Efficiency and stability in subtropical beef cattle grazing systems in the northwest of Argentina

Nasca, José Andres; Feldkamp, C. R.; Arroquy, José Ignacio; Colombatto, D.

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2014.10.014

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…These results were similar to the NPV result of Bir et al (2018) who found that lighter cows had higher NPV than their heavier counterparts. Nasca et al (2015) , in an economic and environmental analysis of beef production in Argentina, reported economic efficiency declined with increasing cow weights because of high supplementary feed costs, similar to this study.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Cow-calf production systems are highly variable and balancing cow size with both the management and grazing environment may help improve the system profitability ( Nasca et al, 2015 ). These results indicate that in the Upper Midwest utilization of lighter weight cows increases the WW ratio of the herd, may require less land and hay per cow, and potentially increases expected net returns on a per ha basis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This would require a paradigm shift from producers, which often believe that heavier cows maximize profitability and require improved estimates of cow size from producers, as most do not weigh their animals consistently ( Doye and Lalman, 2011 ; Reuter, 2017 ). Research on other regions, such as that done by Nasca et al (2015) and Bir et al (2018) , should be done in other regions to provide recommendations for producers in those regions on how best to maximize productivity. This study did not include actual animal intakes and milk production, factors that have been reported to impact calf WW and differ for cows with high CWP ( Williams et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cow efficiency: modeling the biological and economic output of a Michigan beef herd

Thompson

Beck

Buskirk

et al. 2020

Translational Animal Science

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In recent decades, beef cattle producers have selected cattle for biological traits (ie. improved growth) to maximize revenue, leading to an increase in average cow body size. However, matching cow size to the production environment would allow producers to maximize productivity and economic returns per unit of land. This may help meet the goals of sustainable intensification, but environmental complexity and varying cow-calf production systems dictates a regional approach. The objective of this experiment was to examine the biological efficiency and economic returns of a Northern Michigan cow-calf system. We hypothesized that biological efficiency and economic returns would decrease with increasing cow body size. Data was collected from a Red Angus cow herd located at the Lake City AgBio Research Center in Lake City, MI from 2011 to 2018 on cow age, weight, and body condition score at weaning, and subsequent 205 d adjusted calf weaning weight (WW), sex, and yearling weight. Biological efficiency was defined as WW as a percentage of cow body weight (DBW). Enterprise budgeting techniques were used to calculate expected net returns from 2011 to 2018 after classifying cows into 11 BW tiers at 22.67 kg intervals beginning at 430.83 kg. Forward looking net present value was calculated using the same tier system, for a 10-year production cycle with the baseline being a 200 d grazing season. Weaning weight increased with increasing DBW (P < 0.01), but the percentage of cow body weight weaned was reduced by -38.58 × Ln(DBW) (P < 0.01). This led to cows weaning 26.38 kg/ha more with every 100 kg drop in DBW. Expected net returns from 2011-2018 did not differ by DBW tier on a per cow basis but did on a per ha basis with a decrease in $10.27/ha with each increase in DBW tier (P < 0.01). Net present value was maximized in the baseline scenario at 453.51 kg DBW and decreased in value as DBW increased. These results suggest that for a Northern Midwestern cow-calf herd, comparatively lighter cows provide a higher economic value on a land basis.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cow efficiency: modeling the biological and economic output of a Michigan beef herd

Thompson

Beck

Buskirk

et al. 2020

Translational Animal Science

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“…Female calves that did not recompose the system and male calves were sold immediately after weaning. The total production (TP) of the scenarios was calculated from the sum of all of the kg sold in live weight of each category, while the productivity (kg/ha) was determined from the relation between TP and the production area, as described by Nasca et al (31). For all the systems, the same weight was considered for animals in the same category that were sold and that remain in the herd.…”

Section: Herd Structure Submodelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency in Cow-Calf Systems With Different Ages of Cow Culling

et al. 2020

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“…The technologies used to increase animal performance and the production output of the system should be evaluated to determine the effects of intensification (Lampert et al, 2012;Dill et al, 2015b). Economic simulation models have been used to analyze the interactions and impact of the use of resources on animal production indicators (Beretta et al, 2002;Villalba et al, 2010;Parsons et al, 2011;Nasca et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling beef cattle production systems from the Pampas in Brazil to assess intensification options

Lampert

Canozzi

McManus

et al. 2020

Sci. agric. (Piracicaba, Braz.)

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Traditional livestock productivity is hard to estimate, since it depends on a gamut of animal production indicators that are difficult to measure for many farms. Thus, we propose an analytical method for estimating productivity and understanding the importance of animal production indicators under different full-cycle cattle production systems in Brazil. To evaluate the impact of these indicators, equations were derived from a comutational model of herd evolution for estimating the output parameters of the system as follows: productivity per hectare (PH) and offtake rate (COR), as a function of the indicators; calving rate (CR), mating age (AM), age of slaughter (AS) and stocking rate (SR). For this analysis, twenty-seven scenarios (simulation data) of low to high productivity were used, resulting from the combination of the following factors and levels: 1) calving rate of 50, 65 and 80 %; 2) mating age of heifers of one, two and three, years of age; and 3) age at slaughter of one, two and three year old steers. The scenario with the highest impact for each parameter and the indicator of highest impact for each scenario were identified for the production conditions in the region. Under most scenarios, a reduction in mating age had a greater impact on the productivity indexes compared to a reduction in slaughter age. Appropriate management of available technologies enables farmers to compare the marginal impacts of specific indicators on full-cycle production systems for beef cattle.

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Efficiency and stability in subtropical beef cattle grazing systems in the northwest of Argentina

Cited by 17 publications

References 56 publications

Cow efficiency: modeling the biological and economic output of a Michigan beef herd

Cow efficiency: modeling the biological and economic output of a Michigan beef herd

Efficiency in Cow-Calf Systems With Different Ages of Cow Culling

Modelling beef cattle production systems from the Pampas in Brazil to assess intensification options

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