BEEF CATTLE AND BEEF PRODUCTION

Domestic cattle serve man in three ways, as draught animals and as producers of milk and meat. During the past 150 years selective breeding and improved husbandry have enabled breeders to develop breeds which have a high efficiency for either milk or meat production. The former are the dairy breeds, the latter the beef breeds. Between the two is a third class which produces both milk and beef, but less efficiently than the specialised breeds. These are the dual-purpose breeds. Although this section deals with beef cattle, some notice must be taken both of dual-purpose and of dairy cattle as the former played an important part in the development of beef farming while the latter contributes each year to beef production. Cull dairy cows supply manufacturing beef while surplus calves are slaughtered when a few days old for boneless veal. These are the “bobby” calves.

Beef production in overseas countries is a major farm project. The cattle are reared and fattened on roots, forage, and hay grown on the farm. These bulky foodstuffs are supplemented by concentrate grains (oats, barley, peas, beans) grown on the farm and with bought-in industrial by-products, such as linseed, soya bean, peanut or cotton cakes. Pasture is an unimportant contributor to the feeding programme.

New Zealand Pattern

New Zealand beef farming does not follow the overseas pattern. It is a major project only in restricted areas unsuitable for sheep. Unimproved swampland subject to periodic flooding, and mountain pastures which have deteriorated due to sheep and rabbits, are good examples of country on which beef production is the sole objective. The primary function of beef cattle on New Zealand farms is pasture control for the benefit of sheep. The cattle are wholly grass fed from birth to slaughter. Although beef cattle have shown appreciable increases in recent years, the real importance of beef production must remain dependent on the comparative values of beef and lamb plus wool.

As there is still a distinct margin in favour of lamb plus wool, the number of beef cattle carried is determined (in the North Island at least) by the demands of pasture utilisation and sheep management. The production of the beef carcass remains a sideline and a marked change in the market values of beef, wool, and lamb is the only factor which could alter the situation. The economic importance of beef cattle on sheep farms is shown by their contribution to the total farm income. On high-country farms, where there are only small numbers of cattle, they contribute about 3.6 per cent of the farm income; on hill-country farms, where most of the breeding herds are grazed, the annual sale of cull cows, weaned calves, yearlings, and two-year-olds, all as stores, contributes 15 per cent of the farm income, while on the fat-lamb farms, where the stores from the hill country are fattened, the contribution is of the order of 8 per cent of the total income.

Importations and Breeds

Cattle were early arrivals in New Zealand. S. Marsden (1765–1838), the founder of Christian missions to the Maori, is generally credited with being responsible for the arrival of the first cattle in New Zealand. In 1814, the year of the establishment of the Maori mission, a bull and two cows of the Durham breed (subsequently called Shorthorns) landed at Kororareka, now the town of Russell, in the Bay of Islands. They were the gift of Lachlan Macquarie (1761–1824), Governor of New South Wales, and had originated from the royal herd. These and later importations were kept for their milk rather than for meat purposes. Their introduction into Canterbury, and the development of cattle farming, is typical of, if somewhat earlier than, that in other parts of the country. The first cattle, brought from Sydney by Captain W. B. Rhodes, were landed in Akaroa in 1839. At the time Akaroa was a busy port with 20 to 30 whaling ships calling in each season. The following year a team of working bullocks was landed at Oasbore (Birdlings Flat) and was used by Heriot and McGillivray to cultivate land at what later became Riccarton, near Christchurch. The French who had settled in Akaroa imported working bullocks from Sydney in 1841. The Deans brothers, who settled the abandoned farm and named it Riccarton in 1843, imported some 61 head from Sydney in that year. By 1844 they had 76 and in 1845 increased this to 130. Hay and Sinclair, after transporting both the Deans and the Greenwoods from Wellington in 1843, settled in Pigeon Bay with two cows and one calf. The following year they traded their boat (which they had built in Wellington) with W. B. Rhodes for 18 cows. It took them several weeks to cut a track through the bush from Akaroa to Pigeon Bay and drive the cattle overland. The Greenwood brothers had 50 cattle at Purau in 1844, and the following year Gebbie and Manson, who had come from Scotland with Deans as stockmen, established themselves at the head of Lyttelton Harbour, each with 14 cows supplied by Deans. From 1845 onwards all these farmers were producing fat cattle, butter, and cheese, for which there was a ready market in Wellington and Akaroa and with the whaling vessels which called into Lyttelton during the season. The general opinion was that cattle were an investment for immediate returns while sheep were for the future. When the Canterbury pioneers arrived in 1850 there were already some 1,400 cattle in the Banks Peninsula–Christchurch area.

