Feedlots up the quality
While there is much to be said for free-range or extensive farming, a period of feedlotting animals allows for rounding off and the production of good quality meat.
Feedlots and the feeding of cattle have both been put to the test during the past few years due to droughts which have reducied herd numbers, while fluctuating beef and fodder prices make it difficult to gauge profitability.
Despite these issues, feedlots remain an integral part of the beef industry. According to Meatco, intensive beef production can lead to efficiency gains if the production system has a sufficient scale of operation. While the production of quality beef is usually achieved through feeding high-energy rations to young animals (six to 30 months old) in developed countries, the bulk of the beef produced in developing countries still comes from extensive, free-range farming systems.
The main systems of production and combinations thereof can be identified as the intensive system, semi-intensive system, mixed farming and extensive system.
According to Meatco, the intensive system varies according to the principal feed ingredient used: grass, fodder, silage, grain or industrial by-products.
The operation of growing and finishing activities independently of breeding and rearing, leads to job specialisation which is usually accompanied by a zoning of the beef industry as a whole. This production system also benefits the surrounding community due to relatively high requirements for labour, contributing to an increase in Meatco's workforce.
Meanwhile, the semi-intensive system was in the past known as the traditional system of beef production in many parts of Europe.
According to Meatco, small-scale farmers kept young males and some culled heifers for feeding and finishing, feeding them on home-grown fodder. Fattening and finishing of work oxen was also an important source of beef.
Under the mixed farming system practised today, the feeder cattle are usually, but not always, produced on specialised breeding and raising farms located on poorer land or land unsuited for intensive farming.
Meanwhile with the extensive system, the breeding, raising, growing and finishing activities are operated by the same people on virtually the same grazing of beef production.
“This occurs in most of the pastoralist areas of Africa and is also used by some ranchers in Latin America. Under this system meat is often a by-product of milk production, and beef output may be as low as 7kg per hectare per year on a carcass basis,” says Meatco. Acceptable carcass weights (equal to or above 150 kg) can only be achieved when steers are five years or older. The animals stay in good condition for only three to four months of the year following the end of the rainy season. Meatco says the small gain accumulated in these months is often partly lost (up to 25%) when stock is trekked over several hundred kilometres to slaughterhouses, which are usually located near large urban centres.
However, in such a system there are practically no production costs, except those for watering the animals. “An advantage of feedlot cattle is the ability to produce animals that are uniform in both weight and fat score. This enhances the capacity for forward selling or contracting as a suitable marketing option. The feedlot makes it possible for Meatco to slaughter high-quality beef throughout the year, which allows consumers to enjoy quality beef year-round.”
ELLANIE SMIT
Despite these issues, feedlots remain an integral part of the beef industry. According to Meatco, intensive beef production can lead to efficiency gains if the production system has a sufficient scale of operation. While the production of quality beef is usually achieved through feeding high-energy rations to young animals (six to 30 months old) in developed countries, the bulk of the beef produced in developing countries still comes from extensive, free-range farming systems.
The main systems of production and combinations thereof can be identified as the intensive system, semi-intensive system, mixed farming and extensive system.
According to Meatco, the intensive system varies according to the principal feed ingredient used: grass, fodder, silage, grain or industrial by-products.
The operation of growing and finishing activities independently of breeding and rearing, leads to job specialisation which is usually accompanied by a zoning of the beef industry as a whole. This production system also benefits the surrounding community due to relatively high requirements for labour, contributing to an increase in Meatco's workforce.
Meanwhile, the semi-intensive system was in the past known as the traditional system of beef production in many parts of Europe.
According to Meatco, small-scale farmers kept young males and some culled heifers for feeding and finishing, feeding them on home-grown fodder. Fattening and finishing of work oxen was also an important source of beef.
Under the mixed farming system practised today, the feeder cattle are usually, but not always, produced on specialised breeding and raising farms located on poorer land or land unsuited for intensive farming.
Meanwhile with the extensive system, the breeding, raising, growing and finishing activities are operated by the same people on virtually the same grazing of beef production.
“This occurs in most of the pastoralist areas of Africa and is also used by some ranchers in Latin America. Under this system meat is often a by-product of milk production, and beef output may be as low as 7kg per hectare per year on a carcass basis,” says Meatco. Acceptable carcass weights (equal to or above 150 kg) can only be achieved when steers are five years or older. The animals stay in good condition for only three to four months of the year following the end of the rainy season. Meatco says the small gain accumulated in these months is often partly lost (up to 25%) when stock is trekked over several hundred kilometres to slaughterhouses, which are usually located near large urban centres.
However, in such a system there are practically no production costs, except those for watering the animals. “An advantage of feedlot cattle is the ability to produce animals that are uniform in both weight and fat score. This enhances the capacity for forward selling or contracting as a suitable marketing option. The feedlot makes it possible for Meatco to slaughter high-quality beef throughout the year, which allows consumers to enjoy quality beef year-round.”
ELLANIE SMIT
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