World meat industry news

Frost is unbearable for bulls of the Hereford breed. One of the breeding farms of the Myasnikovsky district of the Rostov region proved that these are not only excellent producers, but also very strong frost-resistant animals.

The feeder is just approaching the hull, and the cows, in anticipation of dinner, are already raising an impatient hubbub. Who would refuse a delicious grain mixture. In the harsh winter cold, it is absorbed with a special appetite. However, the Hereford is not in vain considered a frost-resistant breed. A strong physique, increased shaggyness - they could winter in the steppe. And if there is a roof, walls and a small minus in the air, these are simply heavenly conditions.

“Beef cattle tolerate cold very well in winter. In the summer, the fat layer accumulates, so they do not care about the cold. The main thing is to avoid drafts,” says livestock breeder Dmitry Stasenko.

Cows are transferred to stall keeping in late autumn. Prior to this, for several months they were fattening weight on pastures and preparing for procreation. Now it's time for the mass birth of calves.

“We have a hot season in winter. In the summer we just graze, and in the winter we calve. Turovy, made in such a way that it takes place in winter. Since the calves are stronger in winter, and all the cattle are in one place, it is easier to calve,” says livestock breeder Dmitry Stasenko.

The Hereford breed of cattle in this farm of the Myasnikovsky district was taken up a little more than ten years ago. We started with one and a half hundred cows of the broodstock. Gradually, pastures were expanded, more fodder crops were grown, and new buildings for livestock were built. This made it possible to increase the herd to almost 2 thousand heads. And recently the farm received the status of a breeding reproducer. Now they themselves grow purebred Herefords. In order to acquire unpretentious, productive animals with weight gain of one and a half kilograms per day, those who wish line up. This approach to livestock breeding has turned it into a very profitable business.

“We receive about 5.5 million in subsidies every year. For being tribal. For sale, we have the right to sell calves and bulls as breeding. There, the price is already 40 percent higher,” says Sergey Pidzhikyan, head of the agricultural enterprise.

Annually, up to 250 heifers and heifers are planned to be sold as breeding animals. But the carriers of the gene pool, breeding bulls - this is an emergency reserve. These stately handsome men have a special relationship - the conditions of detention, diet, honor and respect.

For breeding farms, the most valuable thing is, of course, sires. There are 26 heads here, all one to one. In addition to all their other virtues, they also have extraordinary male power. There are about 25 heifers for each bull, and they cope with their direct duties perfectly well.

Even among such beauties there are outstanding individuals. For example, a bull named Favorite. Age two years, weight under a ton, elite thoroughbred to become. This is the second recognized Hereford bull in the whole country. At the all-Russian exhibition "Golden Autumn" Myasnikovsky Favorit won a silver medal.