USE OF RESOURCE-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES IN BEEF CATTLE BREEDING

Abstract

 Beef cattle breeding is a much less (2-3 times) commodity intensive industry in comparison with dairy cattle breeding, the only type of product of which is livestock for
slaughter. Considering the national-economic and commercial importance of the beef cattle
industry, it must be developed by improving the technological process, taking into account the
most important biological characteristics of specialized beef breeds of cattle and the use of
resource-saving technologies. The research on the use of resource-saving technologies in beef
cattle breeding was conducted in the conditions of the peasant farm enterprise “Enin I.A.”,
which was located in the Republic of Adygea. It was established that cattle of the Aberdeen
Angus breed could effectively use natural mountain pastures for nine months of the year. During the nongrazing time from December to March, only hay, which was harvested from the
hayfields of the relevant pastures, was used for feeding. The reproduction of the herd and the
growing of beef calves was organized according to the “cow-calf” system, which minimized
the cost of labor and money in calves growing, ensuring their high safety. When keeping animals of all gender and age groups during the year, any permanent buildings were not used.
The live weight of bull calves, which were grown using this technology, at the age of 18 and
24 months reached 380 and 470 kg, respectively, which was lower than the breed standard by
20 kg and 40 kg. The average daily gain in bull calves from birth to 24 months was 608 g.
When the bull calves reached a live weight of 450-500 kg, they were sold for meat. The calculation of the economic efficiency of production showed that beef production in such conditions was economically sound; the level of profitability of production was 17,65%. This parameter of the profitability level should be considered acceptable, since it ensures the profitability of the company's production activities, whereas in the whole beef cattle breeding industry in the Russian Federation it is 33,4%, and in most European countries beef cattle breeding
is unprofitable and subsidized by the state.