A total of 90 bulls was delivered to the 5th NC BCIP Forage Bull Test on December 4. Twenty-eight are in the senior age group and 62 are in the junior age group. Usually, the age groups are grazed separately. However, this year due to the distribution across ages and breeds, British breeds are being run together as a grazing unit and the Continental breeds are grazing as a unit.
Since the bulls arrived, there have been very few health problems. They adjusted well to their new surroundings during the period from arrival until going on test. For the first 56 days of the test, the large breeds have grazed rye and mutua. British breeds have grazed rye. In addition to grazing, the bulls received about five pounds of pelleted soybean hulls each per day. Performance, summarized in the table below, has been very good for this period.
You will notice in the table that several F1 bulls are enrolled on the test this year. In the senior group, there are three Angus x Simmental bulls. In the junior group, there are three Angus x Simmental, two Senepol x Gelbvieh, and one Belgian Blue x Hereford.
This test is sponsored by the N. C. Beef Cattle Improvement Program. It is conducted through the cooperative efforts of Carroll's Foods, Inc., providers of facilities and management for the test, N. C. Cattlemen's Association, and N. C. Cooperative Extension Service. Bob McLeod, Farm Manager, David Nordine, Livestock Manager, and their crew at Carroll's do an excellent job of providing lush forages and good care for the bulls.
If you would like to schedule a visit to the station, contact Bundy Plyler at 910/ 592-7161. Groups of visitors are welcome. You will enjoy seeing the management of the bulls with minimal electric fencing. Also, seeing the level of forage production that can be achieved using nutrients from swine lagoon effluent and the condition of the bulls grazing the forages are fascinating.
| NC BCIP FORAGE BULL TEST | 56-DAY REPORT | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BREED | NO | BTH WT |
ADJ 205 WT |
ON TEST WT |
02/26 WT |
ADG | WDA | FS | EXPECTED PROGENY DIFF | |||
| B | W | Y | M | |||||||||
| SENIOR GROUP | ||||||||||||
| ANGUS | 8 | 84 | 635 | 1012 | 1150 | 2.46 | 2.41 | 6.1 | 3.7 | 27 | 45 | 9 |
| ANGUS-B | 76 | 633 | 933 | 1063 | 2.32 | 2.28 | 5.7 | 2.1 | 28 | 51 | 17 | |
| HEREFORD | 5 | 84 | 542 | 829 | 999 | 3.04 | 2.19 | 5.7 | 2.9 | 31 | 54 | 18 |
| SIMMENTAL | 4 | 84 | 635 | 1030 | 1210 | 3.21 | 2.46 | 6.8 | -1.3 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| ANGUS x SIMMENTAL | 3 | 76 | 842 | 1046 | 3.64 | 2.40 | 6.8 | 0.0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | |
| Overall | 28 | 81 | 614 | 941 | 1095 | 2.76 | 2.34 | 6.1 | ||||
| JUNIOR GROUP | ||||||||||||
| ANGUS | 19 | 82 | 573 | 781 | 937 | 2.79 | 2.51 | 6.1 | 4.5 | 29 | 35 | 11 |
| ANGUS-B | 15 | 77 | 630 | 795 | 933 | 2.46 | 2.51 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 30 | 54 | 17 |
| CHAROLAIS | 4 | 89 | 837 | 1017 | 3.21 | 2.76 | 8.5 | |||||
| GELBVIEH | 5 | 80 | 698 | 802 | 967 | 2.96 | 2.59 | 6.7 | -0.4 | 10 | 15 | 2 |
| HEREFORD | 2 | 81 | 786 | 942 | 2.79 | 2.30 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 27 | 45 | 18 | |
| SIMMENTAL | 11 | 86 | 723 | 813 | 993 | 3.21 | 2.77 | 7.0 | 1.7 | 10 | 15 | 1 |
| ANGUS x SIMMENTAL | 3 | 78 | 835 | 1033 | 3.54 | 2.53 | 6.6 | 1.0 | 7 | 9 | 0 | |
| BELGIAN BLUE x HEREFORD | 1 | 88 | 719 | 919 | 3.57 | 2.35 | 4.9 | |||||
| SENEPOL x GELBVIEH | 2 | 75 | 777 | 932 | 2.76 | 2.47 | 7.1 | |||||
| Overall | 62 | 81 | 628 | 797 | 958 | 2.87 | 2.57 | 6.5 | ||||