Farmers can control most of their cattle’s marbling expression through quality nutrition, the ratio of feed, and the timing of these practices throughout the animal’s life cycle.
To ensure you don’t miss the marbling window, it is suggested that you benefit from the period of influence – this is from the final stages of foetal growth up until the calf is 250 days of age. During this period, the quality of your final product is determined by maximising the proliferation or number of fat cells and cell differentiation and increasing the percentage of cells that evolve to become fat cells.
Supplementing cows in late pregnancy with a controlled and high energy ration, ideally grain-based, will commence the high marbling process. The next phase ensures you creep feed the calves to get the best outcomes.
Creep feeding transforms infant calves’ ability to convert pasture and other forages, resulting in a higher marbling process, growth rates, and earlier weaning. Calves that are creep fed have a better feed conversion of 3:1.
Calf Creep Gates exclude the cows from accessing the feeder giving the calves full access to high energy ration little and often throughout the day.
Advantage Feeders 3-Way Restriction System and our Calf Creep Gates give you the tools to make the science into a reality with the most controlled and accurate grain feeders on the market. Advantage Feeders products support farmers by allowing them to control the ration for calves and cows specific to their dietary requirements during the life cycle and period of influence.
Providing high energy feed that can be rationed and controlled throughout the life cycle allows for better marbling scores in the most influencing times, increasing profits, and avoiding losses from wasted feed and cattle that overconsume.
The critical period for the formation of intramuscular adipocytes runs from mid-gestation through to around 250 days of age; fattening and intramuscular adipocyte hypertrophy continues from there through to slaughter. (Image sourced: ‘Optimizing livestock production efficiency through maternal nutritional management and fetal developmental programming’, 2017.)
This trial was executed by Jeremy Cooper from Circle 8 Bulls, based in Marulan, NSW, Australia. His support and effort have made it possible to quantify the results and share the findings within the industry to enhance the Wagyu product.
