Progress 04/16/02 to 04/15/07
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) Determine the relative performance of Bonsmara cross cattle in preweaning and postweaning performance. Approach (from AD-416) Brangus cows (n=150) will be bred to Charolais, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Bonsmara, and Romosinuano sires in the summer of each year for four years. Calves will be evaluated for birthweight, weaning weight, postweaning stocker performance, postweaning feedlot performance, and carcass merit. Bonsmara cross calves will be compared to traditional Continental breeds (Charolais, Gelbvieh), British breeds (Hereford), and other tropically- adapted breeds of sire (Romosinuano, Brangus). Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations This report serves to document research conducted under a non-funded cooperative agreement between ARS and Chapman Bonsmaras, Amarillo, TX. Additional details can be found in the report for the parent project 6218- 31630-004-00D, Improving Stocker Production in Sustainable Grazing Systems. In the southern Great Plains region, stocker cattle are imported from the southeastern U.S. in the fall to graze winter wheat pasture as part of a diverse livestock-grain production enterprise. Many of these calves come from cow herds with some degree of Brahman or Zebu breeding to improve the climatic adaptability of the cows to the hot and humid climate of the southeast. Beef producers located in the southern US are interested in utilizing non-Zebu tropically adapted cattle, such as the Bonsmara, to provide needed climatic adaptation and to improve carcass quality of the calves shipped to the southern Great Plains. Bonsmara-sired calves performed well as stocker grazing winter pasture. Bonsmara-sired calves were better suited for use in production systems that utilized a long grazing period prior to entering the feedlot finishing phase. The ADODR uses conference calls to monitor the activity in this agreement.
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Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06
Outputs
Progress Report 4d Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a nonfunded cooperative agreement between ARS and Chapman Bonsmaras, Amarillo, TX. Additional details can be found in the report for the parent project 6218- 31630-004-00D, entitled Improving Stocker Production in Sustainable Grazing Systems. In the fall, stocker cattle are shipped from the southeastern U.S. to graze wheat pastures in the southern Great Plains region before entering a feedlot for finishing. Cow-calf producers in the Southeast need a non-Zebu tropically adapted breed to maintain tropical adaptation in their cow herds without the negative effect that the presently used Zebu breeds have on rate of growth and carcass quality. This research project will evaluate the Bonsmara breed, a tropically adapted breed from Africa, as a replacement for the Zebu breeds for the production of stocker calves. Rate of gain for Bonsmara-sired calves on wheat pasture was comparable
to Brangus, Charolais, and Gelbvieh-sired calves but less than Hereford-sired calves. At the end of the feedlot phase of the experiment, Bonsmara-sired calves produced carcasses of with acceptable quality traits.
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