A Culling Method

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31380, 27 May 1967, Page 8

A Culling Method

A method of culling cows was described to the Lincoln farmers* conference last week by Mr J. O. Aeland, of Mount Peel station, Peel Forest “It has been proved that some cows produce low weight gain calves each year so it is obviously best to get rid of these cows,” he said. “This can be done quite easily at weaning time and you do not need scales to do it We culled 10 per cent of our first calving heifers this year by bringing in a mob of 50 cows and calves and after keeping them separated for four or five hours we put the poorest calves back with the cows and they went straight up to the correct cow to drink. It was a quite easy matter then to select these cows and send them down the road. . .

To a suggestion that these cows might not be the producers of low weight gain calves—the calves could have been only born late—Mr Aeland said this could be so but in any case they disliked late ealving cows. “To follow this up we must use performance tested bulls as they will also have quite an effect on the variation in the weight gain of the calves,” Mr Aeland said. "There is good work being done on performance testing and the day is not too far distant when we will be able to go to any stud breeder and ask

to see his weight gain records and thus get a good guide as to the best beast to buy. Records of weight gain will not do away with the master’s eye, but we must remember that we get paid for the amount of beef we grow and the most profitable beast is one that can stack on the most meat in the shortest time.**