Cattle Downunder - Planning For the Season Ahead

Alastair Rayner - Principal Rayner Ag - Featured in the Winter Edition of the Horse Downunder Magazine

In the last decade cattle producers across Australia have been confronted with some of the most challenging of environmental events. Prolonged drought across much of the continent was followed by significant and repeated flooding. Bushfires and floods impacted on all states in the summer of 2012 -13. At the end of summer, producers particularly in the eastern states are again facing a return to drought conditions.

So what can producers do to prepare and plan for these challenges? In the case of bushfires, floods and even cyclones, it is difficult to prepare for the event well ahead of time. In most cases, an emergency plan based around the particular situation; assessing the event, the physical environment, the location of stock likely to be impacted and the safety of yourself and your family is the most suitable preparation. The emergency services all suggest a good plan is one prepared early and acted on. Don’t leave things until the last minute.

Not leaving planning until it is too late is good advice not just for an emergency. Droughts can be just as destructive to farm enterprises. Because many droughts happen over a period of weeks producers often leave their planning until it is too late to avoid some form of drought damage. Planning early for droughts or tough seasons is just as important for a farm business as planning for an emergency.

Looking Ahead

A good plan is built around key points or events. For beef producers there are events each year which always occur. These events are the annual calving; the joining period, weaning and turn off. These events are often planned around specific times of the year and coincide with the most favourable seasonal conditions or for market reasons.

These are good events to build a drought plan around. Firstly these are events that will happen. Importantly the timing of these events is known well in advance, which gives producers time to prepare their resources. Each event results in a need for higher nutrition or for a management decision. Knowing this is coming helps producers plan ahead with confidence. The significant events in a cattle calendar include:

• Calving: Calving should occur over a pre-determined length. In temperate Australia this would ideally be over a 9 – 12 week period. At calving, a cows energy requirements double. Knowing this producers can plan ahead to ensure there is enough feed on hand to meet this increased demand for feed.
• Joining: To achieve a high joining percentage, cows need to have sufficient body fatness to cycle. Ideally cows should be around a Fat Score 3. Cows which have lost weight post calving need to be provided with good quality feed or a rising plane of nutrition to help build fatness or to have sufficient energy to cycle.
• Calving to Weaning: Research by the CRC for Beef Cattle identified the importance of ensuring consistent pre weaning growth in order for cattle to achieve optimum levels of meat yield and carcase fatness at slaughter. Significant growth setbacks to cattle under 150kg result in cattle growing slower after weaning, and having more fat than normally grown cattle at slaughter. At weaning, calves should be placed onto a good nutritional program to ensure that continue to grow towards target weights for finishing or for breeding. The CRC research identified the target growth rate to aim for is 0.6kg/day Good planning occurs well in advance of an event. This allows a plan to be revised as circumstances change.

More importantly early planning provides producers a chance to make decisions clearly, free from pressures or confusion caused by a worsening situation. Choosing a time to start planning is often the most difficult part of the process. It is easy to put off planning or it can be difficult to identify what the trigger point should be to put the plan into action. Using the annual events (calving; joining or weaning) as a trigger point gives a reference point to work from. Realistically plans should be made around three months (12 weeks) before the first of these events occurs in your beef enterprise.

Having fixed a point for the plan to start, it is important to review the resources available to meet the demands of that particular event. For example if the event is calving, producers will know the length of time calving should last for, and recognise the nutritional needs of their cows will double. Therefore they can assess how much pasture they have; what other fodder may be available; what the current stocking rate is; what is the seasonal forecast and will that be likely to improve or reduce pasture quantities and qualities. These questions form the basis of a plan which can be considered and followed with confidence. In this example a producer may decide there will be sufficient pasture feed if stocking rates are reduced slightly.

Instead of being forced to sell stock when pasture levels are critical, the producer could make a planned decision to sell animals to the most suitable buyer at an optimum time. Alternatively, the seasonal forecast may indicate below average rainfall for the next three months. The producer might consider not only selling some surplus animals but to also purchase fodder to give to lactating cows. Early planning allows feed to be purchased when demand and prices are lower.
During the last severe drought in NSW many producers found a plan helped prepare them to make difficult decisions in a more considered way. Deciding to destock or choosing to feed stock is never a simple decision. It is much more difficult when those decisions have to be made because things have been left too late or left to chance. Removing the pressure on decisions reduces the mental stress that drought creates for producers and their families.

Seek information & Review Your Plan

Building plans around the annual calendar of events ensures decisions can be made in time and to achieve the best outcome for a beef business. However plans shouldn’t be static. As the season changes or the calendar event approaches, check the plan and make sure it is still providing the best options to manage the next few weeks. Ideally plans should be reviewed every 12 weeks. Fortunately these reviews will fit in with preparing for the next event on the cattle production calendar.

Seeking information to help with planning is important. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) provides regular seasonal forecasts. The Water and Land section of the BOM website (www.bom.gov.au/watl) contains up to date forecasts which can be used to refine a drought plan.

Additionally the state departments of agriculture provide advice on drought plans; feeding and management on their websites. These sources of information can help shape a plan to more accurately reflect management options to best respond and work through the events on the cattle production calendar.

Conclusion

No one ever wants to think they may have to deal with a drought, a flood or fire. Unfortunately these events are only too common in Australia. Preparing early places producers in a much better position to respond early and safely if such an event does occur. Leaving things until the last minute magnifies the potential impact to business and lives. Early planning helps find alternatives and allows clear decisions to be made in time to mitigate the impact.

Knowing the events of an annual calendar provides the best start to a plan and helps shape the best response as events unfold.

About the Author: Alastair Rayner is the Principal of Rayner Ag, which specialises in providing independent technical advice and training for beef producers and graziers. With 17 years as a technical advisor with the NSW DPI, Alastair has worked extensively across NSW on grazing management; meat quality and cattle selection. Feedback or suggestions for future Downunder articles are welcomed.

For more information contact Alastair, alastair@raynerag.com.au www.raynerag.com.au

The Winter Edition of The Horse Downunder Magazine is out on the news stands now or can be purchased online as an e-mag. Go to www.horsedownunder.com.au