Abstract
The “Regional Combinations” project of the CRC for Cattle and Beef Quality focussed on regional beef production systems at sites at southern NSW, western Victoria, south-east SA and south-west WA. The combined effects of different growth paths, diverse genetic potential and time of calving on performance and carcase traits were examined in detail for each site over a number of years to determine the best regional combinations to meet targeted market specifications. This provided the information to identify the most profitable systems across different environments in southern Australia. The data identified weight gain as the biggest driver of profitability of production. Between growth treatments, at most sites there was a large difference in the gross margins between the Fast and Slow treatments favouring the Fast grown animals, even after accounting for the higher cost of producing pasture capable of sustaining faster growth. In terms of breeds, in NSW the Euro breed types consistently outperformed the Wagyus, in WA the high RBY sires outperformed the others, and in Victoria there was little difference across breeds except for the Wagyus. Changing calving time from autumn to winter in WA decreased profitability to weaning when the stocking rate was unchanged, but increased the gross margin when the stocking rate was increased by 10%. In Victoria, there was little difference in gross margins between autumn and spring calving, however comparing the average gross margins for calving season and growth path, the earlier finishing Fast growth path system autumn calving gave the highest gross margins per hectare, and for the Slow finishing system, spring calving gave the highest gross margin. These economic advantages were due to better alignment of animal requirements to feed availability, which had a major effect on the cost of production through reduced supplementary feed costs.
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