The three key drivers of productivity in northern beef herds

They are perennial and straightforward and deliver herds which are more efficient at converting grass into beef, thus generating more income per animal unit, says prominent consultant Bush Agribusiness managing director Ian McLean.

Mr McLean and Black Box chief executive officer Shannon Speight, a former cattle veterinarian, unpacked these key drivers of productivity at a recent webinar.

Black Box collates data across the beef supply chain to inform prediction, forecasting and key production insights.

Bush Agribusiness publishes the Australian Beef Report, which details the long-term picture of beef business performance.

The 2023 report shows the top performing beef businesses have a number of things in common: they target their herd expenditure better, use labour more efficiently and have more operating scale, Mr McLean said.

It is herd productivity that drives income, he said.

"Beef prices have a big influence on differences in income between years but not between businesses," he said.

"What we mean there is that in the long term, everyone is in the same market so those who produce more beef generate more profit."

Those three factors explained 75 per cent of the difference in productivity between herds, he said.

Small changes in these have a big influence.

For example, a lift in reproductive rate from 62.2pc to 65pc, a decrease in mortality rate from 2.6pc to 2pc and a lift in sale weight from 402 to 425 kilograms liveweight could lift income per adult equivalent from $255 to $278, Mr McLean told the webinar.

For the average business of 2000 head that's $45,000.

"Of course, the other part of this is that these same changes can reduce emissions intensity by 9pc," he said.

"We are already seeing the producers we work with being asked for this measure by their clients."

Mrs Speight said rate of reproduction was not just pregnancy or weaning rate.

"What we are really asking is how long before the heifer can produce a calf and then how long is the calf-to-calf interval," she said.

Black Box data, which involves more than 3.4 million animals mostly in northern extensive herds, shows average conception weights are 325 to 350kg.

"The average calf-to-calf interval across our data is 18.6 months, so that is two calves in three years," Mrs Speight said.

The differences can occur due to seasons, genetics, nutrition or other reasons but the figures were relatively consistent across years and properties, she said.

On-farm mortality is measured in tagged animal loss - so an animal that has a digital footprint.

"There is also a loss which is a lot more unnoticed, which is between confirmed pregnancy and confirmed weaning," Mrs Speight said.

Black Box data shows calf loss in 2021 was around 5.3pc.

The company's data on carcase weight and dressing percentage is representative of both northern and southern operations.

Mrs Speight said in 2021-22 the average carcase weight increased in both the north and south. The southern average was higher. Females on average weighed 56kg less than males.

Feedlot entry weights from 2021 to 2022 became more even between the north and south, with just 2kg difference.

While accessing external benchmarking data was important, so too was internal benchmarking in order to know where and how to improve, Mrs Speight said.