FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH - LIMO RE-ESTABLISHED

The LIMO project, first established in 1998, is an educational partnership between the British Limousin Cattle Society and Greenmount College, Antrim. The original aims of the project were to:

• Assess the physical and financial performance of pure and crossbred Limousin cows and the growth and carcase quality of their progeny.
• Develop the competences of students in all aspects of management, recording and marketing of pedigree and commercial beef cattle.

The unexpected depopulation of the herd in January 2001 as a result of brucellosis, while unfortunate, provided both partners with the challenge of re-establishing the LIMO herd and the opportunity to review progress and re-evaluate the project aims.

Early in the review exercise it became evident that the beef industry is increasingly incorporating Limousin genes into the suckler cow herd and that 'maternal traits' are becoming increasingly important.

New objectives

Following several rounds of discussion, the partners agreed new objectives for the project in addition to those above:

• Demonstrate the production and management of quality beef cattle from a self contained herd of pure and crossbred cows.
• Assess the physical and financial performance of the herd and the performance and carcase quality of the progeny
• Demonstrate the importance of suckler herd maternal traits such as calving ease, milking ability, fertility and temperament and beef traits such as muscling, carcase yield and meat quality

Demonstrate ‘best commercial practice and the application of best available technology in all aspects of suckler herd management

The re-establishment of the herd gave the opportunity to source genetically superior breeding stock from both within the UK and abroad. The herd size was set at 50 comprising 25 pure-bred Limousin and 25 cross-bred Limousin cows.

• 25 Pure-bred Limousin heifers and cows selected primarily for maternal traits. This system will demonstrate the production of quality suckled calves from pure cows and is based on a pure breeding system similar to that practised in Europe. To provide foundation stock 15 pure-bred (pedigree) females are being selected from a pool of livestock which meet stipulated Signet performance criteria for milk, growth and carcase traits from within the UK and 10 pure-bred females (pedigree) have been sourced from France.

All UK pure-bred cattle will be selected from herds participating in Signet's Beefbreeder Recording Scheme with the following desired EBV criteria:

200 M (Milk Value) in top 25 percent, 400 day weight, above average, Muscle Score, above average and Beef Value above average.

For the French cattle, the selection criteria was based on IBOVAL01 information with the desired criteria:

Milk in top 25 percent, (Alait 102+), Maternal Index (IVMAT )in top 25 and Beef Index (ISERV) above average.

• 25 cross-bred Limousin heifers and cows. This system will demonstrate production of quality suckled calves from cows with a high proportion of Limousin genetics.

Replacents will be bred from within each herd via AI with Limousin sires being selected from the top 10 percent of the breed for maternal/dual purpose characteristics. These sires will be selected on the basis of performance information for maternal characteristics. Approximately 10-15 cows will be mated to these maternal/dual purpose Limousin sires with the remaining cows mated to Limousin sires (AI and stock bull) selected for carcase traits.

For obvious animal health reasons both partners felt it desirable to demonstrate a system where a self contained herd is breeding its own replacements.

The production of replacements from the crossbred herd will illustrate how commercial farmers can upgrade the quality of their livestock from within their resources using the maternal lines within the Limousin breed.

Marketing

Progeny from both cow types will be slaughtered and marketed through the Linden Foods group to provide information on carcase and meat quality characteristics. The production of high quality beef from LIMO will continue to be market-led and market feedback will have considerable influence on the production and finishing systems within the project.

Thankfully, due largely to the commitment of the main partners, LIMO can now proceed from strength to strength offering students, the BLCS and the beef industry a unique learning experience and assessment of the practicalities, problems, potential and profitability of suckler beef production.