Hereford and Hereford influenced cattle are being positioned as global beef industry leaders for sustainability with superior feed efficiency and reduced methane emissions.
American Hereford Association (AHA) chief operating officer Shane Bedwell addressed the Herefords Australia Breed Forum at Wodonga on May 14 on the Association’s work to establish a greenhouse gas emissions baseline for Hereford cattle and develop a model/index for Hereford to continue to drive demand for all segments.
The project is a collaboration with Colorado State University to study the genetics contributing to methane production and nitrogen excretion.
The research leveraged decades of phenotypes for individual feed intake collected by AHA members as well as previous feed efficiency research conducted by the Association.
“Long term this project will identify potential tools to reduce beef production’s environmental footprint,” Mr Bedwell said.
“The Hereford breed has been sustainable for a long time being one of the oldest beef breeds in the world.
“We are taking our message deeper into the supply chain – the consumer, retailer and big corporates are needing help to assist their bottom line relative to methane free emissions.”
Mr Bedwell said US Meat Animal Research Centre data revealed a lot fed Hereford steer eats an average of 0.9kg less per day than an Angus steer. This was extrapolated over the 165,634 head of Hereford and Hereford influenced cattle fed under the Certified Hereford Beef brand in 2021.
“Herefords consume 86.8kg less of corn per steer over their feeding period compared to the Angus steers. Because of the efficiency advantage, Certified Hereford Beef cattle reduced corn consumption by 1,649,304 kg,” he said.
“That equates to 30 days of corn feeding a 100,000 head feed yard in the US.
“Given it takes 204 litres of water to grow 0.45kg of corn, Certified Hereford Beef cattle required 6,466,804,723 less litres of water.
“Water is the most underrated resource we have – they are not making more water and we have to utilise the water we have more efficiently.”
Delegates to the 2025 World Hereford Conference in the USA will tour the Hereford research herd in western Nebraska where data has been collected since 1999 on individual phenotypes across 1000 steers with 15 different sires.
A feed intake facility was added in 2010 followed by in-pen weighing systems and data is now being collected on methane, carbon and water intake.
“I don’t know of another facility in the world that’s collecting this amount of information on a set of pedigree steers which can be tracked back to 1999,” Mr Bedwell said.
“This will establish a base line for Hereford cattle relative to greenhouse gas emissions and our early data shows it is highly correlated to feed intake.
“We are looking forward to developing a model relative to methane and working that potentially into an index or new trait. By the 2025 World Hereford Conference, we will have individual methane and phenotypic data on over 1000 animals through a sire test program.”
Mr Bedwell said the red and black baldy female was the core of AHA’s business and one of its greatest opportunities with Hereford bull sales comprising 25 per cent of the market, and increasing year-on-year.
“The baldy female is the king cow in the US – from the north with the British cross, being the black and red baldy, to the south with the Tiger stripe and five star (Santa cross) being the most favoured commercial cow in the industry,” he said.
Heterosis research in the early 2000s in ranch settings in California and Missouri revealed a similar outcome in the two different environments with increased calf weights, a healthier calf, and advantages in growth, weight, efficiency, and carcase merit.
“Where Hereford really fits in the US right now is the maternal heterosis side – when the study was summarised in 2007-08 our input and sell prices were cheaper. The University of Tennessee took the same data set looked at in 2023-24 to see what the difference was.
“Due to the direct advantage and maternal heterosis of using a Hereford bull on a British bred cow base, the net return to the producer was $90 more per cow over an Angus bull on an Angus cow.
“The net worth of the baldy female is significantly more because she has the ability to breed back a higher percentage of those calves. We found heterosis resulted in a 7-8 per cent advantage in conception rate – not only is that baldy female producing more pounds of calf, but she is staying in the herd longer.
“This simulation projected over a 10-year period an advantage of $300 per cow from a net worth standpoint.”
Jack Ward and Shane Bedwell, American Hereford Association, presenting at the Breed Forum, Wodonga 2024
