ABP Demo Farm: Cutting meal bills while boosting cattle thrive

The ABP Demo Farm in Co. Carlow has been examining ways to reduce its requirement for imported protein in the meal fed to cattle and produce more of its own high-protein feed for the dairy-beef cattle on the farm.

Speaking to Agriland, ABP Food Group’s Advantage Beef Programme farm liaison officer Sean Maher explained how the demo farm has been managing to achieve this saving of €30/t on meal costs.

He said: “Last year’s red clover trial on the demo farm showed that with inclusion of red clover silage in the cattle’s diet, it was possible to drop the protein levels in our imported concentrate from 18% to 12% with no drop in performance.”

Maher explained that when the protein content of the meal was reduced and red clover silage was introduced, there was in fact an increase in the cattle’s daily liveweight gain due to better intake capacity.

This winter, the decision was made to feed red clover silage in the diets of all the 2022-born dairy-beef cattle on the farm. Red clover silage accounts for approximately one third of the Total Mixed Ration (TMR).

Maher said the first month of feeding red clover silage this winter has been a success, and said that the 2022-born cattle on the farm were weighed at the end of December and had an average weight of 291kg with an average daily gain of 1kg/day.

In summer 2022, there were approximately 200 round bales of red clover silage harvested throughout the growing season.

The red clover silage is mixed with conventional grass silage along with concentrates and a small amount of fodder beet to make up the TMR.

Maher said the drought experienced in summer 2022 had a negative impact on the crop, with yields below what was secured over the previous years.

An additional 9ac were sown with red clover silage in spring 2022, but this was severely affected by the drought and had a low yield as a result.

“This was disappointing but out of our control and we hope this will be different in summer 2023,” Maher said.

Red clover silage quality

Despite the reduced yield and difficult growing conditions, quality throughout the four cuts of red clover silage was good.

The growth habit of red clover changes throughout the year and as a result of this, the nutrient content of the four cuts will change too.

Silage analysis results of the red clover silage on the ABP Demo Farm:

The test results of the four cuts of red clover silage leaves an average crude protein of 18.3% with an average dry matter of 36.4%.

Maher believes the drop in protein content seen in the second cut can be attributed to more grass in the sward.

“Looking at the sugar percentage, while it would be considered low, there has been no problems with fermentation,” he said.

“Intake potential should not be overlooked when evaluating any type of silage. Intake potential and digestibility go hand in hand which in turn drives performance.”

Saving on meal costs

Since feeding the red clover silage to the cattle has commenced, the percentage of protein in the concentrates fed to the weanlings has dropped from 19% to 16%, as recommended by the farm’s nutritionist.

“This will save us €30/t of meal purchased along with improving the environmental sustainability of our beef system,” Maher added.

“The concentrate purchased will also contain no soya bean meal.”

Assuming the 415 cattle on the farm eat 150kg concentrates/head over the winter, that amounts to 62.25t of concentrate feed used over the winter. A saving of €30/t made on this concentrate costs would equate to an overall saving of €1,867.50.

“If enough red clover silage could be grown on the farm, there is potential for the protein level in our concentrate to be reduced to 12% with no reduction in performance.

“It is worth noting the red clover sward received no chemical fertiliser only slurry in both 2021 and 2022. In the age of high input prices, all opportunities to reduce costs should be examined,” Maher concluded.