13 October 2009

2 minute read

Europe

A former dairy farmer now makes use of the space and insemination handling facilities for her beef herd reports Farmers Weekly.

Extra space, a lack of beef bulls and the farm's position - with no roads going through it – meant, within a year, 75 per cent of the suckler herd was being inseminated artificially – soon moving to 100 per cent. And with figures like 80-85 per cent of cows getting in calf to first service, it's no surprise Ms Galloway from south Lanarkshire has never looked back.

"The majority get in calf to first service and we have a tight calving pattern, with 70 per cent calving within one month and 90 per cent in six weeks," she told Farmers Weekly.

"It is costing about £18-20 a cow depending on sires and that's with a technician coming in every day during a three-week period, twice a year, when cows are on heat. And because we are getting more uniform calves, we often average £2/kg for bullocks and heifers weighing between 370-480kg at 11 months," she says.

Ms Galloway says that it is labour intensive during the two periods when cows are cycling and heat detection is the biggest past of AI and getting cows at the right time is vital.

Genetics selection also has a crucial role. "When it comes to selecting bulls we pick those with high EBVs and also for ease of calving, conformation and, if for replacements, we also select for milk yield."

Ms Galloway believes that AI allows access to some of the best bulls with high EBV's and compact calving means that calves can be sold in batches as they are more uniform in shape.

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