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1 Senepol Symposium, St. Croix, USVI November 8-10, 2002 Brief history of the Senepol cattle in Puerto Rico: a collaborative report Danilo Cianzio1 College of Agriculture, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus The Senepol cattle was first introduced to the archipelago of Puerto Rico in 1983. Two yearling bulls and four heifers were imported from Mint Springs Farms at Kentucky owned by Cecil Horne and D. L. Applegate. Why the Senepol? A visit paid by Dean Alejandro Ayala of the College of Agriculture at Mayagüez to the University of the Virgin Islands in 1982 resulted in a short memo to the author about the cattle he saw there with a closing remark that was more a request than a question: “Why don’t you investigate about that cattle to see its possibilities for the industry in Puerto Rico? I would like to bring it here“. The wheel started to move and the Senepol (the name came later to me) began to generate attention. Interesting aspects of the breed such as its tropical origin, taxonomic classification as a Bos taurus, docility, polledness, together with its medium mature size and maternal characteristics were reasons enough to initiate the paper work to import a few heads. The Senepol was seeing as another interesting alternative to the Brahman and Charbray breeds in Puerto Rico. Why from Kentucky? At the time, federal sanitary restrictions to import cattle from Saint Croix forced to look at mainland United States as a possible source. In the first production sale of the Mint Springs Farms at Versailles, Kentucky, on May 16, 1983, two bulls and four heifers were bought. The bulls (their pedigrees are shown in Table 1) arrived at Puerto Rico at the end of May 1983. Department Head, Prof. Francisco Suarez was an enthusiastic and key factor in all this matter. A year later, in August 1984, the College of Agriculture became the member 55 of the Virgin Islands Senepol Association of Saint Croix. Table 1. Pedigrees of the two Senepol bulls first imported to Puerto Rico Bull ID Sire Dam Sire’s Sire Sire’s Dam Dam’s Sire Dam’s Dam 20 KP 702 JM 20 K WC 479 CN 702 J CN 4209 CN 434 42 KN WC 853 42 K Not on file WC 1678 WC 479 CN 433 ___________________________ 1. Animal Industry Dept. Agricultural College, UPR. P.O. Box 9030, Mayagüez, PR. 00681-9030. Ph. (787) 265-3854 2 Second introduction. In May 1988, once the USDA sanitary restrictions were removed, 16 heifers, some of them pregnant, were imported from Granard Estates at Saint Croix. The Senepol herd was moved from the Lajas Experiment Substation in southwest Puerto Rico to Montaña Farm in the northwestern region. In December 1990, there were 56 heads of Senepol cattle in that Farm, 19 of them as breeding cows. The herd has been maintained at 30 breeding cows, approximately, since 1995. Achievements with the Senepol breed. At farm level. Senepol bulls were lent to private farms to generate first crosses with Charbray and Brahman cows to obtain some data on their performance. Simultaneously, interest in the Senepol as a new breed was being stimulated among cattlemen. As an example of these "on farm" trails, Tables 2 and 3 show preweaning and postweaning growth results of progenies of Senepol and Brahman bulls mated to Charbray cows grazing native pastures in the southeast of Puerto Rico. Table 2. Preweaning growth of calves grazing native pastures, sired by Senepol and Brahman bulls on Charbray cows (Yabucoa, 1986) Breed of Sire Characteristics Senepol Brahman Number of calves 10 10 Birth wt, lbs 63 62 Weight at 205 days, lbs 413 387 Weaning weight, lbs 493 455 Age at weaning, days 265 267 Preweaning daily gain, lbs/day 1.62 1.47 Table 3. Postweaning growth of bulls grazing native pastures, sired by Senepol and Brahman bulls on Charbray cows (Patillas, 1987) Breed of Sire Characteristics Senepol Brahman Difference Number of bulls 10 10 Yearling wt, lbs 593 560 33 Weight at 24 mo., lbs 910 883 27 Age at 1000 lbs, mo. 26.9 28.4 1.5 Daily gain1, lbs/day 0.92 0.94 0.02 1 Based on liveweight at 24 mo. 3 In spite of the small number of animals on test, the Senepol progeny performed better to during preweaning and similar to Brahman's during postweaning growth, reaching a 1000 lb liveweight 1.5 months earlier. Similarly, Senepol x Charbray females weighed 26 lb more at 205 days than Brahman's (413 vs. 387 lb). At 24 mo. of age, the difference was 30 lb in favor of the Senepol crossbred females (695 vs. 665 lb). All cattle, males and females were raised on native pasture with salt in blocks with some microelements as mineral supplement. The results suggested that Senepol could have a niche in the local beef industry. In another trail, carcass characteristics were recorded from male progenies of Senepol and Brahman sires on Charbray cows. Bulls were grown on native pasture without feed supplementation, only mineral one. Related data is shown in Table 4. Table 4. Carcass characteristics of bulls, progenies of Senepol and Brahman sires on Charbray cows, raised on native pastures (Sugar Mill field, Yabucoa, 1988) Breed of Sires Characteristics Senepol Brahman Number of bulls 12 12 Final weight, lbs 1157 1143 Hot carcass weight, lbs 678 670 Dressing percent 58.6 58.6 Left hindquarter wt, lbs 136 137 Hindquarter/half carcass wt., % 41.0 42.0 Total muscle in hindquarter, lbs 108 109 Total muscle/hindquarter wt., % 79.3 79.3 Total bone/hindquarter wt., % 16.5 16.4 Number of permanent incisors 4.5 5.1 No differences were observed in carcass characteristics of crossbred bulls Senepol x Charbray and Brahman x