A modelling study of once-bred heifer beef production

A case farm study of a once-bred heifer system on hill country using a spreadsheet simulation model was undertaken. Results of the feed budget and financial data of the once-bred system were compared with bull beef, 18 month heifer ftishing and traditional breeding cow policies. lheonce-bmdheifersystemgeneratedagrossmarginof$48.26/s.u. comparedwith$42.50/s.u.foratraditionalbreedingcowbreeding system, $31.7O/s.u for the 20 month heifer finishing and $52.8O/s.u. for a bull beef system. The once-bred heifer system produced 3 14 kg carcasslha. the breeding system cow 197 kg carcass/ha, the 20 month heifer system 354 kg carcass/ha and the bull beef system 433 kg carcass/ ha. The major factor affecting the profiibility of the once-bred heifer system was schedule price. ‘Ihe best match of animal requirements and pasture growth for the ume-bred heifer system was shown to occur for an October calving. This study suggests that sheep and beef farmers with traditional beef cattle policies could increase productivity by adopting a once-bred heifer beef production system.