During the early European settlement of New Zealand, cattle numbers rose slowly in spite of numerous importations. The highest concentration of cattle was in provinces like Otago with its large human population during the period of the gold rushes of the sixties. Milk, butter, and cheese, as products from cows, were all needed by the settlers, while mutton formed their main meat as it was plentiful and cheap in comparison with beef. By 1861 the cattle numbers of the South Island had reached 97,000 head, which was 1,000 more than the North Island total. Ten years later Otago-Southland had 143,000 cattle, while the Province of Auckland had the next highest number of 80,000. With the advent of refrigeration, in 1882, Auckland Province soon became the largest producer of butter, cheese, and beef from a cattle population which by 1886 had reached 205,000 head. Its lead in cattle numbers at that date has remained to the present day.

Apart from supplying milk, cattle were needed to haul logs from the bush and for other draught purposes. The bullocks, whose parents were of dairy type, were used for this work and when too old they were slaughtered for human consumption. Milking ability, docile temperament, strong shoulders and body were the qualities most needed in those cattle, and accordingly the early settlers chose the Durham which had been evolved in England to meet these requirements. Furthermore, Durham cattle were numerically strong in Australia and many importations were made from that readily available source.

The production of dairy produce and of beef became specialised enterprises once refrigeration demonstrated that perishable foodstuffs could be safely shipped to markets on the other side of the world. When the dairy export industry was established, the Jersey replaced the large-framed Shorthorn cow. Animals of the Jersey breed are small in size and they are more efficient than the Shorthorn in converting grass to butterfat. They were, of course, quite unsuitable for draught purposes. Beef Shorthorns, as opposed to milk-type Shorthorns, became popular as single-purpose meat animals, but these gradually lost favour because they lacked hardiness under the rigorous conditions prevailing in many areas. In most districts the Shorthorn lost ground to the two single-purpose beef breeds–the Hereford and the Aberdeen Angus.

Brief Description of Beef Cattle Breeds

1. Aberdeen Angus. This breed came from northeastern Scotland. Aberdeen Angus cattle are hornless (hence sometimes referred to as Polled Angus). When they are mated to horned animals, their offspring are polled. The coat colour is black, sometimes tinged with brown at birth and in winter. The body conformation of cattle of this breed is regarded as being closest to the ideal. The animals are early maturing but are smaller than those of most other beef breeds. The Aberdeen Angus is now the most popular beef breed in New Zealand and is found in a wide range of environments.

2. Hereford. From its home in Herefordshire, cattle of the Hereford breed are now found in large numbers in all cattle-raising countries. There are two types of Herefords: horned and polled. The Polled Hereford was evolved in the United States of America and is gaining rapidly in numbers there and in other countries, including New Zealand. Herefords have white heads, necks, dewlaps, and underlines; the colour of the remainder of the coat ranges in intensity from a deep cherry-red to yellow-red. The cattle are docile and good rustlers and their beef propensities are not far behind those of the Aberdeen Angus. In New Zealand these two breeds are often crossed to produce offspring with the desirable qualities of both. The progeny of this cross are black with white faces and are polled.

