Preparing to finish cattle this winter
Questions include: ‘How much meal do you need to finish cattle this winter?’
This question has been prompted by the price of cereals dropping, coupled with a plentiful supply of silage.
Farmers are anxious to keep costs down, due to the current beef prices.
Good-quality, high-energy concentrates are excellent value and represent an opportunity this autumn/winter.
For many, it may be a much better option to feed high levels of concentrates to finish cattle quickly. It is worth remembering, at this stage of the year, that grass quality has decreased rapidly over the last few weeks.
While the grass is dry to touch, it is, in fact, low in dry matter, at present, and its energy content has also dropped significantly.
It is also low in physical fibre.
Given that this is the case, it is a good idea to feed some concentrates to finishers prior to housing.
Many are considering housing finishers sooner rather than later, to prevent them from going backwards. Once is enough to put weight on cattle.
Performance Requirements
The first thing to do with finishing cattle is to set out your goals for them.
Firstly, you need to establish current live-weight.
What market are you targeting for your stock? What carcass weight is required?
Are there age restrictions?
What confirmation is required?
Breed and sex will determine potential weight-gain.
What housing type will they be accommodated in?
When do you want, or need, to slaughter them? Are there weight restrictions?
Aim for a fast finish, rather than a long, drawn-out one.
Cattle go stale if they are on feeding for too long. Above all, make sure that you set realistic performance goals for your cattle.
How is your forage quality?
You really need to test your silage. As I have often mentioned, your silage quality will determine your feeding and management strategy for all stock this winter.
Some beef producers have discovered that the silage they have is not as good as they expected, but is still well ahead of 2012 and 2013 quality.
Your animal’s ability to consume silage in large volumes will be the first factor to consider.
All silage analysis now has an intake figure, which will indicate the amount of dry matter that can be eaten by particular types of stock.
Maize silage looks like producing a bumper crop this year and its feed value will be excellent.
What other types of feed are available to you?
Maize silage will be harvested over the next week. If you are growing it yourself, make sure it is fit to cut, before you let the harvester into the field. If you are buying it, make sure you are getting value for your money — i.e. it must be ripe, so that its feed value is at its optimum.
Beet yields around the country also look huge.
If you are buying, or have grown your own beet, then work out your tonnage available, and again spread it out over the entire feeding season.
Of course, there is nothing worse than running out of beet in finishing diets. Cattle will get very upset and intakes often collapse, resulting in delayed slaughter.
Alternative feeds, such as brewer and distiller grains, seem to be available, at present, and are excellent feeds to promote intakes and they also provide a very good source of protein for finishing stock.
Feeds such as bread and biscuits have been available, in the past, to beef finishers in this country.
They are high in energy and great for putting cover on cattle. Take care to prevent digestive upsets by over-feeding these products.
Liquid feeds are commonly used on many farms and undoubtedly will enhance palatability and forage intake.
The liquid feeds provide high energy, mostly from sugar sources and some also provide high levels of protein. These can help animals to more efficiently digest high cereal diets, due to their high sugar content.
