EVALUATION OF SENEPOL HEIFER PRODUCTIVITY IN THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0231769
• Project Start Date: Dec 1, 2012
• Project End Date: Nov 30, 2017
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIV OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
(N/A)
ST. CROIX,VI 00850

Performing Department
Research & Land Grant Affairs

Non Technical Summary
Because Senepol cattle in the USVI are raised on forage with no supplemental feed, due to the expense of importing concentrate feed, growth rates may not support breeding heifers to calve as 2-yr olds. When beef cattle calve for the first time as 3 year olds they lose a significant portion of their lifetime productivity. Purpose: This project will evaluate if it is feasible to breed Senepol heifers raised on grass/forage diets to have their first calf at 2 years of age and what impact this may have on lifetime productivity.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
307	3310	1060	60%
301	3310	1020	40%

Knowledge Area
307 - Animal Management Systems; 301 - Reproductive Performance of Animals;

Subject Of Investigation
3310 - Beef cattle, live animal;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1020 - Physiology;

Keywords

beef cattle

heifers

calf

tropics

grass fed

Goals / Objectives
The objectives of this proposal is to compare long term fertility and production traits between Senepol heifers bred to have their first calf at 2 or 3 years of age.

Project Methods
Senepol heifers will be selected from the calf crop each year and assigned to be bred at 14-16 months of age to calve as 2 year olds or bred at 25-28 months and calve as 3 year olds. Heifers will be allotted to treatment groups based on sire, weaning weight, yearling weight and weight at the start of breeding. Breeding seasons will last 75 days and start in June each year using single sire mating. Bulls to be bred to the heifers will be selected to have low birth weights based on EPDs and body weights as similar to the heifers as possible. Heifers will have body weight (BW), hip height (HHT), condition score (CS) and pelvic area (PA) measured just prior to the start of breeding. Heifers bred to calve at 3 years of age will be evaluated at the same time as heifers bred to calve as 2 year olds in addition to just prior to breeding at 25-28 months of age. At calving body weight, hip height and condition score will be collected. Rebreeding after first calving will be evaluated by recording the birth of the second calf produced. Calf data will include birth and weaning weight. Adjusted 205-day weaning weight and adjusted yearling weight will be calculated from within the Senepol Cattle Breeders Association database when calves are registered at weaning.

Progress 12/01/12 to 11/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Beef cattle producers in the USVI, greater Caribbean region, southeastern US and Central and South America where Senepol cattle are utilized. Changes/Problems:Year 2 Because the herd will have to be relocated to new ranch location, it could disrupt the management and data collection. Because the new land requires land clearing permits (in progress) and fence installation prior to relocating the cattle, a timeline of activities cannot be developed as of yet. Year 3 The drought and fires have severely impacted pasture and grazing management. We will also be dealing with the process to move the cattle to new grazing lands because there may be a new tenant taking over the land under a new lease with the current owner. We are awaiting the lease approval for the new land that is owned by the local government. Once that happens we will have to invest funds and manpower in the land and facilities to get it ready for cattle grazing and data collection. Year 4 The drought and grass fires of 2015 impacted cow fertility with only 10 calves being born in 2016. This limited data collection during that year and into the next because of low animal numbers. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Abstracts were presented at the American Society of Animal Science meeting and data was reported as part of the S-1064 multistate project technical committee meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Year 1 Twelve Senepol yearling heifers were used. At a year of age pelvic area was measured on each heifer. At 15-16 mo of age they were exposed to the same sire for a 75-d breeding period in summer 2013. Based on palpation data collected 4 mo after the end of breeding 5 were pregnant and 7 were non-pregnant. Pelvic area of open heifers was not different than that of pregnant heifers 134 vs 142 sq cm, respectively). Six of the twelve heifers (50%) calved in 2014. Year 2 Seventeen Senepol yearling heifers were evaluated as yearlings. At a year of age pelvic area was measured on each heifer. At 15-16 mo of age 5 of the heifers were selected based on pedigrees and they were exposed to the same sire for a 75-d breeding period in summer 2014. Based on palpation data collected 4 mo after the end of breeding all 5 were pregnant. Pelvic area of breeding heifers was 143 sq cm. All 5 of the heifers that were exposed to the bull calved in 2015. Year 3 Because of a drought and several pasture fires there was little data collected during this reporting period. The herd grazing management was severely impacted by these two issues. Year 4 Because of the drought in 2015 there were very few (10) calves born in 2016 so there was not an opportunity to collect data on production traits.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: 107. Godfrey, R.W. and A. J. Weis. 2013. Production traits of spring- and fall-calving Senepol cows in the tropics. J. Anim. Sci. Vol. 91(E-Suppl. 2):417.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: 113. R.W. Godfrey Godfrey, R.W. and H.C. Nelthropp. 2015. Characterization of growth traits of Senepol heifers and bulls from birth through a year of age in the tropics.J. Anim. Sci. Vol. 93 (Suppl. s3):636.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: 114. Godfrey, R.W., A.J. Weis and H.C. Nelthropp. 2015. The influence of tick loads of Senepol cows on calf tick loads and production traits in the tropics. J. Anim. Sci. Vol. 93 (Suppl. s3):837.

