TESTOSTERONE OR NO TESTOSTERONE!

• There has been quite a bit of interest lately about the timing of castrating steers.
• Some people castrate young calves, on the theory that the younger the better and also easier it is on the operator.
• Others castrate later, and others castrate even later.
• The reasons for castrating later, is that it allows testosterone to promote good growth in the animal, testosterone being a growth hormone.
• The latest news on this topic came out at the beginning out August, claiming that there is no difference in eventual weight gains, between cattle castrated early, and cattle castrated late.

Too Much of Anything –

Too much of anything ain’t good. You’ve heard people talk about “everything in moderation,” and that is usually pretty good advice. Just because a little bit of something is good does NOT mean more is better.
You can, and should, apply this line of thinking to your cattle and genetic selection. It has been ex-tremely difficult for most ranchers to stop at the optimum level for any trait. Most shoot past the opti-mum level without even slowing down. They mistakenly believe they are not improving their cowherd unless they are changing it. I disagree. Within every herd, there is an optimum level for every trait.

There are genetic antagonisms between several of the most important economic traits in beef cat-tle. For example, extreme growth will negatively affect calving ease, fertility, cow size and mainte-nance costs. Extreme milk will also negatively affect fertility and maintenance costs. The optimum level for most traits usually lies somewhere in the middle.

Most ranchers in North America have cows that are too big and too milky for their environment. Their input costs are much too high for their output. As long as they are receiving record high prices for their calves, they will be profitable – but that time is quickly coming to an end. As calf prices continue to slide down, input costs continue to increase at an amazing rate. It won’t be long before most ranchers won’t have near enough income to cover their expenses.

Optimum production will always be more profitable than maximum production. Bigger is NOT al-ways better! Optimum production is the point at which net profits are maximized. Profit and enjoy-ment are the only two things we want to maximize in this business. Is your program geared toward maximum profit and maximum enjoyment?

Thank you for permission to include this article:-
Kit Pharo
Pharo Cattle Co.
Cheyenne Wells, CO
Phone: 1-800-311-0995
Email: Kit@PharoCattle.com
Website: www.PharoCattle.com

Herefords’ Advantage

• In the Northern Edition of Hal 2008, there is an article on page 29 worth reading. It gives the first year’s results of a three year study comparing Here-fords to black cattle. The report is of a US article, but it is relevant and of interest to Australians.
• The study looks at the impacts of cross-breeding Angus/Anguc cross cattle, to Hereford bulls or Angus bulls
• The results are very interesting and in every instance Hereford sired calves came out ahead. The only instyance where the Angus-sired calves came out ahead, was at the time of slaugh-ter, with these calves being graded choice or higher. How-ever Herefords still came out on top when the overall value was ascertained.
• The study has two more years to run, but at this stage, cows bred to a Hereford bull give the best economic results.
• The full report can be read in The Whiteface newsletter. (www.hereford.org)
• The bottom line……
  “Hereford genetics are a power-ful cross for any producer”.*
  *Hereford Advantage HAL Northern Edition 2008

Bovine Johnes Disease in NSW

• Because it can cycle through stock, constantly re-infecting pasture, it requires an intense management plan to eradicate.
• “This is a major warning for all beef producers buying dairy cattle in NSW – they need to understand the risks of bringing BJD onto their farm if they buy low Dairy Score dairy cattle,” said Sally Spence, NSW Department of Primary Industries technical specialist.
•  Extract from a full report to appear in The Land, July 3 issue.
  Thank you to The Land Newspaper and Rural Press for permission to print this article.
• A NSW North Coast beef property has been placed in quarantine and another two are under investigation after their owners purhcased cattle from a Lismore-district dairy herd with bovine Johnes disease.
• New regulations introduced this year, which aim to put the onus on producers to reduce the risk of bringing the disease onto their farms, require sellers of dairy cattle to provide a Dairy BJD Assur-ance Score.
• One is high risk and ten is low, and NSW Department of Primary Industries recommends beef producers who want to remain free of the disease only buy cattle with a score of seven or above.
  The chronic wasting disease, prevalent in Victoria and occurring in pockets of NSW where dairy genetics have been sourced from the southern State, has no cure.

Royal Launceston Show

 

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NLIS

• Make sure you tag your cattle correctly and report all property to property movements via the NLIS database.
• Remember you can only tag with your NLIS tags, the animals you bred on your property.
• To tag an animal not bred on your prop-erty, you need a special NLIS tag. Speak to your NLIS supplier about this.