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Know How / Beef / Feed and nutrition

Providing the best feed and nutrition for the beef herd is crucial if growth rate targets are to be hit. Keep up-to-date with latest developments in grazing management, silage-making and ration formulation for the best results.

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AHDB resource

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Case studies

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GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Dairy-beef outwintering setup saves on winter housing costs

Careful site selection allows Graham Parks to use outwintering as an entry for a reseed. It also saves him £35 a head on winter housing and feeding costs, maintaining his…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

How an upland farm is adapting to unpredictable seasons

Flexible grazing, stores of good-quality silage and better ewe body condition are among measures used to mitigate against increasingly unseasonal weather at a research farm in the Grampian foothills. Glensaugh…

BEEF

Video: Feed efficiency gain in Angus herd worth up to 41p/kg

Young bulls in the Rawburn Aberdeen Angus herd require 0.2kg less feed on average to grow 1kg of liveweight in their first winter than in 2020. The Elliots of Roxburgh…

FEED AND NUTRITION

How maize is helping beef producer hit target weights early

A focus on improving forage quality in beef rations has helped a Dorset farmer speed up throughput by up to six months. Beef and arable farmer Stuart Casely is using…

BEEF

How finishing bulls at 13 months raised suckler efficiency

A Welsh suckler beef farm is achieving average daily liveweight gains (DLWG) of 2.4kg in bulls it finishes at 13 months on a ration formulated with a high level of…

BEEF

How a farm is using marginal land to produce valuable forage

A beef farmer is using marginal land to increase the value of output from his grassland farm. This strategy is helping Andy Rumming produce high-quality beef and improve the wildlife…

Practical advice

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LIVESTOCK

Options for harvesting maize in wet conditions

A switch to grain maize could be the answer for farmers with maize crops still standing because harvest has been hampered by wet ground conditions.   This is according to…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Maize Watch: Harvest yields off to a promising start

As foragers start chopping maize crops across the South and East, reports are that yields are very good, ranging between 43 and 48t/ha. Excellent growth throughout the summer was due…

FEED AND NUTRITION

How to correctly supplement beef cattle with minerals

Breed, environment, production level and liveweight all influence which minerals – and how much – a beef animal needs to support health and performance. The list is extensive and likely…

LIVESTOCK

Three-cut silage: Go for leaves, not bulk

Three-cut silage systems can take first cut a week earlier next year and still get the same yield, plus better quality. Scheduling all three cuts in the clamp before the…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

How to stop losses when grazing youngstock on herbal leys

A fundamental misunderstanding of how to manage stock grazing herbal leys has caused heartache on some farms this summer, as more yearling cattle and weaned lambs have died from twisted…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Acorn poisoning: Symptoms, treatment and prevention

Last autumn saw an increase in cattle and sheep deaths with either confirmed or suspected acorn poisoning. This was because 2022 was considered a “mast year” for oak trees. A…

Insights

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LIVESTOCK

Why diverse forage mixtures could improve outwintering

Findings from a recent trial in Devon have concluded that outwintering cattle on a diverse mix of forages can help improve both animal and soil health, while also benefiting the…

FEED AND NUTRITION

How ‘chemichanical’ approach is aiding maize production

About 180,000ha of maize is grown in Denmark, with the majority of production concentrated in the South West. However, continuous rotations and a reduced chemical armoury mean weed control is…

LIVESTOCK

Calf bottles and tube feeders on test

It is unsurprising many farmers are switching from bottles to buckets with teats for feeding milk to older calves. Our test, carried out over a four-month period at my family…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Why urea-based products should be avoided to preserve grain

Urea-based products used to preserve rolled grain lose at least 40% of nitrogen content before they are consumed by the animal, new research has shown. Urea acts as a preservative,…

ENVIRONMENT

Scientists developing EBV for lower methane emission

Farmers could be selecting cattle bred to produce lower methane emissions in the near future, according to a leading scientist. Methane is an important greenhouse gas, with 28-times the potential…

MAIZE

Rain puts pressure on maize with tricky harvest

Prolonged rain has made maize harvesting difficult in recent days, with some suffering with flooding and high rainfall. Maize maturity has already been slowed by rain as green plants have…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

How to profit from forage-based dairy-beef system

Forage-based dairy-beef systems are profitable even in extreme weather conditions, a two-year study at Harper Adams University has concluded. The project investigated whether it was feasible to finish dairy-bred beef…

FEED AND NUTRITION

How feeding wholecrop to dairy-beef steers can cut costs

Diets made up mainly of wholecrop wheat can offer a suitable alternative to bought-in cereals for finishing cattle, a recent study has found. Research at Harper Adams University found that…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Trial shows high iodine cow diet can hinder colostrum uptake

A survey of iodine supplementation in beef herds has revealed that over supplementation pre-calving can negatively affect calves’ ability to absorb colostrum. A collaborative research project between Moredun Research Institute,…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Cattle bounce back after poor fodder beet growth rates

A project at Harper Adams is investigating if it is feasible to finish dairy-bred beef calves on forage alone.  The project, led by Adas and funded by AHDB Beef &…

FEED AND NUTRITION

What are the benefits of milk replacer for calf rearers?

More than half of all dairy and beef farmers in Great Britain now rear their youngstock on calf milk replacer (CMR) instead of whole milk, with potential disease risks a…

LIVESTOCK

High-protein diet worth £56 a head to heifer margin

A trial comparing two levels of protein (160g of crude protein/kg DM or 125g crude protein/kg DM) in maize silage-based finisher rations showed the higher protein diet to be worth…

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