The Rural Voice, 1986-04, Page 28WANTED
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26 THE RURAL VOICE
FARM NEWS
Twins are "in"
Beef research in Ontario respects
progress made in other aspects of
agriculture. For example, sheep
farmers didn't know what to do
with twins 20 years ago, but now
they're disappointed if they don't
get twins or even triplets because
their management programs have
been designed to capitalize on
multiple births. Most of today's
beef producers, like the sheep
farmers of 20 years ago, find that
twin calves are almost more trou-
ble than they are worth. However,
Charlie Watson, a research techni-
cian at the Elora Research Station,
predicts that within the next
decade beef producers may be able
to take better advantage of twin-
ning.
Twinning research at Elora, now
in its third year, has had a 45 per
cent success rate to date and the
future looks promising, says Wat-
son.
Breeding at the research station,
including the twinning program, is
accomplished through artificial in-
semination (A.I.). Last fall, 47
cows were implanted with twins
during a 42 -day breeding period.
The program expects a calf crop of
19 sets of twins, 10 singles, and one
set of triplets in 1986. This means
that although 17 cows were not
successfully bred, the 47 bred cows
are still expected to produce 51
calves.
Currently at Elora, the twins
and their mothers receive special
care during the first month after
birth. Likewise, if twins are ex-
pected, maternal nutrition can be
adjusted to ensure the health of
both the calves and the mother.
For example, a cow may require
more calcium because two new sets
of bones are developing in her.
Farrow -to -finish operators have
adjusted hog nutrition to suit
larger litters, and sheep producers
have altered ewe nutrition to allow
twins rather than singles to be pro-
duced. If there was a way to know
whether a cow was carrying twins,
her feed could likewise be adapted
to meet her special needs, says Don
Shaver, co-ordinator of a three-
day beef management course in
Perth County that ended with a
tour of Elora research station.
Other research that the group of
more than 20 Perth beef producers
saw during the tour included a feed
test. Current results show that a
mixture of fish meal and haylage
improves the average daily gain
(A.D.G.) by 30 per cent over a
haylage diet alone.
Watson also told the group that
in the future backfat will play a
more important role in the choice
of outstanding animals. Thus,
A.D.G. will not be the only major
criterion.
Watson would like to see more
farmers become aware of such
research projects so that they can
use the results in their own beef
management. He thinks that
packaging the Elora research in a
glossier, more attractive publica-
tion would get the program's
results out to more producers who
want it and need it.
As part of the beef management
tour, the producers also visited the
bull testing station at Harriston,
one of 23 such stations across On-
tario from as far south as Chatham
to as far north as Rainy River. The
Ontario Bull Testing Program is
designed to objectively evaluate
bulls for growth rate at a central
test station, where they are all fed
and managed in the same way.
Brian Pogue, beef R.O.P. super-
visor, told the tour that the bulls
are monitored by means of a gain
index that can compare bulls from
different herds or different breeds,
even bulls from different stations
in Ontario. Other information
such as scrotal circumference,
backfat measurement, and wean-
ing index are also collected.
Together with the post -weaning
gain index, this information serves
to identify superior sires for the in-
dustry.
Bulls sent to the station are
generally six to seven months of