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When feeding weanlings and stores over winter, herd owners should consider front-loading concentrate feed during the first half of the housing period.
When stores are offered good-quality silage and concentrate after grazing wet, autumn grass, there is often a short period of compensatory growth.
This increases cattle weight gains. Front-loading concentrates can help boost weight gains further, leading to heavier animals in high-priority groups such as maiden heifers destined for breeding next May.
Front-loading concentrates
Front-loading concentrates means cattle are still fed the same amount of purchased feed every winter. It is just managed differently.
For example, feeding a flat rate of 2kg/day over a 180-day winter amounts to 360kg of concentrate fed per animal.
But front-loading meals to 3kg/day over the first 90 days, then easing back to 1kg/day over the next 90 days is still 360kg of concentrate fed per animal.
In the case of maiden heifers, these animals are more likely to be on track to meet target breeding weights next spring compared to feeding meal at a flat rate.
The lower feeding rate during the second half of winter will ease the transition as animals go back out to grass. The same benefits apply for weanlings destined for sale in early spring.
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