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Research, Policy and Practice

Table 3 Herd composition, supplementary feeding, and productive parameters by farm size for dual-purpose farms (average ± standard deviation)

From: Technical and environmental characterization of dual-purpose cattle farms and ways of improving production: A case study in Colombia

Variable

VSP

SP

MP

LP

Herd composition

 Milking cows

3.2 ± 3.1

10.1 ± 5.2

24.0 ± 16.3

109.1 ± 91.7

 Calved cows

0.9 ± 1.9

1.3 ± 3.3

2.0 ± 6.3

10.6 ± 36.1

 Dry cows

2.2 ± 2.6

5.0 ± 4.5

13.8 ± 13.4

55.9 ± 43.1

 Female calves (0–1 year)

0.6 ± 0.6

1.6 ± 1.0

3.8 ± 2.5

15.9 ± 14.2

 Male calves (0–1 year)

0.5 ± 0.6

1.4 ± 0.9

3.5 ± 2.6

15.5 ± 12.0

 Raising females (1–2 years)

0.8 ± 1.5

2.4 ± 2.6

7.0 ± 7.6

31.4 ± 34.4

 Raising males (1–2 years)

0.5 ± 1.2

1.3 ± 2.3

4.4 ± 6.1

27.8 ± 37.3

 Heifers for breeding (2–3 years)

1.3 ± 2.4

3.7 ± 5.3

8.6 ± 10.9

37.8 ± 39.8

 Fattening calves (2–3 years)

0.3 ± 1.4

0.7 ± 3.1

3.2 ± 8.4

20.0 ± 38.4

 Bulls

0.7 ± 1.1

1.4 ± 1.4

2.7 ± 2.2

11.3 ± 10.8

Supplementary feeding

 Supply rate of concentrate feeds (kg year−1 AU−1)a

228.1 ± 85.9

235.5 ± 91.2

307.4 ± 96.4

310.7 ± 105.9

 Supply rate of supplements (kg year−1 AU−1)a

76.0 ± 32.2

73.1 ± 31.4

84.7 ± 38.9

95.4 ± 41.3

 Supply rate of mineral salt (kg year−1 AU−1)a

29.2 ± 13.8

31.8 ± 7.9

33.3 ± 4.9

33.6 ± 1.7

Productive parameters

 Weight at birth (kg)

32.4 ± 4.5

32.6 ± 4.4

32.3 ± 4.4

33.0 ± 4.0

 Weight at weaning (kg)

139.1 ± 24.9

141.9 ± 23.1

154.6 ± 25.1

150.8 ± 24.4

 Age at weaning (months)

8.2 ± 1.4

8.2 ± 1.2

8.6 ± 1.1

8.8 ± 0.9

 LWG pre-weaning stageb (kg day−1)

0.45 ± 0.12

0.45 ± 0.10

0.48 ± 0.11

0.45 ± 0.09

 LWG fattening stage (kg day−1)

0.41 ± 0.07

0.42 ± 0.07

0.43 ± 0.10

0.47 ± 0.08

 Mortality rate (%)

11.3 ± 11.8

9.1 ± 10.6

5.6 ± 5.7

3.0 ± 2.1

 Milk production (L cow−1 day−1)

3.2 ± 2.2

3.8 ± 1.7

3.7 ± 1.4

3.7 ± 1.1

  1. VSP very small livestock producers, SP small livestock producers, MP medium livestock producers, LP large livestock producers, AU animal units, LWG live weight gain
  2. aAverage calculated with farms applying this practice
  3. bAverage daily weight gain before weaning