Investigating reproductive performance in beef cattle: an evaluation of the Botswana experience

Abstract

The reproductive performance of beef cattle in Botswana is discussed. The factors affecting reproduction have been well defined. The majority of breeding cattle are kept under traditional conditions and have poor reproductive performance. Basic husbandry practices applied in a ranching system result in calving percentages 28% above those achieved under traditional conditions.

The Animal Production Research Unit of the Botswana Ministry of Agriculture maintain a network of ranches for investigating beef and range productivity. Only limited recording has been undertaken in traditional areas. The high quality of data accumulated is due to large scale recording in well defined conditions over a range of environments and a number of years. The data is sufficiently comprehensive for use in extension.

Further research should attempt to define performance at each stage of the female reproductive cycle and if possible relate this to nutritional status. As one APRU ranch has achieved a mean calving percentage of 91%> the particular conditions responsible should be identified. Some possible explanations are discussed. Sophisticated research techniques have only limited application in such an extensive production system.

The two principal features to emerge are the improvement in reproductive performance following the application of basic husbandry practices, and the value of accurate, representative data.