Low RFI Bulls Sire Feed Efficient Calves

[Dylan Biggs]

"The results are just in from one of the first trials to validate the selection of bulls for feed efficiency as measured by residual feed intake (RFI). No surprise, but this four-year study showed low RFI sires produce low RFI offspring. And those more efficient offspring shaved $8.50 per head from a commercial feedlot's feeding costs during the finishing period. Equally significant, improved efficiency was passed on with no loss in rate of gain or carcass quality."...

Go to the following link to read the rest:

http://www.agcanada.com/Article.aspx?ID=14637

 

[RSL]

In Australia they have also found that low RFI sires produce low RFI daughters. They are using IGF concentrations in the blood as an indicator of RFI, and testing sires. When I was there the extension agencies, DPI, had portable RFI units you could rent/borrow to test your bulls at home. That would be a neat idea to try here.
As always and as I have stated before I think the challenge with RFI is to make sure that you don't depress appetite. You have to maintain intake and produce more with that same intake. I think this is extremely important in ruminants, since the mama should have to live off of byproducts, waste and low quality forage. When you get into these situations keeping intake high is very important.
Making every bit of intake effective is also important. Like everything else, I think RFI is valuable in balance with everything else.

 

[Grassfarmer]

It's an interesting idea but i'm rather wary of this type of research. Testing feedlot efficiency is one thing but how does it relate to foraging ability? Foraging ability in a cow is very different to how little or how much of a feedlot ration a calf can eat out of a bunk. I note in the report it says the calves all had similar start weights ie there appears to be no benefit to low RFI cattle weaning weights. This makes the value questionable to most cow/calf guys unless you retain ownership or get rewarded by premium for low RFI calves. Bottom line a @$8 difference in the feedlot isn't really that much - unless you have thousands on feed. Shame most in the beef sector don't utilise hybrid vigor correctly in their breeding programs - the results would be far greater and it's easy to understand with no proven negative side effects.

 

[Mike]

Testing feedlot efficiency is one thing but how does it relate to foraging ability?

Foraging & feedlot efficiency have a very high correlation.

In short, the ones who do well in the pasture generally do well in the feedlot.

Some say that cattle that do well in the feedlot do not necessarily do well in the pasture, but researchers are not convinced of these wive's tales .

Very hard to measure the food intake of a grazing animal. Some studies done with feeding harvested green chops have had positive results correlating the two.

 

[RSL]

At Lethbridge they did some forage RFI testing on second trimester cows and then put their calves into the facility after that.
Still difficult to test as forage in a bunk is different than forage in the pasture, and RFI space is still pretty limited.

 

[Grassfarmer]

Testing feedlot efficiency is one thing but how does it relate to foraging ability?

Foraging & feedlot efficiency have a very high correlation.

In short, the ones who do well in the pasture generally do well in the feedlot.

Some say that cattle that do well in the feedlot do not necessarily do well in the pasture, but researchers are not convinced of these wive's tales .

Very hard to measure the food intake of a grazing animal. Some studies done with feeding harvested green chops have had positive results correlating the two.

But have researchers disproved these "wives tales"? What is more accurate in the real world of cattle production - lab research or generations of stockmanship and observation of the grazing animal?

 

[Mike]

Testing feedlot efficiency is one thing but how does it relate to foraging ability?

Foraging & feedlot efficiency have a very high correlation.

In short, the ones who do well in the pasture generally do well in the feedlot.

Some say that cattle that do well in the feedlot do not necessarily do well in the pasture, but researchers are not convinced of these wive's tales .

Very hard to measure the food intake of a grazing animal. Some studies done with feeding harvested green chops have had positive results correlating the two.

But have researchers disproved these "wives tales"? What is more accurate in the real world of cattle production - lab research or generations of stockmanship and observation of the grazing animal?

Has anyone "proved" them?

Right off the top of my head I would say lab research................

P.S. Why would you disagree?

