IN Beef Central’s preview of the current Autumn sales period, I described the season as being “shaped by a mix of optimism, cautious decision-making and evolving trends.”

It is perhaps a little too early to identify clear trends for autumn sales, however early indications from the sales held so far suggest cautious decision making is a dominant behaviour among buyers.

Results for some sales held in February have seen clearance rates ranging from the mid 50 percent range to closer to 90pc. The bulk of the autumn sales will be held in coming weeks, so these early sales may not be a true indicator of how producers are approaching sales – however, the lower-than-expected clearances suggest that in many cases, particularly in the southern states, producers may be choosing to purchase a minimum number of bulls this season.

In many ways this is not an unexpected direction for producers to head.

The southern states have experienced dry to drought conditions, particularly in western parts of Victoria and in southern South Australia. As a result, many herds have seen significant reductions in cow numbers, particularly in breeding herds.

The flow-on effect of these decisions has been some reduction in the demand for bulls. However, reduction in demand does not always equate with a reduction in the price producers are willing to offer.

Clear goals in mind

It is important to have some clear goals in mind in purchasing bulls, regardless of how many are on the shopping list. This is particularly the case when purchasing just one bull. It may be tempting to use a single bull as a ‘stop gap’ to maintain breeding numbers. However, a poorly-chosen or poorly managed bull can hinder herd direction and slow recovery once conditions improve

One of the first decisions regarding the purchase of a single herd bull, is how will he be used? If he is to be introduced into an existing team, there are the practical considerations associated with introducing a new bull into an established group.

A new bull should always have the opportunity to adjust to a new location, generally in secure yards or a paddock with some company, often a group of steers. It’s also important not to directly introduce a new bull into the existing team.

Where possible, the newcomer and the existing bulls should be run in a way where they can see and interact, without physically fighting. When bulls are introduced after an initial period of visual and vocal interaction, adequate space in paddocks is essential as is the need to try and ensure the team consists of bulls or similar age and size.

While it is easy to think only of the impact of introducing a single bull into a team in terms of managing the physical interaction, there are also some genetic factors to be considered. When used in multiple sire herds, the genetic composition of the calf crop will reflect the average of the entire team. This means a new sire, could be potentially a genetic trait leader. However, because of the team, the overall performance of the calf crop in that group will be determined by the team average.

Two ways to consider

There are two ways to consider this in a herd. The first is that using a standout bull with an average team will dilute the genetic gain that could be achieved or may be expected from that bull. True, his own calves may well be noticeably more productive than the herd average, but when looked at across the entire calf crop, the improvement may be less significant than what would be hoped. The second view relates to purchasing a “stop gap” or average bull just to get calves on the ground in a tough season.

The impact of an average bull will not only be in bringing the team average down. It also potentially means that the more average genetics from this sire enter the herd and then create issues for the future selection of replacement females.

Stop-gap strategy

However during recent droughts, many producers made the decision to spend slightly less on a single bull and clearly seeing that decision as a “stop gap” just to get calves on the ground to maximise their production of kilograms of beef per hectare.

In taking this approach, those producers often chose not to retain heifers that were produced by the “stop gap” bull and focus on selecting heifers sired by other bulls in the team.

While this approach ensures calf production, it slows genetic progress and can delay improvements in desirable traits. As a strategy in drought times, it is an option that needs to be well considered before setting it in place.

A much more effective strategy is to instead attempt to purchase a sire that is genetically well above breed average. This bull could be used to join with a more select group of females.

Often, particularly in drought, many producers have drafted their herd and the remaining females in a cow herd often reflect the greatest performance or collection of traits. In these circumstances, using a bull that is genetically superior in a group of cows that are proven in performance can result in noticeable improvements. Purchasing a genetically superior sire may be slightly more expensive.

However, increasing production from a select group could be a valuable strategy that some producers overlook. Again, in previous droughts, often these genetically superior sires were more affordable and obtainable as demand was slightly less than in years where people are attempting to replace several sires in their team.

Alastair Rayner is the General Manager of Extension & Operations with Cibo Labs and Principal of RaynerAg.  Alastair has over 28 years’ experience advising beef producers & graziers across Australia. He can be contacted here or through his website www.raynerag.com.au