feedlots.
On the other hand, heavier weaning weights ensures that the heifers attain their physiological reproductive weight much faster.
There is an expected weight at which a heifer is expected to start breeding and this is usually about 60 percent to 70 percent of its mature body weight.
This weight at which your heifer will start taking a bull is important because it signals that the heifer is now physiologically ready for reproductive duties.
So as a livestock farmer who wants his heifers to grow and get into production, you must pay attention to weight right from calving to weaning as this will determine how faster your heifer will attain the reproductive weight.
Heavy weaners will naturally attain the desired reproductive weights much faster.
Therefore, as a livestock farmer it is important to pay attention of weight as a production indicator because it will give you pointers on which animals are good producers and which ones are not.
You would want to cull a cow which gives you calves of low weight because they will wean light and take longer to reach reproductive weight.
If you have excess heifers to sell, you would need to take those with low weaning weights out first before you look at anyone else!
You want to select replacement bulls look at the steers that gave you heavier weaning weights, they will quickly graduate into nice bullocks.
Weight is therefore, an important production indicator which as livestock farmers should keep record of and be able to track at every growth stage of our animals.
I am painfully aware that most smallholder livestock farmers do not keep production records as it relates to the weights we have just discussed and as such we are unable to use this important record for decision making.
We only then get interested in weights of our animals when we sell because buyers pay us per kilogramme.
As to how we build up to attain those weights especially selecting for the right animals, we do not pay much attention.
Having interest in the production weights of your animals will help you to ask pertinent questions as to whether low weights are due to poor management practices or its genetics of the animal.
If you find its your management, maybe your nutrition management, you can then institute corrective measures and if you find its in the genetics you can select out poor performing animals and even buy in better genetics.
It is thus an important call for our livestock farmers to be interested and concerned about weight as a production indicator in their beef enterprise.
On a separate note, readers and followers of this column please allow me to bid farewell to Chief Mabhikwa of Lupane who died recently in a car accident and was buried yesterday.
I say lala ngokuthula malumami. Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo. Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer.
He writes in his own capacity. Feedback [email protected] /cell 0772851275
