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Intensive beef production. 9. A note on the performance of Friesian and Ayrshire steers fattened on a cereal diet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

N. A. MacLeod ,
A. Macdearmid  and
M. Kay
N. A. MacLeod
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen
A. Macdearmid
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen
M. Kay
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen
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Extract

In parts of the United Kingdom, considerable numbers of Ayrshire bull calves are slaughtered at birth or shortly after. These animals, if fattened intensively on a cereal diet, could provide a valuable addition to the beef produced from the dairy herd if their rate of live-weight gain, carcass composition and feed conversion efficiency provided an economic return. At the prevailing purchase price of calves and cost of feed the profit margin would appear to compare favourably with that from other dairy steers. The data from an economic survey of barley beef units in the North of Scotland by Clark (1966) show, on the basis of surplus per head (i.e. gross margin less other costs) that the greatest margin was achieved by a unit whose livestock was entirely comprised of Ayrshire steers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , November 1968 , pp. 487 - 489
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1968

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References

REFERENCES

Clark, J. 1966. Economic results from some barley beef units in the North of Scotland, 1965/66. Economic Report of the North of Scotland College of Agriculture No. 118.Google Scholar
Beef Recording Association 1967. Intensive cereal beef production. Tech. Rep. No. 5.Google Scholar
Callow, E. H. 1962. The relationship between the weight of a tissue in a single joint and the total weight of the tissue in a side of beef. Anim. Prod. 4: 37–46.Google Scholar
Harrington, G. and King, J. W. G. 1963. A note on the prediction of muscular tissue weight in sides of beef. Anim. Prod. 5: 327–328.Google Scholar