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Grass for Growing and Finishing Cattle
by Lachlan Maclachlan, Beef Specialist
Virtually all the beef and sheep farms I visit are grassland based where concentrates are used as a top up to the ration. More often than not, farmers have a very good handle on their concentrate costs because it is either bought in, or they know the market price of their home grown cereals, which are being fed. Farmers see these as having control over the price and have a good idea how much they are paying out.
But, is this the only driver for profitability? No it is not. We seem to have conveniently forgotten that grass can be a very profitable way of growing and, sometimes, finishing cattle. How many farmers know its true cost? Forage costs seem to have been either not recorded, or viewed as a cheap product, and therefore not necessary to attribute as a cost. On many beef and sheep farms I visit, the quantity of the conserved forage is valued more highly than quality. I agree, running out of silage in early March would create some problems, but can we plan this better, so that the silage/grass is of a better quality and there is enough of it? Of course we can.
Somebody will now be saying something about the weather. Yes the weather is a pain, but dairy farmers manage to make good quality silage and make sure they don’t run out before turnout. They cannot afford to regularly make poor quality silage and expect to survive in a very competitive market.
I know you all think I am harping on about the dairy farmer too much now, but if the dairy farmer has to produce a litre of milk as cheaply and efficiently as he can, is this any different to a beef farmer producing a kilo of meat as cheaply and efficiently as possible? The answer is obviously NO!!
So where do we go from here? We must start improving our forage quality if we are going to continue to feed this product to store or finishing cattle. The true high cost of poor quality grazing or conserved forage must force the farmer to look more closely at the real value, dependent on its energy and protein content. There are some very good grassland farmers, but in the beef and sheep sector, not enough of them, and they are not all good in the dairy sector either.
The table below gives such a good indication of the importance of growing quality silage. This is achievable if good grassland management is being adopted. The staggering thing about these figures, is that this Irish trial was only over a 100 day period. If it was for the whole winter (180 days), the improvement in margin would be nearly double and could be the difference between making a profit, or not, as the case might be.
|
Silage quality |
Silage intake (kg/day) |
Silage cost (£/day) |
Concentrate intake (kg/day) |
Total daily feed cost (pence/day) |
||
|
|
Steers/heifers |
Steers |
Heifers |
Steers |
Heifers |
|
|
73 D-value (good) |
30 |
16 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
75 |
67 |
|
69 D-value (average) |
25 |
14 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
91 |
79 |
|
62 D-value (poor) |
15 |
12 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
106 |
93 |
Source: Dr Norman Weatherup CAFRE (Ireland)
Moving to 73 D-value silage from 62 D-value could save approx £25/head over a typical 100 day finishing period. On a 100 head unit this is £2,500 increase in margin
The high level of concentrates needed to compensate for the poor silage shows quite clearly that this farmer will have a higher purchased concentrate feed cost. Note firstly, that the cost per kg liveweight gain escalates dramatically, and secondly, it must be asked what was the point of feeding a lot of poor silage, when so much more concentrates have to be fed to finish the animal at the end. Some of my statements may seem unbelievable to some of you, but where my family farm on the west coast of Scotland, with 100(ish) inches of rain, there are some good reasons for struggling to make or grow consistently good forage.
This is surely not the case in large parts of England, Wales and in particular, the South West where the grass can grow nearly all year round. So if we are going to grow this grass, let’s make it as good as we can. Let’s make sure, where we don’t have a regular reseeding policy, that we adopt one as soon as possible.
Are we analysing silage regularly, maybe a couple of times a year, even if it is the same clamp or bale? Are we analysing again, if we know the silage has changed, or the animal’s performance has changed? The concentrate level does not normally alter, unless you can visibly see a change in the animal’s performance or maybe the dung gets too loose. More often than not, this is seen by the beef farmer as excess protein. It may be, but it could also be acidosis developing. It costs nothing to get silage analysed, but you must discuss this with your beef adviser. Make sure the diet is well balanced, and this will result in improved performance and, ultimately, your profitability.
The figures below from SAC (Scottish Agricultural College), show the three different levels of grazing quality and the difference that grass quality has on concentrate usage. It seems a ‘no brainer’ to me, that improving forage quality is going to reduce concentrate usage at grass and finish them quicker, thus reducing the chances of having to house the cattle and incur the attributed extra costs.
|
Grass quality |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Medium |
Medium |
Medium |
Luxury |
Luxury |
Luxury |
|
Conc intake (kg/day) |
0 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
0 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
0 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
|
Grass intake (kg/day) |
5.3 |
5.4 |
5.2 |
9.3 |
8.0 |
7.3 |
13.0 |
9.4 |
9.3 |
|
DLWG (kg) |
0.14 |
0.54 |
0.9 |
0.5 |
0.8 |
0.11 |
0.75 |
1.0 |
1.14 |
Source: SAC
Low quality grazing with no concentrates equals hardly any growth rate at all, not worth talking about anyway. Luxury grazing with no concentrates per day is worth an average of 60-70p per animal per day. With 100 cattle at grass, this equates to £60/day. But for how many days over the summer is this achievable - how long is a piece of string? Nevertheless achieving the right balance could be worth thousands of pounds.
So where do we go from here? We can now look at reseeding costs and see how they compare to improvement in forage quality and extra grass yield and what this is worth.
|
Spraying old sward including product |
£12 |
|
Ploughing |
£20 |
|
Seedbed preparation and sowing |
£30 |
|
Fertiliser |
£40 |
|
Seed |
£35 |
|
Weed control |
£10 |
|
Total costs |
£147 |
Grass Reseeding Costs
These are the average costs to reseed an acre of grass, it might well vary from farm to farm. The table below shows the benefits in grass yield from an old sward to a new sward.
|
Old sward |
kg DM/acre |
|
60% good grass |
2.91 |
|
20% weed grass |
0.65 |
|
10% weeds |
0.16 |
|
10% bare soil |
9 |
|
Yield per acre |
3.72 |
|
New sward |
kg DM/kg |
|
90% good grass |
4.37 |
|
4% weed grass |
0.13 |
|
2% bare soil |
0 |
|
Yield per acre |
456 |
|
Difference |
25% increase |
Yield Benefit
A 25% increase in grass yield and of course, a vast improvement in grass quality, which, if we go back to the first table, shows the financial benefits of feeding higher D value silage. There are opportunities to earn a margin out of beef cattle, but the attention to detail will be paramount if this margin is going to be enough to allow for reinvestment in the enterprise. Yes, we can try to blame the processor or the retailer for a poor end price but they are not to blame for any shortfall on the farm.
If silage and grass is to be the basis of the beef animals diet, whether as store or finishing cattle, it is of paramount importance to produce them with the highest quality forage possible. Let’s take this opportunity to improve our grass utilisation to help increase our margins and stay in beef production with a profitable future.
Find out more about the benefits of reseeding and grass seed available online from Mole Valley Farmers.
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