| Since formation in 1987, the British
White Cattle Association of America has continued to be the
official registry of British White Beef Cattle in the United States.
The British White Cattle
Association remains very active today and has never consolidated,
merged or united with any other association or entity. The British
White Cattle Association is governed by a nine member Board of
Directors elected by and from the active members of the association.
As an active member you have the opportunity to participate in
a variety of livestock events & industry meetings as well as record
your British White Beef Animals in the official registry at reduced
rates. The value of British White Bulls as sires of
beef cattle, are worthy of note by livestock farmers. This provides the
strongest Commercial reason for use of British White Bulls on commercial
cows; cows will calve easier, calves have higher feed conversion and
efficiency and leaner carcasses as now demanded by the American housewife.
Large breeds may have higher daily gains and
weaning weights, but in some cases the disadvantages are more drastic. They
may be too big to fit THE BOX if fed to weights to grade. The benefits of
speedy growth is of no value unless a live calf is reared. Difficult calving
has a marked influence on calf mortality and fertility. This problem is
noted in several large breeds. The higher growth rate of crossbred calves
sired by large bulls can be more than canceled out by the superior survival
rate and lower maintenance requirements of the British White calf.
The breed of the dam also affects the
incidence of hard calving. The crucial fact is the relationship of pelvic
size and body size. One critical factor is stump rear legs or straight
hocks. Straight hocks in any cow of any breed tend to be accompanied by a
square level rump with a pelvic opening of reduced size. A cow with a
sloping pelvic girdle and low pin bones is less likely to experience calving
problems.
When Bull Testing Stations were first
introduced, bulls were first ranked according to their daily weight gains
while on test. In its self this was an inefficient method of evaluation. It
took little account of compensatory growth (an
unexpected spurt of growth in an animal which has been gaining weight
slowly). Even more seriously, it gave no consideration to the efficiency of
feed conversion or production of lean meat. The obsession with growth rate
resulted in various undesirable side effects which the most important are;
increases of the coincidence of calving difficulties and much higher calf
mortality. Defects accompany the use of breeds which are becoming popular
with the publicity given to higher growth and gain rates. Comparative trials
carried out by New Zealand Department of Lands and Survey confirm that had
this not been used as the basis of selection these problems could have been
solved. The 400 day weight of British White Bulls is 52.3 % of mature
weight, in some other breeds this is more like 50.0 %. This is a positive
indication of efficiency. ###
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