Many beef finishers have a preference for finishing one particular category of cattle over the others. Some farmers will buy only steers (bullocks) as they are easier to manage than bulls, and generally grow into bigger weights than heifers.
On the other hand, some farmers have a preference for finishing heifers, as they are generally easier to finish to factory specification than bullocks.
Based in Co. Carlow, the ABP Demo Farm buys in approximately 400 calves every year. Both heifer and bull calves are purchased and males are castrated by a veterinary practitioner as calves.
The farm recently hosted an open day, as part of its Advantage Beef Programme. The main focus of the event was on improving the environmental and economic sustainability of calf-to-beef farms through identifying and purchasing calves with better genetic potential to produce beef.
One management practice that caught the attention of the farmers in attendance was the grazing of both heifers and steers together in groups.
The question was put to ABP Food Group’s agri-sustainability manager, Stephen Connolly, as to why heifers and steers are grazed together on the farm.
Connolly explained: “From our experience, we feel that grazing heifers and steers together aids performance due to a number of factors as well as reducing the number of grazing groups needed on the farm.”
“We have never done a trial to prove our theory but it stands to sense. If there were 30 heifers grazing in a group, there would be one heifer, on average, in heat every day and some coming in and out of heat. When half the group are steers, the level of activity is instantly halved.”
Heifers and steers are kept together on the farm from the calf stage right through the first winter and the second season at grass until the finishing phase begins.
“We would finish them in groups together only for we have two different diets, our steer diet contains slightly more concentrates/head than our heifer diet.”
The 2021-born heifers on the ABP Demo Farm started receiving concentrates last week, as the heifers and steers in the group will be finished before the 2022-born calves are housed for the winter.
The latest update from the farm is available to read here.