3. Shorthorn. County Durham is regarded as the cradle of the Shorthorn breed where the brothers Charles and Robert Colling (1749–1836) were its first improvers, but others (Thomas Bates, 1775–1849, the Booth family in Yorkshire, and Amos Cruickshank, 1808–95, in Aberdeen) also played an important part in developing the breed. Originally Durham cattle were dual-purpose animals but the Booth family and Amos Cruickshank developed a beef type, and later the breed was divided into the Milking Shorthorn and the Beef or Scotch Shorthorn. The Beef Shorthorn, like the Hereford, now has a polled branch, known as the Polled Shorthorn, which was evolved in North America and is gaining in popularity in many countries.

   The Beef Shorthorn can be of three main coat colours; viz., red-roan, white, or cherry-red. The body conformation has been altered greatly within recent times so that modern animals of this breed are more compact and have an outline more nearly like that of the Aberdeen Angus. The Shorthorn is frequently crossed with either the Hereford or the Aberdeen Angus, and some cattlemen prefer to mate white Shorthorn bulls to Aberdeen Angus cows to give offspring which are blue-roan in colour as these are favoured by some fatteners.

4. Galloway. The origin of this old breed is obscure but Scotland has been its home for at least two centuries. There are now two breeds of Galloways which are registered separately, viz., Belted Galloways and Galloways. The former cattle are polled, have black coats and a very characteristic wide white belt round the barrel or middle of the body. This belt distinguishes them from other British breeds. Galloways of the non-belted breed are either black or dun coloured. Belted Galloway and Galloway cattle are polled.

   Galloway cattle were first brought to New Zealand in 1948. They are regarded as possessing greater hardiness than other British breeds and have therefore been used where the climate is rigorous and the terrain is steep. Cattle of this breed are small bodied and relatively slow maturing, but the carcasses of the non-belted Galloway are of high quality. The winter coat is long and this affords them protection against storms. In New Zealand, Galloways are used exclusively for crossing with other beef breeds.

5. Devon. This breed, developed in Devonshire, has been brought to New Zealand in small numbers and is restricted mainly to North Auckland, though recent importations have gone to Canterbury. Devon cattle are horned, large in size, and their coat colour varies from light to dark red. The breed is quiet in temperament but its slow maturity and heavy carcass make it unsuited to present-day needs.

6. Red Poll. This is a dual-purpose breed as distinct from the single-purpose beef breeds discussed above. The breed was developed in England and was officially recognised by the Royal Agricultural Society in 1862. The coat colour is uniformly blood-red and the animals are relatively small and they are polled. In New Zealand, Red Poll cattle are found only on the lowlands. Their milk production is below the average of that of dairy cows in New Zealand and their body conformation is below an acceptable standard for beef.

Each breed has its own society which compiles an annual herd book containing mainly pedigree details of all registered cattle.

Stud beef cattle are still being imported from Great Britain, Australia, United States of America, and Canada. On occasions, however, New Zealand exports registered beef cattle, mainly Jersey, to many countries throughout the world.

The Role of Beef Cattle in New Zealand

When the rain forest of the North Island was felled and burnt, the hills were surface sown with the seed of English grasses and clovers. Pastures usually established well on the ash of the forest fires and the accumulated humus, but the early farmers were unable, in most cases, to provide sufficient stock to eat the rank grass and control the fern, manuka, and other woody weeds which soon appeared in many localities. At that stage of hill-country development, cattle of the right kind were unprocurable in numbers adequate to control the grass and weed growth and, mainly as a consequence of this shortage, large tracts of the newly brought-in hill country reverted to second growth. A cattle beast to every five or seven sheep was considered necessary wherever there was a real threat of second growth invading the pasture, but this stocking ratio was seldom attained. Nevertheless, a tradition was established in the use of cattle which remained their dominant and unique role in the pastoral economy of New Zealand. Thus beef cattle, employed as “animated mowing machines”, have been responsible largely for controlling the woody weeds of the unploughable hill country as well as for maintaining the excellent quality of many of the pastures of the flats.

