In a situation where a weanling is to return to grass following the housed winter period, an average daily gain of 0.5kg to 0.7kg is the target during the winter. The animal’s diet is formulated based on the quality of silage available.

As farmers feeding young cattle like this, we get hung up on high-spec weanling rations. But, in reality, the concentrate we offer this animal accounts for a small proportion of his intake. Silage can account for almost 80% of what our calf eats daily and the initial focus must be on recognising its quality.

The ploughing demo portrayed two scenarios: where the available silage was either 62% or 75% dry matter digestibility (DMD).

To hit the above performance targets with 75% DMD silage, the weanling calf would need to consume four bags of meal in a 150-day winter (0.7kg daily).

If the silage available was 62% DMD, the same calf would need to consume 15 bags of concentrate to achieve the same performance levels (2.5kg daily).

A bag of 16% weanling concentrate costs around €7.50, meaning that we make a saving of €82.50/head with the better quality fodder.

Bare in mind that these performance targets are among the lowest at any point in a beef production system. When feeding finishing cattle, the contrast in meal requirement would be much, much greater.

Initial 2016 silage test results have left many producers scratching their heads – feeding value of saved fodder is not as good as what was initially predicted. Know what’s in the clamp or bale stack; contact your adviser or local co-op and organise a test.

A complete and comprehensive guide to livestock feeding and nutrition was released by the Irish Farmers Journal at the National Ploughing Championships and is available to order online here.

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Full coverage: Ploughing 2016