While weaning calves as young as two months may seem daunting to many, a growing number of beef producers are making early weaning an integral part of their drought management programs.
David and Georgy Alker, from Tarnuk Station near Merriwa in the Upper Hunter of New South Wales run a commercial Angus operation over nearly 3000 hectares.
They usually joining about 850 cows but have reduced their breeder numbers to just 400 over several years.
It is not something you can think about this morning and do this afternoon
- David Alker, Merriwa
"Thanks to some rain in March we bought a few extra to try and regroup a little bit," Mr Alker said.
The Alkers join their cows over October and November, and when the season is normal their marketing plan is straightforward.
"It would be to sell that top 25 per cent of the steers straight off their mothers at Easter on Auctions Plus," Mr Alker said.
Read more:
"The balance of the steers and the cull heifers would be sold either direct to JBS at Scone or on Auctions Plus.
"If the season permits we put them on pasture or oat crops and then send them to slaughter."
But when the rain doesn't come as expected, the Alkers begin preparing to wean their calves early.
Over the past 15 years they have done it at least six times, most recently last year, and planning has already started for the 2019 crop.
"I reckon we are in for another couple of years of dry seasons," he said.
"I'm saying to myself 'If it hasn't rained by August 1, then August and September look like being pretty ordinary.
"We are now three months ahead of ourselves leading to that October 1 critical date that I set where I want my bulls to go back in. I want my cows to get pregnant again, because that certainly goes on and impacts next year's production if we don't get that right.
"The key driver for me is the cow's body condition score. What we are looking for is a cow that is in no less than 2 to 2.5 body score condition (when joining begins)."
The calves are aged between two and four months, with weights ranging from a top of around 120kg down to 54kg.
"It is not something you can think about this morning and do this afternoon," Mr Alker said.
"It's important that you do your planning. Work it all out, have a good clear think about how the process is going to work and what is involved.
"When we decide to wean early we order our calf pellets immediately. They are 16 per cent protein, and were delivered in bulk on farm into a silo, so we had them on hand.
"We have long feed troughs set up. We make sure that the watering systems and troughs are working and clean and that young small calves can actually get over that trough and drink."
Once those preparations are in place the actual weaning starts.
"The cows go back into the paddock, the calves are kept in the yards for seven to 10 days and the idea is that we have got to teach them to eat," Mr Alker said.
"We break the calves into smaller groups based on body weights, and that just avoids that issue with shy feeders versus the bigger calves. We do find those little guys that are below 70kg require a bit of special attention.
"We do our normal vaccination program - we also give them vitamin injections and put a fly repellent product on them that helps keep the flies away around their eyes.
"We don't do any castration of the males or any ear tagging apart from about five per cent of the group, which will be our sample weighing calves."
Be vigilant
District vet with Hunter Local Land Service Dr Jane Bennett said producers using early weaning needed to keep a close eye on calves.
"These are little guys and you need to be able to make sure you are monitoring them really carefully," she said.
"If you notice something is not quite right you deal with it immediately, not just not just let it go for a day or so. Otherwise you are going to end up in trouble."
For the Alkers weaning and feeding has its own timetable.
"I generally budget on three months of early weaning and calf feeding," David Alker said.
"So that puts us into about Christmas time and, fingers crossed, it's rained and there is some summer pasture growth and the calves would normally go onto that pasture and then go on from then as a normal calf.
"If we get to Christmas time and it still hasn't rained then it is another major decision time. We will either carry on and feed them a little bit longer or we sell the steer portion and keep the female portion."
Cattle industry consultant Bill Hoffman, Hoffman Beef Consulting, Walcha, NSW, estimates about 75 per cent of the calves in northern parts of NSW have been weaned earlier than normal.
"People just do that now as the sort of standard practice over the last few years because of the serious drought conditions in the northern part of NSW," he said.
Mr Hoffman said many producers resist early weaning, either unprepared to alter their breeding and production programs, or deterred by the work involved. But he sees it as one of the most effective measures available for maintaining fertile herds.
"You basically halve the energy requirements of a cow by turning the cow and calf unit into a dry cow," he said.
"It is absolutely top of the list when it comes to managing when feed gets short."
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture! Click here to sign up to receive our daily Farmonline newsletter.