Beef cattle, when grazed in conjunction with sheep, prevent the grass from becoming too rank and unpalatable for sheep. There is a belief that sheep thrive better when mature cattle are associated with them because they perchance eat, along with grass, the infective larvae of the internal parasites of sheep, which fail to develop in the digestive tract of adult cattle. Cattle also alter the botanical composition of the pasture sward so that the finer grasses and the clovers relished by sheep are likely to be more abundant. The grazing together of the two species of animals is therefore probably of greater value to the sheep than the cattle, but there is insufficient profit in beef cattle to make them an attractive undertaking on their own. High land values, the slow biological turnover of generations, and relatively low prices for beef are the prime reasons why beef cattle production as the major enterprise is undertaken on only 14 percent of the 90,290 classified farm holdings in New Zealand. The unfavourable monetary returns from beef production accounts for its lower rate of expansion in comparison with wool and lamb. Until there is a substantial improvement in the financial gains from beef production, cattle in New Zealand will remain secondary in importance to sheep.

Management and Husbandry of Beef Cattle

The large beef-breeding herds are run under extensive conditions of farming such as the hill country of the North Island and the back country of the South Island. Many smaller breeding herds are kept on intensively managed farms, although these usually undertake cattle fattening as they can more easily provide better nutritional conditions than those often obtaining on the stations and runs. Hence there is a stratification in space and time; cattle are born on the hills and those not required for breeding are moved to farms on the lowlands at weaning time or at one, two, three, or more years of age, depending on policy and circumstances. Breeding cows, culled for age, may also spend a period on the flats raising calves before being slaughtered at eight years or older; in some cases they may be retained for calf raising till the age of 17 or so, but generally their peak of fertility and milk production is passed by about eight years of age.

In practice, beef heifers are mated when about 26 months of age, but if well grown they can be mated as yearlings without pregnancy and lactation adversely affecting their subsequent growth and development, provided they are fed adequately until they reach maturity at about four years of age. Some poorly grown heifers may not be mated until they are three years of age, but this will obviously reduce their lifetime performance.

Puberty is attained by well-grown heifers at the age of eight to 10 months. The normal interval between oestrus (that is, heat periods when the female will accept the services of a bull) is 20 days, and these cycles continue throughout the year or until pregnancy intervenes. Ovulation occurs 14 or more hours after oestrus has terminated, and the duration of pregnancy is approximately 282 days. Oestrous cycles may not resume until 60 or more days have elapsed since parturition. Cows can therefore be mated to calve at yearly intervals, and this is the aim of efficient management of a breeding herd.

Few if any herds achieve a 100 per cent calf-crop; that is, 100 calves born and earmarked from 100 cows mated. The calf-crop percentage for the national herd is not known but a figure of 75 is probably close to the actual percentage. Permanent infertility of cows is uncommon. Increasing numbers of cattlemen are having their breeding cows pregnancy tested in the autumn, and those not in calf are removed from the herd. This practice should lead to increased calving percentages in subsequent years as those females with poor fertility are culled.

The birth of twin beef calves is rare with an incidence of less than 0.5 per cent of all births. When the twin pair is male and female, 90 per cent of the heifers will be sterile and show male features. This is the “freemartin” condition caused by the hormones of the bull calf dominating those of the heifer calf when they were developing together in the uterus of their dam. This phenomenon is of significance only in the case of cattle twins.

Of all twins born, 60 to 8.5 per cent of them in cattle are likely to be identical; that is, they developed from a single fertilised egg, but in early embryonic life the egg divided and two separate but genetically identical calves developed. All other twins have developed from two fertilised eggs; these are referred to as fraternal twins.

Calves are weaned in the late autumn when they are six to eight months old and the cows, if fed adequately, then regain the weight lost during lactation. They should not, however, become fat as this may cause difficulties during parturition. Calves can safely be weaned at four months and, provided they then receive good feed, they develop as well as those weaned at the customary age.

