Selection decisions when purchasing concentrates should be based on more than just price or protein content. Basing decisions on these two metrics can end up being very costly in terms of lost animal performance.
This was the cautionary advice delivered by Daniel Hession, Aurivo nutritionist, at the recent mart event held by Teagasc, Munster Bovine and the Irish Farmers Journal in Tuam Mart.
Hession presented two weanling rations, detailed in Table 1, costing €400/t and €380/t. Ration A is a high-quality feed, including high-energy cereals, a good high-energy protein source and capable of delivering 1kg liveweight gain from 5kg of feed, whereas ration B has poorer-quality ingredients and is only capable of delivering 1kg liveweight gain from 7kg fed.
These two rations are fed to weanlings at an average rate of 1.5kg/day across six weeks. There is a small cost difference of €1.30 per weanling fed, but when you look at the value of the extra liveweight gain achieved from feeding the higher feed-value concentrate, it is worth €18.50 per head in additional sale output.
When the €1.30 per head saving in feed cost is deducted, there is still a difference of €17.20 between the two rations. “Twenty euro per tonne to €30/t difference in the price of feed may look like a significant saving but sometimes it can actually be a cost.” If this is the case for a full winter, it can end up accumulating to significant lost performance on both an individual animal and batch basis.
Nutrient content
Hession advised farmers that when it comes to purchasing concentrates to ask for the information on the nutrient content. He said that the list of ingredients can provide a good signal as to the quality and advised to ask for more detailed information.
“We often talk about protein; protein doesn’t tell you everything and sometimes it doesn’t tell you a lot so don’t be afraid to ask for the energy level, maybe the percentage of cereal and so on that is in there,” he said.
Expanding further into how a high-protein content can often mask a lower-energy feed Hession explained: “High crude protein [in a feed] does not mean high-energy or low-energy. Animals eating a 16% crude protein concentrate could actually be getting more energy than animals eating an 18% crude protein feed”.
He also advised farmers to compare concentrates on a like-with-like basis commenting: “What I mean by that is sometimes products from different mills have similar marketing names of feeds but these can be distinctively different in terms of quality [of the ingredient] and that brings me back in terms of looking at the quality of the ingredients and inclusion rate.”
Limiting factor
Attendees at the event were told that energy is usually the first limiting factor in terms of performance so farmers need to ensure ingredients are high in energy.
“We want to see preferably only high-energy cereals, but that is usually not going to happen for a number of reasons,” Hession said.
“We want to look at a label and we want most of them to be high-energy – our cereals, our barley, our oats, our maize, beet pulp or citrus pulp which isn’t as common nowadays, soya bean meal or distillers, peas and beans which are proteins also but all of these are also high in energy.”
Daniel cautioned that maize gluten or soya hulls are medium in energy and while a low inclusion rate is fine you do not want to see it too high in the ingredients inclusion list or included at a high rate.
“Palm kernel and sunflower were highlighted as being low in energy while the protein content of such feeds is also poor quality.
“We don’t really want to see them included or, if we do, at a really low level. The longer the label, the lesser amount of each ingredient that can generally be included.”
Crunch versus pellets
Daniel highlighted that feed merchants often get asked about the merits of ration versus pelleted concentrates and which will give better performance.
He says: “It really doesn’t matter and either can hit the [animal performance] targets, it’s all about hitting the high-energy and quality protein. Some people prefer pellets over crunch because they don’t want issues with birds and so on – which is fine, that’s a personal preference – but if the feed is high-quality there should be no difference.”
Another question that he says is regularly raised is from farmers who are finishing 10 or 15 cattle and querying if this feed can be fed to weanlings. “In theory, you can. But it might not tick that 16% crude protein target that you are looking for to feed weanlings. Typically finishing products are around 12% to 14% and it’s probably not going to have soya bean meal so for really good-quality well-bred calves, you could be possibly leaving some potential performance behind you by going with that beef nut [or ration] but there are a lot of situations where convenience is needed, so obviously you are still getting some feed in there.”
Winter supplementation
For weanlings retained over the winter and into next year, the target outlined is a liveweight gain of 0.5kg to 0.6kg daily.
“The key starting point to achieving this is testing your forage as the level of concentrates fed will depend on forage quality. As mentioned already, quality energy ingredients are key starting with high-quality cereals and a good protein source.”
In this regard, Hession advises that a protein content of 14% to 16% is generally sufficient, adding that soya bean meal will deliver benefits for younger animals but for older animals’ rapeseed or beans or peas will suffice. The required protein content will also depend on the volume of concentrates being fed as outlined in Table 2.
Hession outlined extensive research carried out by Teagasc which shows that at 65 to 67DMD silage weanlings are at best only gaining 0.2kg liveweight so to compensate farmers need to feed 1.5kg to 2kg.
If you compare that with very good-quality 72 to 75 DMD silage, then supplementation rates are somewhere between zero and 1kg feed.
Hession concluded by giving farmers a few areas where cost savings can be made without compromising on performance. The first of these was replacing crunch or cooked feeds with high-energy rations or pelleted concentrates. “Maybe if you are feeding weanlings at the moment, you might be getting something that is fancy-looking, but to call a spade a spade, you are paying for that visual appearance so that toasted barley and that toasted flaked maize does cost more and you arguably don’t need it [once weanlings are eating well] and can change over to a good-quality ration.”
Where possible, purchasing in bulk as opposed to bags can deliver significant savings if at all possible.
And, finally, carrying out forage analysis is money well spent in being able to formulate a diet that satisfies animal nutrient requirements rather than purchasing feeds that may or may not be needed.