Crossing different breeds of cattle is a proven, well used form of increasing production on a beef farm.
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For many years research in the United States as well as here in Australia has showed that crossbred cattle can be profitable for two main reasons.
The first is that the traits different breeds excel in, can be combined to produce an animal that performs the best in a given environment and under a given management. It may also be the best for a market or range of markets.
This is the breed effect.
Europeans bring in extra growth and muscle. British bring in easy fattening and fertility. Bos indicus bring in tolerance to heat, ticks and poorer nutrition.
Locally, many producers combine British and European cattle to create the animal that’s best for them.
The second effect is the extra performance from crossing unlike breeds – we know this as ‘hybrid vigour’.
Both breed effects and hybrid vigour can be used to estimate the extra production from the crossbred animal relative to the straight-bred.
Many trials have done this under different environments and nutrition levels. These trials allow us to estimate a percentage increase in the various traits, and hence a total increase in production as a percentage.
These figures are quoted many times. A five, ten, twenty or even higher percent increase in production can be expected – it depends on the system used and the nutrition available to realise the increase.
Hybrid vigour is greatest for lowly heritable traits such as fertility. Increases in fertility of crossbred cows can be high where nutrition is limiting.
Crossbred cows may not show much greater fertility than straight-breds if the straight-breds are already measuring high conception, calving and weaning rates because there is plenty of high quality feed.
However where the feed is not so great, then the crossbreds really start to perform relative to a straight-bred under these tougher conditions.
But comparisons should be made with comparable animals.
Much of the crossbreeding research compared different breeds and crosses to a base British bred cow. Often it was Hereford and Angus.
The crossbred cows used were often crosses of British breeds – just like the straight-breds they were being compared to.
So whilst hybrid vigour increases as breeds become further apart biologically, other things can change fertility levels.
Body fat on cows has a strong correlation to fertility. Up to a point, fatter cows will present with higher conception levels early in the joining period, even with a calf at foot.
But if the cow is a late maturing breed or cross, usually seen as bigger framed, heavier and leaner animal, then fertility may be less when nutrition is lower. Hybrid vigour will help, but she might be just too late maturing for that particular environment.
It’s important not to get cows too big and lean. When this happens fertility may suffer.
Think carefully about how much of a late maturing breed content, crossbred cows should have.
Often it’s best to leave the really late maturing breeds to the job of a terminal sire where both male and female calves perform really well – but both are sold.