On too many farms, weanlings do not achieve optimum performance over the winter months. In the worst cases, weanlings may actually end up losing weight.
The target weight gain over the winter months will be influenced by the next stage of production – for example, weanlings going back to grass, sold out of the shed or transferring onto an ad lib 16-month intensive finishing period.
In a high percentage of cases, weanlings are released to grass, with a short grazing period followed by sale also a more common occurrence in recent years.
Teagasc research has shown the optimum liveweight gain target to achieve the most favourable balance between growth during the winter months and compensatory growth at grass is 0.6kg liveweight per day.
While many factors such as indoor management (stocking rate, ventilation, etc) and health status can have a big influence on winter performance, it is generally the winter feeding programme that has the greatest influence on performance.
Silage quality
Teagasc, in conjunction with ICBF, carried out analysis of the performance of weanlings on 18 farms across the southeast, south and midwest over the winter of 2012/2013. Records were collected on each farm on the quality of feed offered and concentrate supplementation levels.
The records demonstrate the variability in silage quality on Irish farms, with DMD ranging from 57DMD to 78DMD (average 68DMD). The survey noted that 2012 was a difficult year to harvest good-quality forage. Nevertheless, silage samples analysed in Hillsborough every year show significant variation in quality. Crude protein ranged from 8% to 13.2%, with dry matter values shown in Table 1.
Feeding and performance
Concentrate supplementation varied from 1kg to 1.5kg on eight farms, from 1.6kg to 2kg on seven farms and over 2kg on two farms. Average daily gain on farms was 0.38kg (0.07kg on lowest to 0.64kg on highest), but with huge variation – there were 10 farms with weanlings gaining less than 0.4kg, with three from 0.41kg to 0.5kg and only four with performance at 0.51kg or better.
The underlying cause of poor performance was inadequate supplementation for the quality of silage offered. Table 2 shows the liveweight gain achievable under normal management and the level of supplementation required at varying forage quality.
When it comes to discussing forage quality, DMD is only one aspect. Dry matter, and more so protein (required for growth and development), also have a large influence on potential performance achieved.
The target protein content for weanlings is 13% to 15% crude protein per kg dry matter fed. Where the required protein content is not provided via silage or addressed with concentrate supplemention, performance will suffer.
Seven farms taking part in the study had an average daily gain of just 0.25kg, with the average protein in these diets recorded significantly below target at 10.6% crude protein/kg total dry matter intake.
Table 3 presents the optimum protein levels in concentrates depending on silage protein content and level of supplementation offered. As can be seen, the level of protein in the ration can be reduced as concentrate supplementation levels increase.
Assuming concentrates cost €250/tonne for a 16% protein ration, over a 120 day period, a 350kg weanling being offered meal at the outlined rates in Table 4 for 70 DMD silage and 60 DMD silage will see a difference of €60/head. Economics of meal feeding
If weanlings are normally sold out of the shed in spring, they need to be performing throughout the winter. This means they need to be gaining closer to 0.7kg/day indoors to cover production costs. So does it pay to feed these animals?
The answer is dependent on the quality of the animals and the mart price. Taking the ration at €250/t and silage at €25/t, a 350kg weanling eating 2kg/day of meal and 20kg of silage has a daily feed cost of €1/kg. This excludes fixed costs, veterinary costs or profit margin.
At this level of feed cost, it highlights the importance of silage quality and animal performance. At a mart price of €2.30/kg, the weanling needs to be gaining a minimum liveweight of 0.45kg/day.
So feeding 2kg/day of meal and average to good quality silage (68 to 70DMD or better) will pay as animal performance should realistically be in the range of 0.6kg/day to 0.75kg/day.
Plainer quality weanlings will struggle to cover their feed costs unless they are on good-quality silage to reduce the amount of meal required to maintain a high level of performance.
Lessons from the survey
Early silage analysis: the quality of silage offered will have the greatest influence on the level of supplementation required, with false estimates leading to poor performance or over supplementation although the latter occurred less often. Energy and protein are the main two limiting nutrients affecting weanling performance. It is important to tailor the diet to ensure it contains adequate energy and protein.Offering higher concentrate supplementation at the outset, or frontloading of meals, is advised to allow animals adjust better to a silage diet. Overall feed levels are similar, but a check in animal performance is minimised. This is of greatest benefit with young weanlings. Remember to target a good quality cattle mineral for weanlings. While feed quality and supplementation had a major influence on performance, other factors, such as management indoors and avoiding health issues, can severely negatively impact on animal performance. Targeting animals for early turnout should be a priority to maximise lifetime performance and reduce winter feed costs. Longer term, targeting a source of high-quality silage can greatly improve animal performance while reducing supplementation costs. On mixed suckler/weanling farms this may include harvesting a percentage of first cut early or prioritising surplus grass or after grass saved as baled silage for weanlings.
