Newford Farm update: Lifetime concentrate halved for finishing heifers

Stephen Frend, Farm Manager of the Newford herd, tells us what’s happened on the Newford Farm over the month of November and how 2022-born heifers have performed when finished.

This month saw the last of the 2022-born heifers finished, as well as a large cohort of bullocks and the cull cows with full details included below.

Weanlings continued to graze right up to the end of the month, with weanling bullocks housed on November 20^th and weanling heifers housed on November 23^rd. All weanlings had their tails clipped and were treated for lice at housing. They had received their IBR vaccine two weeks prior to housing.

Dung samples will be taken in a few weeks and a decision will then be made on whether they need to be dosed or not. The bullocks and heifer weanlings weighed 370kg and 340kg, respectively, on November 8^th. They achieved an average daily gain (ADG) of 0.86kg and 0.6kg since weaning. They will receive 75% DMD silage and 1.5kg of an 18% crude protein ration while housed. The in-calf heifers were the last group of stock housed on November 28^th.

Grassland management

The housing of finishing stock and cows in mid-October meant there was plenty of grass available for weanlings and in-calf heifers to continue grazing much later in the year. Unfortunately, poor weather conditions meant stock didn’t get full value from the grass available to them, with slightly poorer performance recorded than last year.

The total grass grown on the farm to date this year is over 11 tonne DM/ha. The total chemical nitrogen spread this year was 128kg N/ha at a stocking rate of 2.9 LU/ha, which is higher than usual and as a result of not renewing our lease on a 30ac rented block of land for this year. However, this represents a 19% reduction in chemical nitrogen use since 2021, while sustaining a 20% increase in stocking rate. This was made possible mainly through the introduction of clover into swards in recent years. It’s hoped to reduce chemical nitrogen inputs even further in the years ahead.

Finishing cattle

All of the 2022-born heifers have now been finished. An average carcass weight of 320kg was achieved, which is the highest since the project began. Full details of the stock finished are included in table 1 below.

This month saw another group of bullocks and the cull cows finished on Newford Farm. A group of 22 bullocks averaging 662kg were finished on November 27^th, with an average carcass weight of 350kg at R=2+.

Some of these bullocks would ordinarily have been given more time to finish, but they were drafted prematurely due to the circumstances the farm found itself in with regards to moving location.

The final three heifers were also finished at an average liveweight of 670kg, achieving a kill out of 59 %, equivalent to a carcass weight of 394kg. They graded well with one U= and, in a first ever for Newford, two E= grading heifers – pictured below.

This KZG sired heifer, who was a half-twin born on January 29th 2022 to an AAx cow, weighed 680kg to produce a 395kg carcass at E=2+ grading.

This heifer, also by KZG and out of an AAx cow, born February 22 2022, weighed 660kg and produced a 394kg carcass at E=2+ grading.

On average, the 2022-born heifers that have been slaughtered between the end of August and now have a total lifetime concentrate consumption of 280kg - a further 25kg/head reduction on last year. The bullocks slaughtered so far have a total lifetime concentrate consumption of 450kg. The remaining 22 bullocks, now averaging 675kg, have achieved an ADG of 1.55kg since housing on October 12^th, and are now receiving 8kg finishing ration daily along with 74% DMD silage.

Table 1: Heifer slaughter performance for recent years

Visitors and our new farm

November saw us welcome the last of our groups to Newford Farm, Athenry. We were delighted to host groups from ATU and Mountbellew Agricultural College, as well as a group of Transition Year students from the local secondary school in Athenry. We hope they enjoyed their visit and learned something on their trip.

The Newford Herd is now undergoing its transition to our new farm in Co. Roscommon, and we look forward to welcoming more farmers, groups, stakeholders and customers from near and far in 2024. For any enquiries, or to arrange a visit, please contact Stephen Frend at: Stephen.Frend@dawnmeats.com

Also read: Newford finds new home in Roscommon

Also read: Focusing on sustainability at Newford

Also read: Earlier finishing reduces GHG emissions in Newford beef herd

Also read: Optimising animal performance to achieve a younger age of slaughter at Newford