Adaptation

Cow and 6 month Heifer Calf

Belmonts resistance is 98%, which means that only 2 of 100 seed ticks complete their lifecycle, while 82% resistance of the Shorthorn means that 18 out of 100 seed ticks survive. The Belmont is therefore 9x more resistant than the Shorthorn. Using the Belmont is therefore an effective and sustainable method of controlling ticks.

At “Brigalow” it required four to six less dippings to control cattle tick on Belmonts than for the Herefords and Simmentals. At the time of that study chemical costs were 30 cents per head and represented a saving of $1350 to $2030 for a herd of 1000 adult equivalents. This did not include the value of labour which could be directed towards income earning tasks. In present day terms these figures would be significantly higher.

Belmont’s are also relatively resistant to the most important blood parasite causing  tick fever, Babesia argentina, but       not to Babesia bigemina.

The superior heat tolerance of Belmonts as compared to British are largely due to higher sweating capacity and sleeker coats. Heat stress raises body temperature and respiration rates, and depresses food intake, so that production is severely affected. Under hot conditions the more heat tolerant Belmonts grow 25% faster than British cattle

In drought years mortality rates of adult cows rose from 2.4% to 5.6 % in the British, 0.4 to 2.0% in Belmonts and 0.6 to 1.5% in Brahman-cross at “Belmont”.  Also, Belmont and Brahman-cross  heifers lost less weight during the drought and gained weight faster than the British when conditions improved. During the same period weight changes in dry pregnant cows were; British -33 kg, Belmont’s -8.7kg, and Brahman-cross +5.8kg.

At “Belmont”  Pink Eye (bovine infectious keratoconjunctivitis) infections at 8m of age in the Belmont’s was 4.2%, Brahman-cross 5.7% and British 52.5%. Also the infection was much more severe in the British

The lifetime survival of Belmonts is the highest of all the breeds at “Belmont”. The high lifetime survival of Belmonts gives them an economic advantage over other breeds.

• Mortality rates at “Belmont”

At “Brigalow” calf losses from pregnancy to weaning were Belmonts 6%, Herefords 9% and Simmental 12%. In addition cost of calving supervision to avoid excessive cow and calf deaths and for animal welfare considerations, was nil for Belmonts but high for Herefords and very high for Simmental. Death rates in the breeding cows was; Belmont’s 0.30%, Herefords 0.62% and Simmental 1.03% i.e. less than half of Herefords and 1/3 that of Simmental. In the other classes of stock mortalities were; Belmont’s 0.25%, Herefords and Simmental 0.44%. At “Narrayen” cow mortalities of Belmonts (0.8%), was half that of Herefords (1.8%).

At “Belmont”  5% of Belmonts, 6% of Brahman-cross and 16% of British were affected by lantana poisoning. Of the affected animals, 10% of Belmont’s, 11% of Brahman-cross and 50% of  British died. The fact that the British were more stressed may have caused more of