 

[Angus 62]

There can be a big difference between feed efficiency and foraging ability. During our recent 8 year drought hay became almost nonexistent at times an certainly too expensive to feed cows. We used some stock piled river bottom meadow to calve on in February and would feed a little good quality hay every other day. Most cows got along alright with this management and would find a protected place to calve, come out every other day for some hay but foraged the rest of the time. There were a few that would stand by the the gate day after day waiting for hay and some even calved there in the cold wind.

One of the biggest problems with much of the highly promoted genetics of today is they have never been tested in a real ranch environment.

 

[Northern Rancher]

For one thing grazing is a learned behavior-anmimals that have been raised in a farm enviroment often don't really know how to rustle out. We've brought those cattle in and they will virtually stand at the gate and starve-till they figure out that dinner isn't being served.Our replacement heifer calves run out with the cows after weaning-learning the ropes.

 

[Grassfarmer]

Foraging & feedlot efficiency have a very high correlation.

In short, the ones who do well in the pasture generally do well in the feedlot.

Some say that cattle that do well in the feedlot do not necessarily do well in the pasture, but researchers are not convinced of these wive's tales .

Very hard to measure the food intake of a grazing animal. Some studies done with feeding harvested green chops have had positive results correlating the two.

But have researchers disproved these "wives tales"? What is more accurate in the real world of cattle production - lab research or generations of stockmanship and observation of the grazing animal?

Has anyone "proved" them?

Right off the top of my head I would say lab research................

P.S. Why would you disagree?

OK please point me to the research that has proven or dis-proven what you call the wives tales - truth is the research has not been done because it is not easy to prove. I'm not anti-science I just am not as in awe of it as some people.
My point about stockmanship and observing grazing animals could be demonstrated by the knowledge and experience that hill sheep farmers had in Scotland in the late 1800s. The shepherds with no college education or research funding would carefully manipulate theirs animals grazing patterns over extensive and varied terrain resulting in the animals harvesting the species and quality of grasses and forbs best suited to their nutritional requirements at each specific time of year. It also resulted in optimising the production potential of the resource base - the land -in a sustainable manner. Their tools were observation, knowledge and collie dogs.

I guess a researcher today is likely able to put a bunch of sheep in a feedlot and work out which has the highest and lowest RFI indexes - but how much progress is that really in 150 years?

I resent the dumbing down of agriculture that has accompanied the move to more industrial agriculture. In my opinion there is so much old knowledge that is dismissed in the hasty pursuit of quick fixes and high tech solutions that ultimately are not as sustainable as the old methods were.

 

[RobertMac]

Feed efficiency would indicate strong endocrine and nervous systems and somewhat less "feed specific". In other words, animals with strong genetic constitution will work most anywhere.
BUT.....when I change my herd from "conventional" to forage only, not all could adjust with good "feed efficiency".

I resent the dumbing down of agriculture that has accompanied the move to more industrial agriculture. In my opinion there is so much old knowledge that is dismissed in the hasty pursuit of quick fixes and high tech solutions that ultimately are not as sustainable as the old methods were.

I prefer to study researchers like Bonsma, Voisin, Albrecht... :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

For one thing grazing is a learned behavior-anmimals that have been raised in a farm enviroment often don't really know how to rustle out. We've brought those cattle in and they will virtually stand at the gate and starve-till they figure out that dinner isn't being served.Our replacement heifer calves run out with the cows after weaning-learning the ropes.

Yep-- I agree...If they've had to work for their lunch from the time they were born they will do a much better job getting out there and rustling for their own living...

 

[Mike]

Personally, I've never seen one forget how to graze......After all, they are grazing animals.

After years of seeing producers place bulls from the same crop, some in feed tests and some on forage grazing tests, the excellence of half sibs that do well in both tests for gain & efficiency are astounding...............

The data is being put to paper now and will be finished next year...........

Cattle that do well in the pasture do well on feed. And vice-versa.

After all............... feed is a plant product same as grass.

 

[Grassfarmer]

Personally, I've never seen one forget how to graze......After all, they are grazing animals.
You have never noticed the differing grazing ability and preferences of different animals within a herd?

