Typification of production systems for beef cattle bulls breeders in Formosa, Argentina. Rearing and finishing from bulls

Abstract

There is scarce information about technologies applied in the breeding and finishing of bulls, of the bull breeders located in the Province of Formosa, Argentina. The objective of this work was to characterize rearing and finishing
of bulls in Formosa according to applied breeding biotechnologies, feeding systems and supplementation levels, and the use of genetic improvement accreditation systems (DEPs). The objective population comprises 40 cattle breeding ranches located in Formosa province. The survey was carried out through personal interviews to 24 producers or technical managers of cattle breeding ranches. The surveyed data belongs to the period starting July 1st 2014 ending June 30th 2015. A multivariate taxonomic analysis method or cluster analysis was used to obtain three groups, with a distance simple matching coefficient 0.57, making up a 60.0 % sample of the whole. Three groups of 4, 11 and 9 cattle breeding ranches were formed. Managers of group II applied earlier breeding technologies than groups I and III. Group
II supplemented with lower concentrate level than groups I and III. Groups I and III applied mainly forage conservation technologies, while group II did not. All groups coincide in making type selection, only group I did it using DEPs. All
three groups coincided that green forage production was scarce.