Joint Alpharma-Beef Species Symposium: implications of beef heifer development systems and lifetime productivity

Research emphasis has been placed on heifer development strategies in recent years, comparing traditional, more intensive systems to more extensive systems using less feed and relying on compensatory gain to reach a target BW. Recent research has indicated that developing heifers to a lighter target BW at breeding (i.e., 50 to 57% of mature BW compared with 60 to 65% BW) reduced development costs and did not impair reproductive performance. Research published through the late 1980s demonstrated greater negative effects of limited postweaning growth on age at puberty and pregnancy rates whereas more recent studies demonstrate less of a negative impact of delayed puberty on pregnancy rate. A limitation of most research concerning influences of nutrition on heifer development and cow reproductive performance is little or limited consideration of long-term implications. Longevity has relatively low heritability; therefore, heifer development and other management strategies have a greater potential to impact cow retention. Establishing the impact of heifer development protocols on longevity is complex, requiring consideration of nutritional factors after the start of breeding and through subsequent calvings. Lower-input heifer development, where all heifers are managed together after the postweaning period, did not impair rebreeding, but continued subsequent restriction in the form of marginal winter supplementation resulted in decreased retention in the breeding herd. Therefore, the compensatory BW gain period for restricted-growth heifers may be important to longevity and lifetime productivity. Adequate growth and development to ensure minimal calving difficulty can be of critical importance for longevity; however, providing additional supplemental feed during postweaning development to accomplish this may be less efficient than later in development. Restricting gain during postweaning development by limiting DMI or developing heifers on dormant winter forage resulted in increased economic advantages compared with developing heifers at greater rates of ADG to achieve a greater target BW. Implications of heifer development system on cow longevity must be considered when evaluating economics of a heifer enterprise; however, studies evaluating the effects of heifer development systems on cow longevity are extremely limited.