What calf breeds have the highest ADG?

All farmers should keep good, concise, and correct farm records to assist with their business.

In addition to the requirements of schemes and compliance recording, accurate record keeping allows farmers to actively review data and make changes in real time to improve performance on their farms.

In the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Sucklers (BEEP-S) herds, farmers are recording more and more key performance indicators (KPI’s) for their farms, to assist them in identifying which breed or individual animal is the most profitable.

Between October 1-31, this year, a total of 30,676 calves across 1493 Irish farms had their weights recorded in the Herdwatch app. These calves were all born from January-May.

As such, the Herdwatch team has analysed the performance of the Irish entries to determine how well breeds performed.

ADG

Overall, for all Herdwatch recorded 2022-born calves to date, the average daily gains (ADG) across all breeds equates to 0.87kg/day.

If broken down further, the data from Herdwatch farms indicates that Charolais-cross calves have the best ADG – standing at 1.15kg/day.

Limousine-cross calves and Simmental-Cross calves follow closely behind with ADGs of 1.08/kg/day and 1/kg/day respectively.

The lowest-performing breed was determined to be Friesian-cross calves, with an ADG of just 0.66kg/day.

Farmers in counties Tipperary, Cork, Galway, Clare and Limerick were most likely to record the weight gain data on the Herdwatch app than those in other counties.

Additionally, data also revealed that 55% of Irish beef farmers and 63% of UK beef farmers had weigh scales on farm. This was in comparison to 21% of Irish dairy farmers and 23% of British dairy farmers.

All weights recorded in the Herdwatch app are automatically linked to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) database, which subsequently feeds into farmers’ cattle individual Eurostar or EBI (Economic Breeding Index) rating.

West Cork suckler herd

Shane O’Neill, a suckler farmer from west Cork, runs a commercial and pedigree suckler herd whilst working full time off farm.

Shane uses the Herdwatch app as a tool to help him improve farm efficiency and save hours on paperwork.

“I use Herdwatch for all record keeping on farm, especially weight recording,” he said.

“It’s very simple to use, you just put the weights into the app, and you can keep an eye on things and check calves for thrive. Just tap it into the phone and job done.”

“I prefer to use Herdwatch, as before I was writing it down on a piece of paper which was easy to get lost. You can even put animals into groups with one click of a button.”

How to use Herdwatch

Herdwatch offers a range of functionality features to benefit farmers participating in BEEP-S. Weights can be recorded directly into the app via the ‘Weights’ section.

Here, farmers can see if target weights are being met, as well as view the calculated predicted weight.

To compliment this, a range of ADG and on-farm weight gain reports can be generated with one tap. These reports are also available for export for use off app if required.

To record weights in the Herdwatch App, follow these easy steps:

Tap on the ‘Plus’ button from the app home screen;
Tap ‘Weight Recording’;
Select your animal/group;
Add your recorded weight and save.

In addition to weight recording Herdwatch offers a range of functions.

Suckler farmers save three hours/week on average recording events for Cross-Compliance and the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Scheme (SBLAS) with the Herdwatch farm management app.

Herdwatch is fully approved by the Department of Agriculture and compliant with the Bord Bia Sustainable Beef and Lamb Scheme (SBLAS) guidelines.

This means, when an event such as an animal remedy treatment or purchase is recorded in the Herdwatch app, farmers are fully compliant.

Record farm events for SBLAS or Cross-Compliance as they happen using your smart phone, tablet or PC even without an internet connection. The app allows farmers to record events such as cattle treatments from the crush, this information is the backed up the cloud when an internet connection is available meaning your most important records will always be safe.

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