AHDB Beef & Lamb: How calving heifers at two years old can help to boost profits in the suckler herd

The AHDB Maternal Matters campaign aims to highlight the connection between maternal performance and profitability in the suckler herd. The campaign focuses on two key areas of maternal performance: age at first calving and fertility. 

In this podcast suckler farmer James Shouler explains to AHDB’s Knowledge Exchange Manager Amy Hughes why he calves his heifers at two and what changes he made to be able to do it. 

Calving heifers at two-years of age reduces costs whilst increasing the number of calves the cow produces over her lifetime. In the UK only 35% of suckler producers implement this practice, however, in other countries it has been commonplace since the 1970s.

The aim of AHDB’s new Maternal Matters campaign is to raise awareness and increase the use of good maternal genetics within the English suckler herd whilst also informing producers of the management and selection practices required to enable greater cow lifetime reproductive performance and profitability. With the changes in agricultural payments around the corner, there has never been a more poignant time for suckler herd producers to home in on how they can make their herd more efficient and more profitable. Find out more at https://ahdb.org.uk/maternal-matters .