Charbray. Meat quality in terms of Warner-Braztler tenderness and organoleptic attributes by test panel, were also very similar between progenies (data not shown). Other related data may be found in the Proceedings of the International Senepol Research Symposium held at Saint Croix in October 1987. At Cattlemen level. Producers became interested in the Senepol and were advised to visit Saint Croix, origin of the breed. A few followed the suggestion and imported cattle directly. Presently, there are at least five cattlemen that raise purebred Senepol and many more use bulls for crossbreeding purposes with Zebu cows. The herd from the College of Agriculture contributed to the expansion of the Senepol selling the best bulls from each contemporary group to local farmers. Unfortunately, no performance records are kept by producers and registration of purebred is doubtful. In 1993, Senepol cattle, pure and 4 crossbred first appeared in the bovine inventory by the Department of Agriculture of Puerto Rico. Research. The Beef Cattle Group of the Animal Industry Department conducts research studies with pure and crossbred Senepol. One of them was related to the physiological responses of Brahman, Holstein and Senepol heifers to the hot and humid environment of the northwest region of Puerto Rico reported in this Symposium. The one cross that brought forward the Group’s attention was the F1 Senepol x Charbray. Since Charbray is the predominant beef cattle composite in Puerto Rico, a study was planned to evaluate the weaning performance of F1 cows compared to parental breeds Senepol and Charbray. The study included 5 calving seasons from 1997 to 2001 and corresponding weanings. Sires used were Senepol and Charbray on Senepol, Charbray cows and F1 crossbred cows Senepol x Charbray. Data is being analyzed, therefore results are presented in Tables 5 and 6 are preliminary. Fifteen to 17 cows of each genotype were mated to Senepol and Charbray bulls, for a total of 99 cows per year. Before each breeding season, empty cows after rectal palpation were replaced with heifers. Breeding seasons lasted 105 days, in average. Bulls were rotated each year and replaced every two years. Table 5. Weaning percentage of cows of three genotypes mated to Charbray and Senepol bulls (Averages of five weans) Breed of sires Cow Genotypes Charbray Senepol Averages Charbray (Ch) 73.75 84.00 78.87 Senepol (S) 82.05 88.06 85.01 S X Ch 88.46 96.47 87.46 Averages 81.42 86.18 83.78 Results have not been statistically analyzed yet. Averages show, however, that Senepol bulls performed better than Charbray. Among cows, the Senepol calf crop was superior to Charbray, although 2.4 % inferior to crossbred cows. Table 6. Calf weight at 205 days from cows of three genotypes mated to Charbray and Senepol bulls (Average of five weans) Breed of sires Cow Genotypes Charbray Senepol Averages (lbs) Charbray (Ch) 448 470 459 Senepol (S) 413 413 413 S X Ch 448 462 455 Averages (lbs) 436 448 442 5 Even without adjustment by calf sex and cow age, Senepol weaned unexpectedly lighter calves than the other two cow genotypes. Senepol bulls performed better than Charbray at 205 day calf weight. When reproduction and growth are considered together, the index of calf weight weaned per cow in the herd favored the Senepol bull and the F1 crossbred cow genotype, while the Senepol improved its performance due to better weaning rate compared to the Charbray cows (Table 7). Table 7. Weight of calf weaned/cow in herd at 205 days by cows of three genotypes mated to Charbray and Senepol bulls (Average of five weans) Breed of sires Cow Genotypes Charbray Senepol Averages (lbs) Charbray (Ch) 330 395 363 Senepol (S) 339 364 352 S X Ch 396 399 398 Averages (lbs) 355 386 371 Results are consistent in showing heterotic effects in productivity at weaning of the crossbred S x Ch cows. Additionally, the animals have good conformation, white to yellow hair-coat and gentle temperament. Also, they are generally polled or with short scurfs at the most and of medium size. In general, the Senepol bulls on Charbray cows performed better than the reciprocal mating. Senepol as a breed also overcame Charbray on productivity at weaning (364 vs 330 lb, Table 7) due to its superior weaning rate (88 vs 74%, Table 5). Beef teaching herd. Holstein is an important component of the bovine inventory in Puerto Rico. Ninety thousand cows are the base of the dairy industry, which also contributes to the local beef industry once they are culled from the milking parlor. Estimates indicate that 35% of the beef produced in Puerto Rico comes from Holstein cows. The alternative to use culled Holstein cows to produce a F1 with Senepol bulls for a terminal crossbreeding approach with a third breed of sire will be explored by the Beef Cattle Group. Presently, the crossbred cow Senepol x Holstein is obtained using local dairies as collaborators. Weaning weight of these F1 cows in backcross with Senepol bulls are the highest in the beef teaching herd. In the 2001 crop, cows weaned calves weighing in average 557 lb at 240 days, followed by the Charbray cows (541 lb) and the 50% Senepol x Charbray (529 lb). In summary, the research reported here confirms the Senepol cattle has a place in the beef industry of Puerto Rico. The breed arrived to Puerto Rico not for a short visit but instead, to stay forever. The initial presumption that the Senepol could be a good competitor and an alternative to the Zebu breeds like Brahman, has changed. The Senepol has a niche by itself and can coexist with Zebu breeds to enhance local beef production.