A systems approach to the study of an intensive feed cropping and beef feedlot unit

Abstract

This study of an intensive feed cropping and beef feedlot system arose out of a recent interest in beef feedlotting in general and in ‘storage farming’ in particular. Interest by farmers in feedlot systems is not surprising considering the extent of such operations overseas, particularly in the U.S.A. There, feedlots are large-scale and numerous and compared to the alternative of an extensive range operation produce beef of superior quality for which they receive an appropriate premium. There has also been an increase in the number of beef feedlots in Australia recently, though they have met with variable success [10].

New Zealand interest was probably spurred by the general down-trend in wool and butter prices, and the unusually high beef prices of 1969-1970. A parallel interest in tower silos, reported and investigated by McClatchy [43], has also been evident.

Recently, a system of storage farming was proposed [47] [48], which involved the growing and storage of high-yielding forage crops for feeding to animals in a feedlot. It was suggested that if not now, then in the future with favourable movements in prices and further technological developments, such a system could challenge the traditional pasture-based system on an economic basis. Heavy fertiliser applications, especially of nitrogen, would enable highly efficient forage production per acre on which profitable operation could be based.

In more detail, storage farming involves growing high yielding crops (maize and the recently developed Tama ryegrass), in a continuous summer-winter rotation and storing the forage in tower silos. The maize can be stored either as silage or else harvested and stored as grain, while Tama is best stored as haylage. This silage-haylage diet is fed to beef cattle in a feedlot, supplemented if necessary with purchased meal or grain, to achieve an optimal level of liveweight gains. A full description of the system is presented in Chapter 3.

The initial objectives of this study were to investigate a feed cropping and beef feedlot system in some depth, giving some idea of technical and economic feasibility and how the latter is likely to be influenced in the real world.