Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1.4 Hereford.
Figure 1.7 Limousin.
and  early maturity of the British breeds. Since 1974,
Droughtmasters have been exported from Australia to
many tropical countries including Nigeria, Ghana,
Pakistan, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Taiwan.
Systems of beef production
Beef production systems vary from almost range condi-
tions to semi-intensive and intensive units. The efficiency
of animal production is the ratio of output to input: the
main outputs are meat, milk, hides, fur and by-products,
and the principal inputs are feed, land, labour, capital,
energy and water.
In the United Kingdom, consumer demand has
dictated that meat be lean with a minimum of fat cover,
tender, nutritious, palatable and, not least, relatively
inexpensive. Accordingly, it is now the custom to slaugh-
ter not only cattle but all animals and poultry at much
earlier ages. The economically important beef produc-
tion systems in Britain usually involve slaughter of cattle
at between 15 and 24 months of age. Even lower slaugh-
ter ages are adopted for certain specialist beef systems;
for example, in the so-called barley beef system, calves
are weaned early and fed concentrates ad lib to slaughter
at 11 months of age and 400 kg, with an overall feed con-
version ratio of 5.5:1. At the other extreme, there may be
a high utilisation of grass with a lower overall live weight
gain, with animals slaughtered at 2 or more years of age
at carcase weights of 499 kg and over. A popular inter-
mediate system is 18-month beef in which autumn-born
calves are fed through the winter, kept on grass from 6 to
12 months of age and then finished during their second
winter on hay, silage and feed grains.
In Britain, the term 'fatstock' used to mean exactly
what it said. The meat industry was traditionally based
on well-finished animals with substantial fat depots.
However, the term fatstock is no longer appropriate;
Figure 1.5 Salers.
Figure 1.6 Simmental.
( Bos indicus ) of the tropics with British beef breeds,
notably Shorthorn and Hereford ( Bos taurus ). The
Droughtmaster is said to combine the hardiness and
disease resistance of the Zebu with the productivity
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