A beef cow nursing its calf produces about 1,500 lb of milk or 46 lb of butterfat during a lactation of eight to nine months. The level of milk production differs among cows, but 1,000 lb of milk above or below the average of 1,500 lb would encompass most of the variation.

A calf's daily milk consumption may amount to 10 to 15 per cent of its body weight, and it will grow at a rate of 1.0 to 2.0 lb per day and attain a weaning weight of up to about 450 lb at eight months. The birth weight of a calf is about 65 lb, with bull calves weighing up to 10 lb heavier than heifer calves. The age of the dam affects the birth weight of its calf, so that heifers have lighter calves than mature cows. Aberdeen Angus cows give birth to calves which are lighter than those of Hereford or Shorthorn cows.

Yearling bulls can be mated to a small number of cows but the usual practice is to use a bull first when it is two years old. At that age he can be depastured with 30 to 35 cows for a mating season lasting three months. The vigour and fertility of a beef bull remains unimpaired until the age of six or seven when its activity tends to decline owing to increased body weight and stiffness in its movements.

Calves are earmarked when they are several weeks old with the registered mark of the property, and bull calves will be castrated at this time. Calves may be hide branded at any age, using either a hot iron or a chemical. The earmark and the hide brand provide evidence of ownership of the stock.

Weaned calves are carried on the best available pasture or on crop during their first winter. Hay or grass silage may also be fed to them during winter and early spring.

Internal parasites, when present in significant numbers, can be controlled by drenching, and body lice which often become numerous in the winter months and adversely affect the well-being of cattle, can be eliminated by spraying with an appropriate chemical at correctly spaced intervals.

The disease incidence in beef-cattle herds is usually very low in New Zealand due, no doubt, to their management on the free-range principle. The so-called metabolic diseases–bloat, grass staggers, and milk fever–take their toll and are difficult to control under the conditions prevailing on many farms. Soil deficiencies of copper, cobalt, selenium, or iodine do cause wastage of cattle in areas where one or other deficiency occurs, but control procedures are well known and readily applied by most stockmen. Diseases like tuberculosis and blackleg (a lethal anaerobic infection controllable by vaccination) are fortunately rare among beef cattle. Probably the most common diseases are lumpy jaw, caused by a fungal infection of the jaw, and wooden tongue, resulting from a bacterial infection of the tongue. Both these conditions are amenable to early treatment. The three main diseases of reproduction in cows–contagious abortion (Brucella abortus), trichomoniasis, and vibrionic abortion–can have serious effects on calving percentages and accordingly they ought to be controlled through calf–hood vaccination of heifers against contagious abortion and by strict adherence to approved breeding procedures in the case of the other two diseases.

Steers comprise the majority of cattle fattened for slaughter. They are slaughtered when about two and a half years old after having been fattened for six months or thereabouts on lowland pastures. The trend is toward slaughtering at a younger age (18 to 20 months) to obtain a lighter carcass with less wasteful fat and more tender meat. To supply this requirement, steers are brought on to fattening pastures at weaning and they may also receive a ration of hay and silage. Alternatively, they may be fed on a crop such as chou moellier and swede turnips for part of the winter. The policy at any event is to feed them well during the winter and early spring and then finish them on pasture by the late summer or autumn.

Aged bullocks are disappearing from the market as their carcasses are too heavy and fatty, and their meat is too tough to satisfy the demands of the modern consumer.

Some heifers are fattened for slaughter and are bought for the local market. They carry more fat than steers of a comparable age and weight and this makes them unpopular in the meat trade. Cows culled for age, reproductive failure, or other reasons may also be fattened, but generally they are slaughtered in an unfinished or store condition, their carcasses are boned out and the product exported and used for manufacturing meat purposes–for example, sausage–like foods and hamburger. When bulls have outlived their usefulness they, too, are slaughtered, and the boneless meat is ideal for the manufacturing trade because of its strong flavour, low fat content, and its considerable water-holding capacity.

