New technology could save beef industry millions

Gary Sliworsky
Ag. Rep.

New technology which will help beef producers and cattle feeders identify breeding stock with the genetic potential to gain weight on less feed, could save the Canadian beef industry hundreds of millions of dollars per year, say researchers.
The technology, being used at bull test facilities at Olds College north of Calgary as well as a private feedlot - Cattleland Feeders at Strathmore east of Calgary - makes it possible to precisely measure the feed intake of individual animals.
With that information, the beef industry will be able to identify breeding animals with the genetic potential to be more feed efficient. As the genetics of those animals are introduced into commercial herd breeding programs on farms across the country, more animals entering feedlots will have improved feed efficiency.
It is estimated that as the genetics of more feed efficient cattle spreads through the industry over the next few years, cattle feeders will save more than $100 million annually and there will be at least that much savings accrued by cow/calf producers.
The genetic potential for one animal to be more feed efficient over another is a moderately heritable trait that can be passed from one generation to the next. There’s good probability that both male and female offspring of bulls showing high feed efficiency will also carry that trait through their production cycles.
Feeding trials at Olds College over the past three years showed over a 120-day feeding period as much as an $80 per head feed savings for cattle with the higher genetic potential for improved feed efficiency compared to other cattle.
The concept of selecting cattle based on genetic potential for feed efficiency isn’t new. Researchers first identified a genetic potential for feed efficiency back in the 1960s, but little was done with that information. However, in the 1990s Australian researchers began working with the concept, and in the early 2000s Canadian beef researchers took a serious look at this heritable trait.
A key element making it possible to identify the most feed efficient animals is sophisticated feeding technology developed by the Airdrie, Alberta-based GrowSafe Systems. GrowSafe developed computerized bunk-style feeders that can measure and record the feed intake of individual animals each time they come to the bunk to eat. A sensor on the edge of the feeder reads the electronic ear tag of each animal. The GrowSafe feeder weighs the total amount of ration placed in the bunk and then records the amount consumed during each visit by cattle.
Before this technology was introduced it was difficult and much more expensive to accurately measure feed intake. Each animal had to be monitored separately and it was much more labor intensive. Using the GrowSafe system properly tagged cattle can be monitored in a commercial feedlot setting.

Dates to Remember
·As of Wednesday, November 30, 2005 the Emo Agricultural Research Station will be closed for the season.
·Dec. 7 – RR Soil & Crop Annual Meeting