On Farm Bull Test

[ollie]

If they were mine , and they are not, I would loosen them up a bit now that they are going by taking out some of that fiber and adding some ddg or bean meal.

 

[MikeC]

If they were mine , and they are not, I would loosen them up a bit now that they are going by taking out some of that fiber and adding some ddg or bean meal.

Am having a new batch of feed ground tomorrow. Might just get them to add another 100 lbs. of CS meal in place of soyhull pellets. I think that would give me about 12.5%.

 

[ollie]

Good plan.

 

[beef]

MikeC:

You may want to talk to the Jorgensens. http://www.jorgensenfarms.com They are using the Cornell Model (or some variation of it) to test young bulls for feed efficiency and have for several years.

 

[MikeC]

MikeC:

You may want to talk to the Jorgensens. http://www.jorgensenfarms.com They are using the Cornell Model (or some variation of it) to test young bulls for feed efficiency and have for several years.

Thanks, dang it, I passed by their place twice last week.
Wish I had known.

 

[ollie']

Mike , how are the bulls doing on the new feed? How is consumption?

 

[MikeC]

Mike , how are the bulls doing on the new feed? How is consumption?

I'll weigh tomorrow, but they are eating me out of house and home! Just a quick guess shows they are eating about 30 lbs. per day each! I'll figure it more closely when the feeder runs out.

That consumption would be OK if they are gaining 6 lbs. per day.

 

[Aero]

someone explain something to me here.

when an animal goes to the feedlot, is there anything that governs how much each animal gets? i assumed (in basic terms) that there was a long bunk full of food and they all just lined up to eat. if this is true and we assume that feed efficiency is pretty much the same for each animal (how much variation can there really be?), wouldnt we want animals that just gain faster?

i havent seen anything that has shown a difference in efficiency that warranted us talking about it, much less buying software and lots of extra work.

can someone direct to some research that shows a valuable difference?

also, i have heard some say that feed efficiency is of low heritability. wouldnt this make efficiency tests for bulls (aka future herd sires) nearly pointless?

 

[farmer rich]

someone explain something to me here.

when an animal goes to the feedlot, is there anything that governs how much each animal gets? i assumed (in basic terms) that there was a long bunk full of food and they all just lined up to eat. if this is true and we assume that feed efficiency is pretty much the same for each animal (how much variation can there really be?), wouldnt we want animals that just gain faster?

i havent seen anything that has shown a difference in efficiency that warranted us talking about it, much less buying software and lots of extra work.

can someone direct to some research that shows a valuable difference?

also, i have heard some say that feed efficiency is of low heritability. wouldnt this make efficiency tests for bulls (aka future herd sires) nearly pointless?

Feed conversion efficiency is an exremely important economic trait. Feed is the single biggest cost after purchasing stock when feeding cattle and therfore has the most potential for increasing margins.
There are significant variations in FCR between both breeds and individuals within breeds. Even breeds noted for high FCRs such as Limousin exibit large variations. Have a look at this link to Limtest UK for a demonstration of this. http://www.limtest.co.uk/


Another point to consider is that Feed conversion efficiency is not related to intake. Therefore a higher FCR should lead to faster growth rates assuming intake remains the same. In this case savings in feed costs would be made in two ways, more beef produced for the same amount of feed and less feed consumed due to a reduction in feeding period.

So for purely economic reasons there is a very good reason for breeding for this trait and also testing for this trait in bull tests.
Neither is this pointless from the point of view of heritability as feed conversion ratio has a 40% heritability, higher than muscle/bone ratio and milk yeild which have a 30% heritability.

 

[MikeC]

someone explain something to me here.

Take for instance 2 steers, #1 & #2-Feed cost is 10 cents per lb

#1 eats 20 lbs per day and has a Feed Conversion Ratio of 4:1
He gains 5 lbs per day @ $2.00 per day
100 days = 500 lbs = $200.00 Feed Cost

#2 eats 20 lbs perday and has a FCR of 6:1
He gains 3.33 lbs per day @ $2.00 per day
150 days = 500 lbs = $300.00 Feed cost

This scenario is very likely in the feedyard. If you were feeding 1000 calves it could be your entire profit on the line.

 

[Aero]

I just cant imagine a 50% difference like that. i thought common variance was around 3-5%.

farmer rich:
good article. that's a bit eye-opening.

 

[J&T Farm]

Abit off subject here but we grow broilers for Pilgrims Pride and their #1 concern on the chickens we grow and how we grow them is feed conversion. Its a non stop effort to try to increase converting feed to meat.

 

[dph]

But Mike, in your scenario, the least effecient bull also isn't gaining like the other one. Am I missing something?

 

[MikeC]

But Mike, in your scenario, the least effecient bull also isn't gaining like the other one. Am I missing something?

A calf's gut will only hold a certain amount of feed. He might gain the same lbs. per day if he ate more, but he would also cost more to fatten.