With apologies to that old popular song, at last year’s NADA convention, Ken McDowell reported that he has not had one open heifer in his 30 years of managing the Rotakawa herd in New Zealand. Ken said the major factor in this remarkable achievement is almost certainly his practice of not breeding his heifers until they are in their second year, producing their first calf at three years of age.
That, of course, goes against the common practice in the American cattle industry of breeding at 14 to15 months of age. And I had to credit Ken with a revolutionary and worthwhile idea.
Like most cattleman, I am always trying to find more information on breeding and genetics. Therefore, a recent learned paper put out by the University of Kentucky Department of Agriculture caught my eye. It had a promising headline---“Selection and Management Practices to Increase Consistency in Beef Cattle”----and was written by two gentlemen who specialize in “animal science”. That should have been my warning; right there! By the time I was through reading the article I was thoroughly confused. Every technique they had discussed to “increase consistency” had been dismissed.
It’s too easy when you’ve been in the cattle business for awhile, to lose sight of what it’s all about. Maybe you can get away with a “who cares” attitude if your time is taken up with EPDs and pour-ons and the price of fertilizer.
But even those of us in the grass fed segment of beef need to be shaken up from time to time. Michael Pollan’s book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” was a kind of wake up call and now his “In Defense of Food” reminds me forcefully that what I am doing is more than just feeding some folks; it is contributing in a most essential way to their well-being.
That, my fellow cattlemen and women is an awesome responsibility.
