Technological solutions for effective production on beef cattle breeding farms in the conditions of Ukraine

Abstract

Beef cattle breeding in Ukraine is considered to be a promising and socially important livestock sector, which is experiencing a systemic decline in production. The purpose of the study was to find the most effective options for organizing production in beef cattle breeding. The analysis was based on the production data of an agricultural enterprise with more than 4.5 thousand heads of meat cattle, including more than 1.7 thousand cows. Taking into account the company's development strategy, which provided for the expanded reproduction and sale of bull-calves and culled breeding stock, the production indicators of the farm's operation under the cow-calf system and the complete cycle with the rearing of young animals to slaughter conditions were analysed. The analysis of these production options was carried out for the conditions of using year-round and seasonal (from February to April) calving on the farm. It was found that when calving throughout the year, the number of cattle places in the premises and pens will be relatively constant. In the case of seasonal calving, the structure of the herd changes significantly during the year. Sales of finished products during seasonal calving should take place in relatively short periods of time and in large groups. In particular, the monthly sales of bull-calves for fattening in the cow-calf system during seasonal calving will be on average 11 times higher than during year-round reproduction in the herd. With a full breeding cycle, the batches of bull-calves for slaughter will differ less, but will occur only in the spring months. Seasonal calving during the complete production cycle resulted in a 1% reduction in silage and 3% reduction in hay consumption and a 10% increase in pasture grass consumption. The full cycle of raising bull-calves for meat makes it possible to increase the total live weight of cattle sold by 59%, increase sales revenue by 54% and reduce total feed costs per 1 tonne of live weight by 20%. The practical significance of this study is to obtain results that can be used in the Ukrainian beef cattle industry to plan efficient production organization

Keywords

• cattle
• cow-calf system
• fattening
• feed costs
• beef