Managing the High Fertility Beef Herd

Shane Thomson of Holbrook Vet Centre presents "Managing the High Fertility Beef Herd" Fertility is a significant driver of profitability in extensive beef breeding enterprises – but how do we define fertility, what are the benefits of fertility, and are there any associated risks? This presentation will look to define fertility by demonstrating how to understand and assess average calving dates (ACD) and how this index can be used to analyse and benchmark performance. As managers of beef enterprises have become more educated and experienced with time, many have increased their profitability by pursuing high fertility, and the benefits have come in spades. We will discuss how this high performance is associated with the potential for higher risk, and what MANAGEMENT options are available to mitigate this risk, to ensure long term profitability.