Bull beef, dairy a medium rare course

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 7, 17 July 1984, Page 11

Bull beef, dairy a medium rare course

Diversification into bull beef came up for discussion at the recent Dairy Farmers Meeting at Massey University. Mr Barrie Ridler, a Senior Lecturer in Farm Management at Massey, spoke about some of the theoretical advantages of integrating dairy and bull beef systems. He pointed out that diversification into bull beef allows a basic dairy operation to continue while the farmer can make further use of his pastoral management skills. This, he said,

met an inherent desire of most dairy farmers to continue with a pastoral system. He added that an integrated dairy and bull beef system can be better suited to a farm's grass growth pattern, particularly if it is simiUr to that of the University's No. 4 Dairy Farm., The pattern is typically one of rapid spring growth followed by poor growth during dry summers. According to Mr Ridler, if bulls are, for example, purchased each spring and grown through to a liveweight of 420 kg before the second winter, the combined bull and dairy cow requirements are high ' during the spring surplus and lower during the summer deficit. This reduces the dairy farmer's need to make supplements. Introducing bulls also brings some flexibility into the system. Bulls may be sold early if there is a feed shortage in the summer, and they can be kept on if grass growth continues into February. But after covering some of the apparent advantages, Mr Ridler noted there are very few truly integrated dairy and bull beef systems in New Zealand. Two dairy farmers spoke to the meeting and made it clear that their main reason for going into bull beef was to get round the problems associated with expanding their dairying operations. Mr Bryan Weatherston discussed the diversification on his 227 ha. farm in the South Wairarapa which comprises a home farm of 121 ha. including a 70 ha. milking unit, two blocks totalling 61 ha. five kilometres away, and a dairy run off. He said another labour unit would have been needed for his home farm to go entirely into dairying. It . would have meant 420 cows rather than the present 270 going through the shed. Therefore, bulls present an attractive alternative, particularly as his two blocks

five km. away from the shed, are unsuitable for milking cows. Mr Bryan Guy from Feilding also had reservations over increasing his herd. He runs 197 ha. including a unit of 80 ha. carrying 230 cows, a leased block of 72 ha. carrying 120 bulls, and 8 ha. of process crops. Bryan Guy told the meeting that he rs currendy looking at three alternative strategies. Increasing his cow numbers to over 300which would require a new shed on a more central site or alternatively, diversifying into more bulls or into a greater area of crops. Discussing the bull alternative he said that spending $150,000 on a new shed to increase cow numbers and achieve $50,000 income may be less desirable than spending $10,000 on a good set of yards and weighing scales to obtain an extra $30,000 from bulls. Cont'd on pl5

Cont'd frompll But Bryan Weatherstone does not combine the two operations because he now has a sharemilker. He also irrigates % of his dairy unit and finds he cap carry enough cows pa eat the spring flush of feed and fully feed them in summer. The summer deficit which makes the combined bull/cow operation an attractive proposition did not eventuate on his property last season and grass growth over January/ February was more than two cows per acre could eat. Bryan Guy added that there had been problems running bulls on his property with young dairy heifers and empty cows nearby. A full account of the bull beef discussion will be available in the 1984 Dairy Farming Annual which will be published later this year.