A range of issues surrounding winter management practices of dairy-beef cattle will be addressed in the new Winter Beef series, brought to you in conjunction with Agriland and Teagasc, which will begin this week.
The series, which will be published every week and will run until the end of the year, will cover best practice and recommended targets for weighing cattle, parasite treatment, housing, and nutrition.
It will also outline the latest research on meeting performance targets associated with a dairy calf-to-beef operation, in particular the Teagasc programme, DairyBeef 500.
Profitable farming
The rise in input costs seen on beef farms this year has brought many challenges with it and ensuring livestock are performing well has never been more important, from both an economical and environmental perspective.
A balancing act between animal performance and cost management will be required to ensure cattle are performing to an acceptable level, but also to ensure that the management system is economically sustainable and the advice offered in the series will reflect this.
The Winter Beef series will outline how farmers can avail of compensatory growth in their livestock, offering farmers the potential to save in the region of 100kg/head of concentrates over the winter housing period.
Target average daily liveweight gains will be outlined for weanlings, as well as store heifers and steers, and cost-effective ways of meeting these targets will also be discussed in detail throughout the series.
Feeding plans for cattle in each weight band will be outlined and analysed and opportunities where costs can be saver will be identified and discussed in detail also.
As the saying goes ‘you’re better looking at it than looking for it’ and this is particularly relevant to winter feed this year. Regardless of how much silage a farmer has in their yard, completing a fodder budget is a worthwhile task and how it’s done and why it should be done will all be explained in the new series.