On too many farms, weanlings do not achieve optimum performance over the winter months. In the worst cases, weanlings may actually end up losing weight.
The target weight gain over the winter months will be influenced by the next stage of production – for example, weanlings going back to grass, sold out of the shed or transferring onto an ad lib 16-month intensive finishing period.
In a high percentage of cases, weanlings are released to grass, with a short grazing period followed by sale also a more common occurrence in recent years.
Teagasc research has shown the optimum liveweight gain target to achieve the most favourable balance between growth during the winter months and compensatory growth at grass is 0.6kg liveweight per day.
While many factors such as indoor management (stocking rate, ventilation, etc) and health status can have a big influence on winter performance, it is generally the winter feeding programme that has the greatest influence on performance.
Silage quality
Teagasc, in conjunction with ICBF, carried out analysis of the performance of weanlings on 18 farms across the southeast, south and midwest over the winter of 2012/2013. Records were collected on each farm on the quality of feed offered and concentrate supplementation levels.
The records demonstrate the variability in silage quality on Irish farms, with DMD ranging from 57DMD to 78DMD (average 68DMD). The survey noted that 2012 was a difficult year to harvest good-quality forage. Nevertheless, silage samples analysed in Hillsborough every year show significant variation in quality. Crude protein ranged from 8% to 13.2%, with dry matter values shown in Table 1.
Feeding and performance
Concentrate supplementation varied from 1kg to 1.5kg on eight farms, from 1.6kg to 2kg on seven farms and over 2kg on two farms. Average daily gain on farms was 0.38kg (0.07kg on lowest to 0.64kg on highest), but with huge variation – there were 10 farms with weanlings gaining less than 0.4kg, with three from 0.41kg to 0.5kg and only four with performance at 0.51kg or better.
The underlying cause of poor performance was inadequate supplementation for the quality of silage offered. Table 2 shows the liveweight gain achievable under normal management and the level of supplementation required at varying forage quality.
When it comes to discussing forage quality, DMD is only one aspect. Dry matter, and more so protein (required for growth and development), also have a large influence on potential performance achieved.
The target protein content for weanlings is 13% to 15% crude protein per kg dry matter fed. Where the required protein content is not provided via silage or addressed with concentrate supplemention, performance will suffer.
Seven farms taking part in the study had an average daily gain of just 0.25kg, with the average protein in these diets recorded significantly below target at 10.6% crude protein/kg total dry matter intake.
Table 3 presents the optimum protein levels in concentrates depending on silage protein content and level of supplementation offered. As can be seen, the level of protein in the ration can be reduced as concentrate supplementation levels increase.
Assuming concentrates cost €250/tonne for a 16% protein ration, over a 120 day period, a 350kg weanling being offered meal at the outlined rates in Table 4 for 70 DMD silage and 60 DMD silage will see a difference of €60/head. Economics of meal feeding
If weanlings are normally sold out of the shed in spring, they need to be performing throughout the winter. This means they need to be gaining closer to 0.7kg/day indoors to cover production costs. So does it pay to feed these animals?
The answer is dependent on the quality of the animals and the mart price. Taking the ration at €250/t and silage at €25/t, a 350kg weanling eating 2kg/day of meal and 20kg of silage has a daily feed cost of €1/kg. This excludes fixed costs, veterinary costs or profit margin.
At this level of feed cost, it highlights the importance of silage quality and animal performance. At a mart price of €2.30/kg, the weanling needs to be gaining a minimum liveweight of 0.45kg/day.
So feeding 2kg/day of meal and average to good quality silage (68 to 70DMD or better) will pay as animal performance should realistically be in the range of 0.6kg/day to 0.75kg/day.
Plainer quality weanlings will struggle to cover their feed costs unless they are on good-quality silage to reduce the amount of meal required to maintain a high level of performance.
Lessons from the survey
Early silage analysis: the quality of silage offered will have the greatest influence on the level of supplementation required, with false estimates leading to poor performance or over supplementation although the latter occurred less often. Energy and protein are the main two limiting nutrients affecting weanling performance. It is important to tailor the diet to ensure it contains adequate energy and protein.Offering higher concentrate supplementation at the outset, or frontloading of meals, is advised to allow animals adjust better to a silage diet. Overall feed levels are similar, but a check in animal performance is minimised. This is of greatest benefit with young weanlings. Remember to target a good quality cattle mineral for weanlings. While feed quality and supplementation had a major influence on performance, other factors, such as management indoors and avoiding health issues, can severely negatively impact on animal performance. Targeting animals for early turnout should be a priority to maximise lifetime performance and reduce winter feed costs. Longer term, targeting a source of high-quality silage can greatly improve animal performance while reducing supplementation costs. On mixed suckler/weanling farms this may include harvesting a percentage of first cut early or prioritising surplus grass or after grass saved as baled silage for weanlings. 
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