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Local, regional and international beef cattle producers Changes/Problems:The drought and grass fires of 2015 impacted cow fertility with only 10 calves being born in 2016. This limited data collection during that year and into the next because of low animal numbers. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Summarize current data and conduct analysis to prepare for publication.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Because of the drought in 2015 there were very few (10) calves born in 2016 so there was not an opportunity to collect data on production traits.

Publications

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Beef cattel producers in the USVI, SE US and semi-tropical and tropical areas of the world. Changes/Problems:The drought and fires have severely impacted pasture and grazing management. We will also be dealing with the process to move the cattle to new grazing lands because there may be a new tenant taking over the land under a new lease iwth teh current owner. We are awaiting the lease approval for the new land that is owned by the local government. Once that happens we will have to invest funds and manpower in the land and facilities to get it ready for cattle grazing and data collection. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?One abstact was presenetd at the American Society of Animal Science meeting in July 2015. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are still trying to recover pastures from the drought and fires and may nor be able to collect much beyond basic production data on heifers at weaning and as yearlings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Because of a drought and several pasture fires tehre was little data collected during this reporting period. The herd grazing management was severely impacted by these two issues.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: R.W. Godfrey Godfrey, R.W. and H.C. Nelthropp. 2015. Characterization of growth traits of Senepol heifers and bulls from birth through a year of age in the tropics.J. Anim. Sci. Vol. 93 (Suppl. s3):636.

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Beef cattle producers in the USVI, greater Caribbean region, southeastern USand Central and South America where Senepol cattel are utilized. Changes/Problems: Because therd will have to be reloacted to new ranch location, it coudl disrupt the managemnet and data collection. Because the new land requires land clearing permits (in progress)and fence installation prior to relocating the cattle, a timeline of activities cannot be developed as of yet. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Calving data will be collected on teh 5 heifers bred during 2014. The next set of heifers, born in 2014, will be evaluated as yearlings and at breeding in 2015.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? SeventeenSenepol yearling heifers were evaluated as yearlings. At a year of age pelvic area was measured on each heifer. At 15-16 mo of age 5 of the heifers were selected based on pedigrees and they were exposed to the same sire for a 75-d breeding period in summer 2014. Based on palpation data collected 4 mo after the end of breeding all 5 were pregnant. Pelvic area of breeding heifers was143 sq cm. Calving data will be collected in spring 2015.

Publications

Progress 12/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Beef cattle producers in tropical areas. The information will be incorporated into workshops or training programs offered. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Calving data will be collected on these heifers and a new set of yearling heifers will be evaluated and bred at during the summer 2014.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Twelve Senepol yearling heifers were used. At a year of age pelvic area was measured on each heifer. At 15-16 mo of age they were exposed to the same sire for a 75-d breeding period in summer 2013. Based on palpation data collected 4 mo after the end of breeding 5 were pregnant and 7 were non-pregnant. Pelvic area of open heifers was not different than that of pregnant heifers 134 vs 142 sq cm, respectively). Calving data will be collected.

Publications