Riding off into the sunset

So this is it, 5000 miles, and 32 days and I'm off on round two of my Nuffield study. I have a lot to reflect on my visit here in the USA. From a cattle industry view point there is nothing easy about beef production here. Cost is the big driver here with continuing pressure being exerted on price. The scale of production is extremely hard to come to terms with. Within 50 miles of where I'm sitting there is enough feedlot capacity to accommodate the entire NI beef cattle herd and Colorado isn't the largest feeding state!

We have a lot to be concerned about in the UK but at the same time we share many of the same issues through career civil servants making a name for themselves and poorly informed political decisions getting through. The same question keeps coming up here, " how are we going to feed the predicted population when production is being clipped by government?"

I hope to have some actual production statistics on US beef production today which I will post here. Corn harvest has been good if somewhat delayed and prices leaving a moderate profit. Cattle are volatile.Having said that its the same supply graph that's been seen for years with calf marketings' peaking now and prices bottoming out.

In terms of the cattle I have seen and systems they are in I have some words of warning to the UK. We are INEFFICIENT. I don't care what system we are working on or the breed or market we have a long way to go and have a lot of costs to reduce or work out of the system. Granted we have many that we many government burdens which we cannot work around and as I would only to quickly acknowledge we are UK not USA and not everything that works here will work at home.

Cow size and type are two straight of the top of my head. We cannot use 550kg cows in our plentiful grass systems but in the main we don't need 800kg beef cows either. The Holstein influence has got to go from the beef herd. Longevity, efficiency, structural soundness and hardiness are absolutely destroyed by Holstein cattle. The same can be said for many of the continentals- Efficiency, reproduction, disposition and soundness are all disregarded in the UK but to priority here. Sorry to pick on the Limousin but they have gone from the most used to a minority breed here in 10 years. Salers the same because to quote one producer, "they aren't putting on weight when they're chasing you round the field".

The native breeds have their problems here to, single trait selection for marbling has been a big problem and no doubt the reason the Angus breed have new genetic abnormalities. The same goes for the Hereford and their drive to reduce birth weight. They have both given way to perceived customer demands and caused more problems. "Moderation" is the buzz word- moderate size, birth weigh, etc. Why not moderate decision making and implementation?

Radical change is whats needed but then were risking going too far one way. Moderate or decisions. There are lots of ways to reduce costs without spending money to do it. How many cows and calves do you loose due to difficult calvings'?

I could go on but I wont have anything to put in my report when this is all done but suffice to say I'm sure my thoughts will cause a deal of unease amongst the readers but chances are the biggest protesters will be the ones crying about not making any money.

The environment's and climates within states is something we dont have to contend with. In OK you have dense woodland and a forestry industry in the east and almost desert in the west. This leads to different requirements in the cattle and they way they are managed. Different types of feed are available and the acceptable management practices vary.

In terms of my study I have seen various level of acceptance of technology in assisting with breeding decisions. Many selecting by eye, many selecting using their eye and EPD's and some taking whatever they can get! There is still room for improvement in the use and understanding of EPD's just like home.