Teagasc National Beef Conference: Key insights

Irish beef farming has faced a number of challenges around controlling costs and maximising farm profit. In the Derrypatrick suckler herd at Teagasc Grange, the three largest variable costs are silage making, concentrate feed and chemical fertiliser.

Improving cattle live weight gain on grazed pasture and on high quality silage indoors is essential to reduce feed input costs.

Through the use of red clover silage and white clover based pastures, farmers could further reduce nitrogen (N) fertiliser and concentrate inputs.

Dr. Peter Doyle, research officer, Teagasc Grange, will outline the impact of including red and white clover on animal performance in suckler calf-to-beef production systems at this year’s Teagasc National Beef Conference, which is taking place at the Landmark Hotel, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim on Tuesday, November 19 at 5:00p.m.

Test your silage for better winter management

With housing taking place on farms across the country, it is the start of an expensive few months ahead. Silage quality should be tested, as this informs each farm of the correct amount of concentrates to feed to each animal group.

Dr. Doyle said: ‘‘Silage quality is key to good animal performance, reducing winter feed costs and increasing profitability during the housing period.

“Weanlings achieving the target live weight gain of 0.5 kg/head/day is largely dependent on the adequate intake of good quality silage.

“Hence, knowing your silage quality must be the starting point in planning your winter feed when making cost effective decisions on concentrate supplementation.’’

Visual assessment alone is not adequate when it comes to determining the quality of your silage. Contact your local Teagasc advisor to arrange analysis.

Monitoring performance: Weighing cattle during the winter housing period

Achieving daily live weight gain targets over the winter housing period during an animal’s life is one of the key metrics used to measure the success of animal nutrition, husbandry and health programmes.

“An animal that achieved a growth rate of 0.2kg/day over the first winter will not catch up with an animal that achieved the target of 0.5 kg/day.

“Thus, where weight gain targets are not achieved, additional costs may occur due to a longer finishing period, the production of lighter carcasses and/or an older age of slaughter; all three are potential negatives when the heightened level of farm input costs are taken into account,” Dr. Doyle said.

Weanlings will be housed in the coming weeks in the Derrypatrick suckler herd at Teagasc Grange, and it is an excellent opportunity to weigh cattle at housing and assess their performance to date this year.

It is advised to weigh cattle about 50-60 days post housing to access if weanlings are achieving the desired growth rate of 0.5kg/head/day.

This will help in making an informed decision to take action and rectify any underlying issues causing underperformance (or over-performance in some cases).

A further weighing 90-100 days post housing will ensure that performance is being maintained or has improved based on actions taken.

A final weighing before turnout provides a full review of winter performance, and provides a useful tool to compare to previous year’s cattle.

Managing herd health: A priority for winter success

A good herd health plan is important to maximise winter performance.

Approximately six weeks before housing the weanlings in Derrypatrick were treated for lung worm, and booster vaccinations for pneumonia were administered four weeks prior to weaning.

Animals are faecal sampled again at housing and treated accordingly based on results for stomach worms and fluke. All cattle are treated for lice.

In the most recent all-island animal disease surveillance report, pneumonia was diagnosed in 47.6% of suckler weanlings submitted for post-mortem.

Pneumonia (also known as bovine respiratory disease (BRD)) is the most significant infectious disease challenge in suckler weanlings. Bovine respiratory disease can be caused by a host of viruses and bacteria.

Regular monitoring of weanlings for clinical signs of pneumonia is vital to early treatment and reducing incidence rates.

Controlling BRD in suckler weanlings is challenging. Developing a herd health plan that addresses each area is vital to reducing the impact of BRD.

Reducing stress through good weaning procedures is key to maintaining a robust immune system. Vaccination can help to develop immunity to the most common pathogens that cause pneumonia but cannot be relied upon alone.

Dr. John Donlon, research officer atTeagasc Grange, will outline ways to control pneumonia in suckler weanlings at the Teagasc National Beef Conference.

Red and white clover: Impact on animal performance

In 2023, Derrypatrick suckler-bred weanling grazing grass-white clover swards were 13kg heavier by the end of the first grazing season than their grass-only counterparts.

During the first indoor winter, the ‘grass-clover weanlings’ offered the grass-red clover silage gained an additional 13kg live weight (+0.08 kg/day) indoors compared to their counterparts offered grass-only silage.

Consequently, by the start of the second grazing season (13.5-months-old), the grass-clover cattle were 27kg heavier.

During the second grazing season, there was no difference in daily live weight gain between the two pasture systems (grass-only vs. grass-clover).

This meant that the cattle on the grass-clover system were still 27kg heavier at the end of the grazing season, leading to an 18kg heavier carcass weight at the same age.

While carcass fat scores were similar, the grass-clover cattle had better carcass conformation scores than those on the grass-only system.

Research at Teagasc, Grange as part of Dr. Nicky Byrne’s work, shows that dairy-beef weanling steers fed second-cut grass-red clover silage (87% red clover) had a 0.12kg greater daily live weight gain (0.68 kg vs. 0.56kg) over the first winter compared to those fed grass-only silage (again both groups were supplemented with concentrates).

However, in this study the animals grazed the same pasture type in the second grazing season (grass-only) and, by the end of the grazing season, the weight difference (9 kg) between the two groups had disappeared.

Therefore, steers previously fed grass-only silage exhibited compensatory growth after achieving 0.56kg/day over the first winter.

Dr. Peter Doyle said:

“The findings suggest that grass-red clover silage could be used to reduce the amount of concentrates fed over the first winter, rather than increasing weanling performance beyond the recommended growth target of 0.5kg/day for suckler-bred cattle.

“Alternatively, grass-red clover silage could be targeted towards priority animal groups with limited opportunity for subsequent compensatory growth (e.g. finishing cattle).”

Some farms are finding it difficult to manage and maintain red clover in the swards, and this will also be discussed at the Teagasc National Beef Conference.

Additional presenters at the Teagasc National Beef Conference

The Teagasc National Beef Conference, taking place in the Landmark Hotel, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim on Tuesday, November 19 at 5:00p.m, will feature a variety of speakers addressing topics critical to the future of the sector, including:

Dr. Patrick Forrestal, senior research officer at Teagasc Johnstown Castle, will discuss nutrient management strategies that can reduce costs and address environmental pressures.
Eoin Ryan, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, will provide insights into the risks of bluetongue for Irish cattle farmers.
Martina Harrington, programme manager, Teagasc’s Future Beef Programme, will outline innovations in beef farming through the Future Beef Suckler Farms.
Shane Pearson, Design Your Life Coaching, will discuss strategies for improving farmer resilience during stressful periods.

Additionally, representatives from Teagasc’s Advisory staff, Organic Team, Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme, and the Signpost Programme will be available to answer any queries. The Teagasc Future Beef and DairyBeef500 teams will also be in attendance at the conference with updates from both programmes.

Focus on farmer health and wellbeing

In recognition of International Men’s Day, the conference will feature a special focus on farmer health and wellbeing.

Health professionals will be available with information stands to discuss mental health, stress management, and support services for farmers.

Event Details