Change of finishing strategy after summer drought

DairyBeef 500 Campaign participant Shane Cranny operates a calf to beef system, just outside Myshall, Co. Carlow, where approximately 100 autumn born bull calves are purchased annually and carried to beef as steers at 24 months.

In a typical year, steers are supplemented at grass for a period of approximately 60 days before being marketed. However, a dry July and August forced a rethink of this practice this year. During this period, growth rates struggled to meet demand - hovering between 20kg and 30kg DM/ha/day.

The initial step in correcting the deficit was to introduce silage into the diet of both the yearling and finishing cattle, with the aim of extending the rotation and protecting the average farm cover.

Concentrate supplementation was also introduced to finishing stock in early August at a feeding rate of 4kg/head/day. After four weeks of feeding, 25 steers had been drafted for slaughter, producing an average carcass weight of 304kg at 23 months.

However, the reduced demand for grass and lower than desired growth rates were insufficient to protect the average farm, so an alternative strategy had to be sought.

With a substantial portion of second-cut silage winter feed reserve after being used up, Shane had to enter the market and purchase 100 bales of silage. This was necessary to ensure a sufficient bank of feed was present in the yard to carry him over the winter months.

After this purchase, Shane had sufficient silage to house the finishing steers for an average period of 60-70 days, while retaining 450 bales of silage to carry the yearling stock over the winter months, when supplemented with ~1kg/head/day of concentrate. This action also reduced the daily demand for grass from 34kg DM/ha/day to 19kg DM/ha/day, while allowing the days of grass ahead of stock to increase to 38 – climbing from just 9 days ahead in early August. Last week, an average growth rate of 53kg DM/ha/day were recorded, bringing the farm’s average farm cover to 714kg DM/ha.

At housing, some of the steers were within 3-4 weeks of finish and regular drafting is being carried out to ensure that animals are moved frequently off farm and minimise the overall cost of finishing through prolonged concentrate supplementation.

Farmers in the DairyBeef 500 Programme are in the midst of sampling silage. And like some of the other farmers who have received results, silage quality on Shane’s farm is quite variable. First-cut silage on the farm returned a DMD value of 71 and a crude protein content of 13.7%. Second cut, on account of a lack of moisture in the weeks in advance of harvest, which caused the grass plant to produce ‘stressed’ seed heads, tested at 69 DMD and 12.9% crude protein.

In order to achieve the targeted winter daily gains of 0.6kg/head/day over the winter months, Shane will have to offer an average daily supplementation rate 1.2kg/head/day of concentrates over the winter housing period – an increase of 0.3kg/head/day on the same period in 2021 on account of the lower quality silage available in the winter feed reserve.

The timing at which these animals are housed will largely depend on how grass growth rates perform over the coming weeks and how quickly Shane moves through his autumn rotation planner. The target is to start closing paddocks as part of the autumn rotation plan in early to mid-October, to provide a sufficient period of rest to ensure the availability of grass next spring.

Teagasc Beef Specialists issue an article on a topic of interest to Suckler and Beef farmers every Wednesday here on Teagasc Daily.