Beef Cattle

Define terms used in the agricultural industry.

• Poll- An animal without horns

• Vealer- Young calf fed for slaughter

• Steer- A castrated male animal

• Calf- A young animal of either sex up to 10 months of age

• Heifer- A female older than a calf from six months of age until it has a calf itself

• Gestation- The pregnancy period of an animal, for a cow, it is 10 months

• Culling- Removal of an animal’s from a herd because of age, disease, low production or physical abnormality

Food safety

• Clean, Separate, Chill, Cook

• Wash hands

• No cross contamination

• Use knives safely

Sentence task

The chicken was culled because it was no longer laying eggs.

The gestation period for a cow is 10 months.

The Heifer was female.

The calf ate cow feed.

The steer could not reproduce.

The cow was a vealer.

The bull was polled.

Distribution of Cattle

Beef Cattle: Beef meat, pasture, grain diet (corn, oat, wheat, sorghum) mostly inland. Hume highway.

Dairy Cattle: Milk, high quality pasture, coastal areas due to high rainfall and good quality pastures.

What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef.

What do you call a deer with no eyes? No eyedeer.

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs? Still no eyedeer

Purpose of the following operations

Operation

Purpose

Tattooing

To assert ownership of the animal that it belongs to a property for which tattoo is registered

Drenching

To kill internal parasites

Dipping

To kill internal and external parasite

Ear tagging

For ID of animals

Castration

Removal of testes to prevent unwanted animal reproduction and aggression

Vaccination

To provide immunity against diseases

Total

$3000

Angus Stud Cattle Enterprise

Principles:

• Joining time is for 10 weeks so that the bull is present for three oestrus cycles 

• Timing of the joining period is so that calving occurs in term time and to take advantage of the Spring/ summer Pasture growth where Kikuyu and Clover are the main species.

(Gestation period of approx 283 days)

• Castration of bull calves using Elastrator rings is done in the first week of life, and they have Ruse ear tag and a NLIS ear tag applied also at this time.

• The first vaccination of each calf with 5-in-1 Vaccine is done at 4-6 weeks of age, then later a second vaccination after 4-6 weeks, and then 6 months after that.

• Adult cattle are given a yearly booster of 5-in-1 vaccine when the first calf is given its initial vaccination.

• Female calves are tattooed, ear tagged with yellow Ruse identification tag and have NLIS ear tag applied at the first vaccination. (Calves born in 2017 have names beginning with ‘N’. Calves born in 2020 will have names beginning with ‘R’.) (I and O are not used so as not to be mistaken with one and zero when written on ear tags.)

• Lice treatment with a lousicide may be required after the first cold snap of winter if itching is evident amongst the cattle. An Ivermectin based pour-on treatment was used in 2020.

• Buffalo flies irritate the cattle in Summer- evident by the cattle constantly swishing tails. A backline pour-on insecticide treatment is administered which protects cattle for 21 days from buffalo fly. It also provides protection from a range of internal parasites such as Brown Stomach Worm for 14 days. (It also controls Ticks and Lice) The active ingredient is Ivermectin. In 2019/2020 a product called Noromectin was used. This product has a withholding period of 42 days for meat producing animals. Tea Tree back rubs are located in most paddocks for cattle to access as needed to relieve the irritation from flies. Paddock rotation and the use of dung beetle ‘friendly’ chemical applications are used to support dung beetles in eliminating manure and therefore inhibit fly lifecycles. 

• In term 4, the fly traps are baited and placed near cattle resting areas.

• Weaning takes place when the calf is about 6 months old.

• Cattle are rotationally grazed through the paddocks. Supplementary feed of Lucerne Hay is fed throughout the winter feed gap, when Kikuyu pasture is dormant. They are given access to a sown pasture mix of grasses, clovers and Lucerne via strip grazing in the resting veggie plot area for short periods of time (to prevent Bloat). (This is later plowed into the vegie plot as a green manure crop. The bull is fed a mixed grain ration throughout winter also.

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Steer and Heifer calves will be fattened for sale on improved pasture and supplementary Lucerne Hay. Store cattle are sold at 350-400 kg or kept and finished off to weight of 450-500 kg. Feed availability and market fluctuations influence sale times. 2020 and 2021 Steers have been sold to Northholm Grammar School, Arcadia to prepare for the hoof and hook competition at Sydney Royal.

Heifer calves showing superior conformation, growth rates and temperament will be retained for breeding purposes or sold privately to producers looking to restock their breeding herds after the drought.

Market> Sold at Camden sale yards.

Male calves are castrated and fattened and then sold at Camden sale yards on a $/kg basis.

Old cows and Heifers that are not required in the breeding programs are also sold at camden saleyard.