Visit to CFM Agro Company 2/4/12

Today was the first day of my study topics, Beef Genetics and Pasture Management, however, firstly I would like to thank my fellow scholars Rhys, Bryan, Ryan, Dave, Damian, Natalie and Crosby for a great and memorable trip that they shared with me.

Today I visited CFM Agro Company which is a British Company that produces 3 million tonnes of sugarcane and runs 55,000 head of Nelore cattle where it is a breeding, fattening and bull breeding operation. I visited one of their 4 properties which was 15,800 hectares where the cattle operation produces 3000 Nelore bulls that they sell annually. They have their own bull and IVF centre on the farm. Their cow operation is a AI system where they AI 17,000 head of cows in a 70 day breeding cycle, using their own bulls and a control heating method. The property has a 1300ml rainfall and they use a rotation grazing system. Their bulls are on pastures until they are 2 years old and then are finished off in a feedlot for 120 days.

I found their bull selecting method very interesting where they use EBVs(Estimated Breeding Values) to join to their cows. They have been using this method for 30 years. I would like to thank David V.Makin (President) Jose Luiz A.Cervi and Tamires Miranda Neto for sharing their knowledge with me.