About four out of every five UK suckler producers could improve their profitability significantly by targeting a two year first calving age, according to Richard Fuller, Technical Director with the Stabiliser Cattle Company.
Speaking at the Beef Improvement Group conference, he pointed out that around 80% of suckler herds record a first calving date for heifers of between two and a half and three years, at least six months longer than the optimum.
“Age at first calving is a major contributor to profitability in a beef suckler herd and the fact that the vast majority are so far away from the optimum achievable is a massive cost to individual businesses and the beef industry as a whole,” he said.
“The aim should be to breed suckler cows that will produce eight live calves in a 10 year productive life and that means starting with a target age of two years for the first calving.
“This is achievable by concentrating on the important maternal traits when breeding replacement sucklers, including early onset of puberty, fertility and calving ease.
“We calculate the extra calf output per year achievable from two year first calving to be over £80 per cow per year, at current values, when compared with the industry average.”
Mr Fuller included the financial impact of first calving age alongside other key performance indicators in an overview of the potential improvements achievable with the Stabiliser breed.
“We calculate a potential bottom line improvement of almost £400 per cow when comparing the performance of the Stabiliser with the AHDB top third beef suckler performance,” he said.
“Reducing age at first calving is just part of this overall potential gain and should be an area of focus for all suckler herds with commercial breeding objectives.”
The Breeding Improvement Group conference took place at Askham Bryan College, York, on 3rd November 2015. The event was titled ‘Breeding Precision Drives Profitable Solutions’