Beef and Veal Production

Beef is the meat from bovines; veal is the meat from bovines younger than 12 months. Beef and veal can therefore be derived from dairy as well as beef cattle. Indeed, most of the veal output comes from the million or more bobby calves slaughtered annually as unwanted stock from the dairy industry. Bobby calves are defined by regulations as being all calves that have a liveweight of less than 100 lb. They are killed when a few days old and yield carcasses of 30–35 lb. These calves are predominantly Jersey, although Friesian, Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn, and crossbred calves contribute a sizable proportion of the annual kill. Cows and bulls of dairy breeding are also slaughtered in appreciable numbers and their carcasses are usually boned out and the flesh is cartoned, frozen, and exported for use in the manufacturing meat trade.

The carcasses of beef-bred animals are of higher quality than those of dairy cattle, and the meat is very suitable for roasting, grilling (broiling), stewing, and boiling in the case of corned beef.

Of the total production of beef in the 1959–60 season, 46 per cent was consumed locally and the remainder was exported to 27 countries, with the United Kingdom taking 20 per cent and the United States of America 57 per cent of the total exportable surplus of 99,634 tons, comprising 31,384 tons of quarter beef and veal and 68,250 tons of boneless beef and veal.

Most of the beef consumed in New Zealand is fresh killed, while all beef exported is either frozen or chilled or is canned. Markets of any consequence for beef are all in the Northern Hemisphere; consequently, the voyage is long and some deterioration of the product may occur.

Beef may be frozen and exported in quarters wrapped in stockinette and hessian. Frozen beef is carried at a temperature of 12° to 14°F, and is thawed on arrival at its ultimate destination. Thawing may cause a delay of several days before the meat can be cut and sold to customers. During thawing, weight is lost through “drip”, a phenomenon which is being studied scientifically because of its importance in the meat industry.

Chilled beef is quartered and wrapped in sterile materials for export. It is carried in specially constructed lockers on the ship at a temperature of 29° to 30°F, in an atmosphere containing 10 per cent of added carbon dioxide to reduce the amount of spoilage to the product resulting from bacteria and fungi. Chilled beef must be consumed within 40 to 50 days of slaughter if it is to be wholesome and fresh and bright in appearance. Chilled beef is preferred to frozen because it can be cut and sold immediately at the point of retail, and the amount of drip it loses is negligible. The cost of shipping beef in the chilled state is high and consequently only best quality beef–particularly hindquarters–can bear this cost and return a profit to the exporter. The majority of forequarters, because of their lower value, are exported in the frozen state.

Lower quality carcasses are boned out and the flesh is placed in a plastic liner inside a cardboard carton and then frozen for export. Boneless beef must have low amounts of fat (not more than 15 per cent “visual” fat) to comply with the specifications laid down by the North American manufacturing meat industry. The flesh of bobby calves is treated similarly to that of boneless beef. Beef which is canned is usually from low-quality carcasses or cheap cuts.

Selected cuts of top–quality beef, rather than full quarters, are being exported in increasing volume. The cuts are wrapped in plastic and frozen in cartons. The marketing of beef in the form of cuts has decided advantages, since the precise requirements of a market can be met and there is a substantial reduction in shipping space in comparison with the carriage of quarter beef. Future developments may involve the air freighting of best cuts of beef to the valuable North American market.

by Percival George Stevens, DIP.AGR., formerly Senior Lecturer in Animal Science, Lincoln Agricultural College and Robert Aitken Barton, DIP.AGR.M.A.C., M.INST.M., Senior Lecturer in Sheep Husbandry, Massey University of Manawatu.

Quality Beef Production, Barton, R. A. (1959); Grasslands of New Zealand, Levy, E. B. (1951); Beef Cattle Production, MacDonald, M. A. (1958)