The Rural Voice, 2019-06, Page 23June 2019 19
big difference between the price of
steers and heifers. Heifers come into
heat and that affects their ability to
convert feed to yield. We are going
to see sexed male semen coming
down the pipe. Possibly down the
road we will see a premium for the
sex of the calf.”
Aaron Keunen:“I’m fine to feed
heifers. They do as well as steers as
long as they are grouped together.
Heifers naturally have a little more
fat. You can ship a heifer a little
lighter and get good marbling but a
steer you need to leave on feed a
little longer to get good marbling.”
Rita Maciukiewicz: “If we have a
set of twins, we raise them in the veal
program. If a heifer goes into the
beef end, she will be held back into a
younger group. She might get a little
too much protein and she might be in
the barn a little longer but we can put
her to market at a lighter weight and
still get something for her.”
What is the optimal age and
weight and do you use a scale?
Rita Maciukiewicz: “Yes we
have a scale and we typically weigh
every Monday. We aim for 720
kilograms but there is always a little
bit of shrink on the way to market.”
Aaron Keunen:“On fattened
crossbred cattle, we finish between
1,450 to 1,500 pounds because I
think feed conversion goes down
after that.”
Brad Gilchrist:“If I have
facilities, time and a buyer that is
willing to take them at 4-500 pounds,
that is a great option as well. The
target finished weight depends on the
frame score of the animals. Ideally,
we have a lower frame score on
Holsteins. If we have moderately
framed animals we can ship them at a
lower weight.”
Craig Connell:“We scale them
all. Holsteins heifers go out at 1,350
pounds. The holstein steers used to
go out at 1,550 to 1,600 pounds but
they can sometimes dress out at 900
pounds. So we now ship them out
between 1,535 to 1,540 pounds. On
Belgian Blue cross steers, we run
them to 1,600 to 1,650 pounds and
then have a condition that we aren’t
deducted on the carcass weight
unless it exceeds 1,100 pounds.
Is there any beef breed that is
good on Jerseys?
Craig Connell:“Belgian Blue
will make a beef animal out of
anything. We actually bred that cross
and they made really good beef
animals. They came out a mousy
colour and make good cattle.”
Brad Gilchrist:“That is the
question that comes up the most. You
can breed Angus but they don’t have
enough growth and yield at the end. I
will say that the solution used most
in the United States is Charolais. I
would say be careful which Charolais
bulls you use. You want a bull with
calving ease traits. The biggest issue
is that if you pick the wrong bull, you
end up with calving difficulties.”
Conclusion by Kendra Keels:
“Currently our markets are over
supplied and prices reflect that. It is a
cyclical business. For dairy farmers,
introducing beef breeds is a way to
increase profitability. Just remember
to treat all your calves the same and
ask yourself how each calf leaving
the farm will reflect on the farm.” ◊