According to Professor Frikkie Neser of the Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at Free State University, the fundamentals of cattle and sheep farming are the same: you need a predetermined schedule and fixed for breeding.

Using this as a baseline, you can then develop a strategic diet and health program to complement it. However, you must have control over the location of your bulls or rams at any given time.

“Before you can play with different breeding techniques, you first need to put in place an appropriate breeding season strategy,” he says.

In order to develop a breeding season strategy, you must first decide when the mating will take place. As a rule of thumb, the best time for this is a month before the onset of rain. In addition, heifers should be bred a month before the cows, as they tend to take longer to recover.

Neser says it’s good practice to breed your second year heifers separately from older cows, as cows tend to keep the bulls to themselves.

You should try to keep the mating season within a three-month period, says Neser, because
this improves uniformity in all subsequent stages of development. In areas of summer rainfall, this means you should aim for a mating season that begins around November 15 for heifers and December 15 for cows.

Livestock economics
If all goes well during mating season, about 60% of calves are born in the first
30 days of the calving season. This is good because it gives the cows more time to recover, and the calves will therefore be heavier at weaning. The 60% rule is also a good way to check if there are any underlying issues that need special attention.

It is important to pay close attention to the nutritional needs of your animals throughout the year, but this is especially crucial during mating and calving.

All farms differ in terms of rainfall, temperature, topography, veld composition and available food sources, but problems for South African pastoralists usually arise at the end of winter, when the nutritional value of the crop. natural veld is at its lowest.

You can solve this problem by providing cattle with protein licking as well as strategic energy supplements. During the hot summer months, a phosphate lick is a good addition to natural grazing.

It is also important to understand the implications of managing your breeding season to coincide with the natural availability of pasture, or lack thereof. Neser explains that if you schedule the breeding season to calve in the spring, your herd will benefit from the availability of pasture throughout the next summer months in areas of summer rainfall.

A 2012 study conducted by Johan Mouton, head of research and development for ruminants at RCL Foods, showed a 4.3% interest in the capital for such a strategy in a beef cattle farm. On the other hand, only an interest of 2.7% on the capital is realized if the calving takes place in autumn.

Neser does not recommend winter calving for extensive breeding, but says farmers can have a second calving season in winter for a variety of reasons.

“Some farmers may set up a calving season during the winter to give a cow a second chance if she hasn’t caught during the initial breeding season, or to take advantage of potentially higher weaning prices in the summer.

“If you plan to calve in the winter, pay close attention to the condition of your cows and have extra feed available to supplement their diet if their condition score drops to 2.5.

“A condition score should be assigned to each animal based on its fat and muscle coverage, with a score assigned on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is very skinny and 5 is overweight. Also, according to the work of Mouton, the prices at weaning [in summer] must be at least 26% higher for this strategy to make financial sense, ”says Neser.

The condition of animals entering the breeding season is very important. Heifers should be between 60-65% of their mature weight at the start of the breeding season, and cows should have a condition score of 3.5 at the start of the breeding season.

“With a score of 3.5, a cow is neither too thin nor too fat,” he says.

Benefits of a planned breeding season
“If breeders manage the breeding season properly, there are a number of financial and managerial benefits to be unlocked,” Neser explains.

First, animal health is easier to manage through inoculation and disease control programs. Calf animals often need different treatments compared to open animals, and different stages of development require different health, strategic supplemental feeding and licking programs.

If the breeding season has been synchronized for a short period, the herd will be more uniform, allowing more effective treatments. It also allows for more options to be considered for resolving any issues that may arise.

Second, a defined breeding season will result in a larger and more uniform group of calves. This improves options and the ability to negotiate better prices when marketing animals.

At the same time, you will have a larger group of surface cull cows to market. It can improve your cash flow.

Caring for bulls
Bull management is fundamental to a successful breeding season strategy. Neser says a common mistake made by farmers is to buy bulls and put them to work immediately.

“You have to remember that transporting and adjusting to a new location is stressful and can lead to loss of fertility for the bull,” says Neser.

Spermatogenesis takes around six weeks, so let your new bull stay on the farm for at least two months before the breeding season begins. It is also important that bulls bought at auctions or at studs are exercised regularly to ensure they are in good shape. In order to get the most out of a bull, he must be in excellent physical condition. This means a condition score of 3.5 to 4 at the start of the breeding season.

If you have planned the breeding season, you can manage the bull’s diet and exercise regimen to coincide with it. It’s important to test a bull’s fertility before and in the middle of the breeding season, says Neser. You should also test and inoculate your bull for venereal disease as part of your health strategy.

“Having a top-level bull and watching him ride cows from a distance is not enough,” he warns.

You need to be sure that the bull can climb and penetrate the cow’s vulva successfully.

“It has happened that a farmer has discovered that a bull has a damaged or broken penis when it is too late due to lack of attention during the breeding season.”

The breeding herd should also be monitored regularly to identify lazy bulls. You should also watch out for bulls that show drastic weight loss during the breeding season, as they need to be replaced or treated for health issues, he adds.

Accelerate the improvement of the herd
For best results, perform pregnancy tests two to three months after the bulls are removed from the herd.

“I recommend to heifers [that didn’t conceive] be slaughtered immediately, because there is no good reason why they should not be calf. With open cows you have to consider that they will only earn you 15 months from now, so if you decide to keep them make sure your reasoning is based on solid logic and their history, ”Neser explains.

A well-managed breeding season also allows the farmer to improve the genetics of a herd. Because calves are born within a defined period of time, they are of uniform age. There are fewer corrections to make, and more precise breeding values ​​can thus be obtained.

It also means that you can now be more precise when selecting for fertility as you can get breeding values ​​in days to calving, and it is much easier to manage the age at which young heifers are mated.

These factors help you determine which cows are less fertile and which are strategic for a longer term breeding strategy.

Email Professor Frikkie Neser at [email protected].