Beef Production Systems

As part of my sabbatical in New Zealand I have been writing a series of articles for the Beef in BC Magazine. This is my second article.

Part 2: Beef Production Systems 

Kia ora (Maori for hello) again! In May I gave an overview of parallels between Canadian and Kiwi agriculture and as promised this month I will focus on beef production in New Zealand, giving some background on the industry and then reviewing the main types of beef systems that are being used.

General Beef Production

You can fit New Zealand into BC 3 ½ times.  Although small in size, New Zealand spans 13 degrees of latitude and has varied topography resulting in many different land types. For simplicity sake I am going to break the grazing areas down into high country, hill country and flat to rolling country. High country is very hilly, has quite low pasture production and is generally used for sheep farming for wool production. Although still hilly, higher yielding pastures makes the hill country more suitable for meat production (beef and sheep) and limited dairy production. The flat to rolling country is the most productive land resulting in land use being dominated by the dairy industry but it is also important for beef and sheep production.

Beef cattle production in New Zealand is a low-input, pastoral based system with 95% of an animal’s diet coming from pasture. Beef production is typically combined with other livestock production, usually sheep but in some cases deer, with the beef cattle often being used to “clean-up” the pastures. Due to the reliance on pasture the majority of beef production occurs on the North Island as this has a more temperate climate. According to the 2010 statistics data the total number of beef cattle was 3.9 million and with more than 70% of these being on the North Island.

On the North Island, beef production primarily takes place on private lands that are predominantly agronomic pastures of perennial ryegrass and white clover. The land here would have originally been forest but has been cleared and with seeding, grazing and continued fertilizer application it remains as open pasture land.

Product Produced

The two main types of beef produced in New Zealand are processed beef (also called manufacturing beef) and prime beef (also called table beef or prime cuts). 80% of

 the beef produced in New Zealand is exported as processed beef. North America is the primary market for processed beef products accounting for 70-75% of New Zealand’s total beef exports. Prime muscle cuts are also exported but this is a smaller percent of the export market with the main destination being North Asia. These prime beef cuts are produced mainly from beef steers and heifers, although up to 30% of this product may come from bulls that are a dairy breed or dairy-beef cross. The processing beef comes predominately from dairy bulls and from the beef and dairy cow herds.

Beef Systems

In attempting to summarize the main beef production systems used in New Zealand I quickly ran into a few challenges. Like any system it is much more complicated than originally meets the eye and there are always the exceptions to the rule. When you categorize the systems based on animal type, much like Canada it breaks into two categories: the breeding cow herd (cow/calf operations) and growing/finishing cattle.

Cow/Calf

Breeding cow herds are often located in the hill country where pastures are mid-elevation and moderately productive. Recent numbers show a steady decline in the traditional beef breeding herd. In 2010 the percent of the total beef cattle numbers that are made up by breeding animals dropped to 28% versus 30% in 1992 and 36% in 1972. This downwards

 trend is a result of the influx of dairy animals into the beef system and less reliance on traditional beef breeds for meat production. This is heavily influenced by the fact that New Zealand focuses on producing a processed or ground beef product.

The New Zealand breeding herd production follows the pasture growth. Calving takes place in early spring on pasture, then cow/calf pairs graze through the spring and summer.  Weaning takes place in the fall when calves are approximately 8 months old. Calf weaning weights vary but a goal for producers is to wean calves at a live weight of 220 kg or better. Replacement heifers are retained and the other steers and heifers are sold at auction. In this way, the Kiwi beef system is very similar to the cow/calf production that occurs in Canada, specifically BC. However, in New Zealand many farms retain the animals to grow and finish themselves; depending on the type of land that is available and on the pasture production in that area.

There are a variety of beef breeds in New Zealand and it is difficult to characterize the beef herd. A report by Charteris and Garrick in 1996 estimated the breeding herd was m
ade up of 31% Hereford, 28% Angus, 13 % Simmental and the remaining 28% was classified as other.

Finishing

The growing and finishing of cattle is done completely on forages and therefore is often carried out on the flat to rolling country where there is good year round pasture growth allowing for faster gains. Finishing operations focus on pasture management, specifically matching feed supply to feed demand, and depending on the market can run many different age classes and types of cattle. Typically these are steer finishing, heifer finishing and bull finishing but as I mentioned in my last article these operations are often combined with other livestock production, such as contract grazing dairy heifers on this more productive land.

The steer and heifer finishing systems focus on the beef breed animals. For steer finishing the target is to get to a 300 kg carcass weight to supply the prime beef export market and for the heifers the aim is 235 kg carcass weight with these smaller cuts going to the New Zealand domestic market. The age at finishing depends on the type of pasture available and can be quite variable ranging from 18 to 34 months.

Bull finishing is something different as this focuses on using the dairy animals. The young dairy bulls are bought as weaners (approximately 10 weeks old) and then raised to slaughter weight.  Target carcass weight for an 18 month old bull is 250 kg but some farmers will keep them up to 2.5 years to a carcass weight of 350 kg or more.  By bringing in bulls at different ages and weights, the farmer has flexibility to match markets to the availability of the feed supply. 

Common in all of these beef production systems is that growth and finishing is done completely on forages. Grazing is usually done using an intensively managed grazing system with many small pastures and a rotation cycle that follows pasture regrowth. In some cases a brassicaceae crop (e.g.  turnip, canola, or kale) might be used in the grazing rotation and depending on the area some farmers might use stored forages, but this is fairly limited. What I found amazing was that the fencing, even for the bulls, usually consisted of smooth strand wire or electric fencing. I promise more detail on pasture management in my next article!

Comparison to Canadian Industry

There are some interesting similarities and differences between beef production in Canada and New Zealand. Both countries are small in terms of global beef production but are net exporters with the US being the main market for both. Year round grass growth in New Zealand makes it cost effective to produce pasture fed animals for trade whereas our Canadian export market is based on grain finished animals.

The dairy industry influences beef production in both countries but plays a very significant role in New Zealand accounting for close to 50% of New Zealand’s beef production. If trends continue, the dairy breeds will have a strong influence on future beef production in New Zealand.

The intensification of the feeding industry that has occurred in Canada will not likely occur in New Zealand as cattle are pasture fed but farms here are becoming more specialized and there are more and more farmers moving away from the traditional beef based system. It is a global economy and being dependant on trade means that many of the factors that are impacting beef production in Canada are also impacting New Zealand. It will be interesting to see how both Canada and New Zealand meet these challenges and how that will shape our beef industries in the future.

Ka kite ano (Maori for until we meet again).