What kind of cattle for beef

Limited feed resources indicates a higher percentage of British breeding. A brief overview of the history, physical characteristics and dominant traits of the beef cattle breeds common to Ontario follows. The breeds in this section have substantial numbers in both purebred and commercial operations and have undergone substantial selection programs over the years. The breeds listed offer the genetics and selection required to develop a breeding program suitable for the available market.

The Aberdeen Angus breed existed in Scotland years ago and evolved during the 19 th century in northeast Scotland in the counties of Angus and Aberdeen. The first Aberdeen Angus was imported into Canada in Angus cattle are solid black or red and are polled. Both colours are registered in the Canadian Angus Association herd book. Angus are noted for good maternal qualities and a high carcass quality.

Angus cattle are also recognized for their ability to forage under rugged conditions. Figure 1. An Angus bull. Blonde d'Aquitaine originated in the southwest of France, where they developed as a dual-purpose breed. Animals are cream to fawn coloured. The breed is horned and recognized primarily for its beef characteristics and high yielding carcasses. The first Blondes were introduced into Canada in Figure 2. The Blonde d'Aquitaine. Charolais, one of the oldest French breeds and the earliest European import into Canada, arrived from the U.

Originally, Charolais were used for meat, draft and milk, but have since become specialized as a beef breed. Cattle of the Charolais breed are large and heavy, white to cream-coloured and either horned or polled. Through sire evaluation and breed improvement, they offer the beef industry hardy cattle with rapid growth and good muscling. Figure 3.

A Charlolais bull. Gelbvieh or German Yellow Cattle evolved in the early 19 th century through the crossing of various breeds in northern Bavaria.

This produced a growthy dual-purpose animal that also served as a draft animal. Gelbvieh have been in Canada since Emphasis in North America in recent years has been on meat production.

The Gelbvieh is solid-coloured, reddish gold to russet, with fine dense hair. They have good size, heavy muscling and are known for their desirable carcass and strong maternal characteristics.

The Hereford, one of the oldest cattle breeds, was developed in Herefordshire, England. First importations into Canada were in The Hereford is a reddish-brown colour with white on the head, brisket, chest, underpart of the body, lower legs and tassel. The white face is a dominant characteristic. Herefords can be either horned or polled. Hereford cattle are extremely hardy and show excellent foraging ability.

Among beef breeds, they are not high milk producers but have good growth potential and calve relatively easily. Their popularity is shown by their continued use as a beef-producing animal that crosses well with other breeds. Bulls are usually docile and easy to handle. Figure 5. A Hereford bull. The Limousin originated in the hill country of south-central France.

The cattle range from a golden wheat colour in the females to a deep red-gold in the males, darkening somewhat with maturity and age. The Limousin has always been selected for its meat qualities. Referred to as the "carcass breed," Limousins do well in carcass competitions with their large rib eyes and high yielding, quality, lean carcass. Cows are also noted for their calving ease and mothering ability.

Limousins were introduced into Canada from France in late Figure 6. A Limousin bull. The Maine-Anjou is one of the largest breeds of cattle in France. They were developed in Brittany when stock that existed in the area before were crossed with imported Shorthorns to produce a superior animal. The breed is large, horned, and is dark red, usually with a white underline and often with small white patches on the body. The appeal of this breed to cattle producers is their high growth rate, milking ability and good disposition.

Lean carcass quality and high cutability also put them in demand. Figure 7. Bos indicus cattle breeds, such as Brahman, being more suited for hot — tropical climates, whereas Bos taurus cattle breeds, typically European breeds such as Angus and Holstein Friesians, being more suited for cooler and more temperate climates.

Government estimates put the number of beef cattle breeds now in Australia at more than As the country has a vastly diverse climate — ranging from tropical in the far north to the chillier plains and forests of Victoria and Tasmania, producers have increasingly looked to stocking breeds that are suitable for local areas.

Cross-breeding in recent years has helped to introduce characteristics to make beef cattle breeds more pest and disease-resistant.

Crossbreeding within the herd can make better use of breed selection by combining breeds with different strengths to produce a final progeny with desired characteristics from both original breeds. British breeds, such as Angus and Herefords, are generally earlier maturing and are thus able to gain weight on less feed. For this reason, they perform well on moderate nutrition and are popular in many parts of the country. They have high fertility and good eating quality.

Some British breeds are used in the industry as high-marbling breeds and are suited to the Japanese feedlot market. European breeds, such as Charolais and Limousin, generally grow faster and have more muscle. They are generally later maturing than British breeds and need more feed to lay down fat cover. Many successful crossbreeding herds cross European bulls over British breed cows to produce faster growing, higher-yielding calves. Dairy cattle are breeds that have been specifically bred to maximise their milk output.

According to the most recent figures, there are just over 1. Work toward calving 30 to 60 days prior to the best forage season in your area. Cow milk production declines after three months; therefore, supplement the nutrient requirements of the growing calf by making high-quality forage available. If your forage system lacks high-quality forages, the selection of a fast-growing, heavy-milking breed would be detrimental to optimum productivity.

Researchers evaluated breed types using varying percentages of European x British and beef x dairy crossbred cows. When maintained in similar environments, the larger-framed, higher-milking cows had poor reproductive performance. Thus, when genetic potential for milk is high a cow?

The growth potential of the calves will only be met when adequate milk production is available. When milk supply is abundant and forage quantity and quality are marginal, the result is a reduced calf crop percentage due to low cyclicity and pregnancy rates; therefore, make sure to match your forage production system to the genetic potential of your brood cow herd.

With this "optimum philosophy" in mind, we can look at general trends in milk production, growth and reproduction of several breeds in the United States. The project was designed to evaluate the "recently" imported breeds from Europe and provides the most complete, comprehensive data available.

All breeds were not compared, so some information is not available. Breeds may perform differently in Georgia.

The project does provide a valid comparison of the cattle in one common environment. Table 2 outlines how the breeds compare to the Angus x Hereford crossbred used as a standard. The values in the table are listed in ratios. A ratio of indicates a value of 5 percent above the standard of ; a ratio of 95 indicates a value 5 percent below the standard.

The actual percentage is in parenthesis for the percent of cows pregnant after the first breeding season and percent calf crop weaned. Calving difficulty was reported in actual percentage. Since there are more than 70 recognized cattle breeds, it is impossible to compare them all at once. The breeds are generally grouped into three types: British, European and Zebu-influence.

Some of the breeds within the three categories may be atypical and may not possess all the advantages or disadvantages. The MARC project was designed to evaluate as many of the more prominent breeds as possible. There was also an attempt to compare bulls that were representative of the breed. It is possible to select a bull of one of the breeds that would be an exception to the averages.

This bull could perform either better or worse than the bulls used in the MARC project. The MARC study, however, did provide useful information about relative differences among many of the European and Brahman cattle. In selecting a beef breed, use the MARC information to select breeds that have higher genetic potential for meat and milk. The specific search for a bull would be for one of the breed exceptions in a weak area. For example, the faster growing cattle are generally larger at birth and calving difficulty is higher.