Claire Ashton attends the first Milk the Meat seminar, where dairy farmers learn the value of their part in the beef chain.
On an early summer day under shady trees on a South Waikato dairy farm, rural professionals from milk and meat supply companies, and other agriculture representatives joined sharemilkers Sarah and Ethan Koch on their near-100-hectare farm, milking 320 cows.
The hosts – 2019 Auckland/Hauraki Share Farmers of the year – held the first of a seminar roll-out called ‘Milk the Meat’. The idea is that farmers value the beef chain with good genetics and EBVS – so the carcase value is optimised.
An animal’s breeding value can be defined as its genetic merit for each trait. While it is not possible to determine an animal’s true breeding value, it is possible to estimate it, though there is some degree of “bluff analysis to it” says William Muir, president of the South Auckland Hereford Club and a sixth-generation farmer from Waiuku.
Genomics
The primarily Friesian herd use AB PGG Wrightson Friesian genetics then tail off using onfarm Hereford Stud bulls in the paddock, who come from registered stock.
“If you don’t use the registered stock you will get brindles,” which aren’t as popular at the Tuakau saleyards. There, “the extra money from sales for using registered bulls pays off.”
The Kochs were transparent with the seminar and shared that they pay $2-3000 for a registered bull, and the most they went to was $5000 for the bull who is now their top five-year-old.
Sarah doesn’t want to have ‘licorice all-sorts’, and the best money goes to a nice looking and well-presented herd with uniform patterns. Sarah is fortunate in that she has a choice when to send the calves to the saleyards and will hold them back to wait for a good sale price or for the weight gain.
“When you get to Tuakau, you can’t beat a white face.”
A good top price at the saleyards is $350 for a well-finished calf and sometimes they can justify a labour unit for feeding, due to the return they get.
“Those calf sales are pretty significant, sometimes it’s the one thing that pops you back up out of overdraft, which is always pretty good. I do all the calves mostly.”
The Kochs rear their own replacements, use sexed semen, mate top cows with top bulls, and breed their own Hereford bulls. They have a five-year-old bull who has a good nature and other younger bulls.
“There can be issues with bull weight over light heifers, but also you can run into trouble putting bull yearlings over cows – as they literally aren’t tall enough.”
The Kochs are careful with heifer mating, and once the AB cows have calved, “we have natural mating calves we don’t need to check as much, which saves a lot of time not having to be there pulling out calves.”
Looking ahead at what could happen with stocking numbers, Sarah says: “If we have to reduce cow numbers then we will keep mating the top cows with the top bulls.”
Key traits
Beef bulls come with as et of EBVs – birth weight and calving ease are top traits favoured in dairy genetics.
However, a low birth weight doesn’t necessarily equal calving ease, and it is calving ease that busy farmers are seeking, which is arrived at via a thorough examination of the genetics across intergenerational peers. “Gestation length isn’t something they really look at – calving ease takes priority,” Sarah says.
The Kochs allow 10 to 10.5 weeks for mating but ideally want to get that down to nine weeks.
CE (DIR) is Calving Ease direct and refers to the amount of calving difficulty you can expect from a bull directly from the cows he is joined to. CE (DTRS) is Calving Ease daughters and refers to the amount of calving difficulty you can expect from his daughters. Farmers don’t want to be out in the paddock at night at the tail end of calving, and the Kochs have found that with some other breeds they have had malpresentation of calves, whereas with their Herefords, they have experienced calving ease and therefore fewer call-outs to the vet. Sarah has high praise for their team, especially Rita who continues to check the late calvers through the night – but she doesn’t want to overdo it in case Rita gets poached. Intramuscular fat is another index value and a focus at bull and beef sales. John Allen from Mahuta Bulls is an integral part of the Kochs’ business and their breeding expert. It is the integrity of the breeder that counts for a lot – you can buy off a catalogue but that personal relationship is gold, as well as being able to run your eyes over the bulls.
“Who you go to is just as important as what you buy,” William Muir says.
“Herefords are one of the most proven and improved breeds”, says John Allen who has polled Herefords. And with good genetic stock there is no need to dehorn – if you were keeping calves that length of time and for finishing.
Just like providing good quality milk, good quality beef is a desirable and marketable product.
“If you want to value this beef value chain, you’ve actually got to care, there is a process in this – buying good genetics with good EBVs. I am excited about genomics as it can take us forward so much quicker, and we can make some gain,” William says.