After years of seeing producers place bulls from the same crop, some in feed tests and some on forage grazing tests, the excellence of half sibs that do well in both tests for gain & efficiency are astounding...............

The data is being put to paper now and will be finished next year...........
Tell me more on this definitive test that is being done - how, where and what are the parameters?

Cattle that do well in the pasture do well on feed. And vice-versa.
or maybe the latter is just a "wives tale" :wink:

After all............... feed is a plant product same as grass.
That would depend what you define as "feed" not all things fed to cattle are plant derived. Selecting cattle reared on an all grass diet will have different results to selecting cattle reared on a 90% grain ration. It doesn't need a scientist to prove that.

 

[SMN Herf]

My experiences are that cattle that can do well on a high roughage diet can do well on high concentrate diets, but those that do well on high concentrate diets don't necessarily do well on high forage diets. Quite often as I track calves through weaning, backgrounding and finishing diets the calves out of harder thinner doing cows tend to be slower gaining in the backgrounding and then do well in the finishing stage. That is strictly from a performance standpoint.

Now when you start comparing feed efficiency, a lttle different picture can emerge. Some of these huge volumed calves tend to gain well, but many times they aren't as good at feed conversion as some of the little tighter made cattle. There are exceptions.

I have colleted 3 years of RFI data on my bull crops. I can honestly say at this stage I would never buy a bull srictly on RFI number alone. To many high RFI bulls don't have very good ADG and some don't have that good of Feed conversion. Now if you have ADG data available and actual feed conversion data available, then you have some very good data that I think could improve your cowherd.

Brian

 

[Northern Rancher]

They will all graze in June but it's amazing how alot of cows look for a feedtruck the first cloudy day in early winter.

 

[Denny]

For one thing grazing is a learned behavior-anmimals that have been raised in a farm enviroment often don't really know how to rustle out. We've brought those cattle in and they will virtually stand at the gate and starve-till they figure out that dinner isn't being served.Our replacement heifer calves run out with the cows after weaning-learning the ropes.

Yep-- I agree...If they've had to work for their lunch from the time they were born they will do a much better job getting out there and rustling for their own living...

How is eating all the alfalfa/grass mix haythey want roughing it.

 

[Silver]

I know rustling for a living is a learned habit and our cows haven't learned it. I'm not too worried about it because in our operation the difference is about 2 or 3 days of feed because we don't have the private land to bank grass and the crown land is no longer available to us.
Our cows will break down fences to come home in early winter because they haven't been forced to learn to rustle. The neighbour has lots of private land and can manage to get his cows to graze well into the winter. To me the lesson to be learned here is: have lots of land :wink:

 

[cowhunter]

Yea, cowman sence is like comon sence. It can't be taught in a class room. And the educated man that thinks he can look down on the inteligence of a real hand me down cowman can sure show just how ignert his educated ash really is. I've been around old cowmen that knew more about what cattle to keep than collage profesers tryin to teach it. Education great. I'm not knockin it. But as ignert as I am, if I had a cow that would not get out there and grub in the winter, she'd be takein a trip.

 

[Anonymous]

For one thing grazing is a learned behavior-anmimals that have been raised in a farm enviroment often don't really know how to rustle out. We've brought those cattle in and they will virtually stand at the gate and starve-till they figure out that dinner isn't being served.Our replacement heifer calves run out with the cows after weaning-learning the ropes.

Yep-- I agree...If they've had to work for their lunch from the time they were born they will do a much better job getting out there and rustling for their own living...

How is eating all the alfalfa/grass mix haythey want roughing it.

It wouldn't be-- but I know very few that have enough hay- or can afford to give them all the hay they want- especially around here this year with anything edible costing $100+ a ton... For a while this winter people were scrambling for whatever straw or filler they could find...
Right now my cows/heifers are on about 12/15 lbs of hay or hay/straw mixed a day and are having to rustle the rest from picked over stubble and hay meadows...And they are doing fine..