Beef cattle husbandry practices across Ecoregions of Canada in 2011

Abstract

Sheppard, S. C., Bittman, S., Donohoe, G., Flaten, D., Wittenberg, K. M., Small, J. A., Berthiaume, R., McAllister, T. A., Beauchemin, K. A., McKinnon, J., Amiro, B. D., MacDonald, D., Mattos, F. and Ominski, K. H. 2015. Beef cattle husbandry practices across Ecoregions of Canada in 2011. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 305–321. Beef production in Canada is diverse in many dimensions with numbers of cattle per operation ranging over 10 000-fold, pasture usage from nil to 100%, and types of operations from solely cow–calf to exclusively feedlot finishing. This study summarizes management information obtained from a survey conducted in 2012 (about 2011) on 1009 beef operations in Canada. Many of the results clearly differentiate the practices in the Prairies from those in Ontario and Quebec. Compared to eastern Canada, the Prairies had earlier and shorter calving seasons, higher weaning weights, utilized more winter grazing with a variety of strategies, grew and fed more barley than corn, used more seasonal feeding areas and feedlots (and hence fewer barns), and more commonly spread manure in the fall. Many of the management practices used by cow–calf operations would have low environmental impact, including extensive use of grazing even in winter, low fertilizer inputs and feeding perennial forages with a high content of legumes. Some practices such as not covering forages or manure storage structures were common and could be changed to improve forage quality and reduce manure emissions. Most forage was harvested 3–7 d after full bloom. Earlier harvest has the potential to improve forage quality, which could reduce dependence on arable crops. Finishing operations used more housing, fed more arable-land crops and less perennial forages, and practiced little grazing. Rationale regarding the adoption of many of the management strategies was reported by the producers. For example, winter grazing was adopted primarily to reduce costs and labour, but for some it was also linked to a late calving season. Preferred sources of technical information included their own experience, farm print media, producer organisations and demonstrations at field days. The survey also identified several areas in which the industry may realize improved sustainability.

A typological characterization of Canadian beef cattle farms based on a producer survey

“…The farm survey considered geographical representation, and the distribution of farms approximately reflected the range of beef operations across Canada (Sheppard et al 2015). For the typology, geographic location was not used as a variable, but some clusters clearly had an affinity for certain regions (Table 3).…”

“…Data from the survey were quality-controlled by checking that clear outliers were not entry errors (Sheppard et al 2015). In the present study, we excluded four farms: one was a very large operation (>40 000 animals) that was very different from the other farms, and three farms included data that appeared to be somewhat arbitrary by virtue of rounding.…”

“…The farm survey was developed to collect information on animal husbandry, crop and soil systems, and socioeconomic aspects of all types of beef operations across Canada (Sheppard et al 2015). The survey questionnaire included 133 main and subquestions to provide 2011-yr information on: (1) general farm operation type, location, farm area, and cattle numbers; (2) grazing and feeding management in the warm and cold seasons; (3) warm and cold season housing management; (4) crop and forage production practices; (5) barn and feedlot feeding practices; (6) manure handling, storage, and application; and (7) farm socio-economic factors and attitudes.…”

“…In the present paper, we used the beef industry survey data (Sheppard et al 2015) to find commonalities among farms to develop characteristic "types". The potential to use the survey data to create a typology of Canadian beef farms not only provides a quantitative framework to be used for policy development, but also uses a structure that relates to producer operations.…”

“…Recently, Sheppard et al (2015) surveyed 1009 beef producers in Canada to gather information on the management of beef operations in 2011. This survey included all parts of the beef production cycle, from exclusive cow-calf farms to large specialized finishing operations.…”