Concentrate formulation: This week’s Focus feature looks at how and why concentrate costs have trended upwards in recent months, along with exploring the relative value of feed ingredients at current prices.

Farmers unfortunately remain in the position of not having full clarity about the feeding value of the concentrates they are considering purchasing.

This is because there is no legal requirement for feed merchants to state the nutritional value of feed ingredients and formulated feeds on an energy and protein basis, or the exact inclusion rate of ingredients.

The only requirement is for the list of ingredients to be printed in descending order based on inclusion rates.

Producers should still try and get as much information as possible to inform their decision. At the very least, it is worth looking at the list of feed ingredients. Cereals such as barley, maize and wheat should be at the top of the ingredients list and form the foundation of the feed. Ingredients such as beet pulp, soya hulls, cereal and gluten feeds such as maize gluten and oats are next up, with these feeds also providing a fibre source.

In terms of protein, soya bean meal remains the superior protein source due to its high energy value, but there is also a role for other protein feeds such as rapeseed to be used strategically. With further price increases possible, it is worth planning forward and looking at ways of reducing costs, such as purchasing in bulk over 25kg bags. Longer-term farmers who rely on merchant credit for a period may also face more challenges, as many merchants will not be in a position to offer the same terms given the higher exposure higher meal prices and in particular fertiliser prices will bring. Farmers in such a situation should plan their finances carefully, so they are in a position to fund critical inputs when needed.

Mid-pregnancy nutrition: Earlier lambing ewes in mid-pregnancy can be fed a maintenance diet. In terms of energy intake, the typical figure used is that a 70-75kg ewe will require 0.8UFL to meet maintenance demands. To break this down to feed availability, offering ewes access to a good supply of moderate-quality grass, such as grazing off paddocks or heavier covers of grass, will meet these demands, as would silage ranging from 67-70% DMD when ewes are housed.

Ewes will typically require a dry matter intake of 1-1.1kg DM daily. Therefore, if allocating grass supplies, it is important to ensure that this requirement is met, along with taking account of grass utilisation. This is relatively good at present, but can vary significantly depending on the height of the sward ewes are grazing and underfoot conditions. A ball park figure is 70% on heavier swards to 80% on dry lands and swards with a lower cover where ewes can easily graze these out. With concentrate costs soaring, it has never been more important to safeguard ewe condition for use in late pregnancy and early lactation. The table below is a useful Teagasc guide, which details the typical grazing days for a 100-ewe flock offered 1.7kg grass DM/day to allow for typical grass utilisation.