Development of candidate management interventions to reduce foetal and calf loss in beef herds in northern Australia

Summary

​Losses between confirmed pregnancy and weaning (calf wastage) have been identified as one of the most important problems confronting the beef industry in northern Australia.

A list of management interventions likely to reduce calf wastage was developed from the findings of a  scientific review, PhD and published papers describing the factors contributing to calf wastage.

An expert opinion workshop was conducted to map out the proximate and more distal factors affecting calf wastage.  From this, causal webs were developed to facilitate assessment of the impact of listed management interventions. A basic economic model was developed to estimate the impact of each intervention on beef breeding business profit.  

Nine researchers, eight agribusiness personnel and 22 beef business owners/managers representing all country types across northern Australia applied this model to rank 23 management interventions. Those ranked highest for research were improved phosphorus supplementation, improved calf husbandry, reduced paddock size, enhancing mothering, improved nutritional management of pregnant yearlings to reduce dystocia, and infectious disease control.

To evaluate the impact of priority interventions on the occurrence of calf wastage and business performance a preliminary budget was generated to support subsequent activities aimed at reducing calf wastage for northern Australia.