Greater purchasing activity and more interest in places for farm-to-farm deals (for cereals) has raised questions on formulating diets and getting the best value for money. Questions received in the last week are answered below.

Q I am purchasing a feed for supplementing store lambs on grass. They have quite a good supply of grass but I want to speed up finishing and am wondering what the best feed for fattening is? I have bought 25kg bags in the past but would like to go away from these now to try and reduce costs.

A. Energy is the most important requirement in fattening lambs. A standard cereal mix including any of the high energy ingredients barley, wheat, maize, sugarbeet pulp, citrus pulp, maize distillers, etc., will be ideal. An example ration could include 40% barley, 35% beet pulp and 25% maize meal. The protein content will not be an issue when lambs are grazing good quality grass and feeding levels are low.

Q I can get rolled barley for €215 per tonne. What is the maximum inclusion rate I can use for finishing lambs?

A. There is no maximum inclusion rate for barley. However, as you increase feeding levels, the risk of digestive upsets and acidosis rises fast. One way of safeguarding, or reducing the risk, if feeding at 40% to 60% inclusion rates is to feed a mixture of whole and rolled barley. Feeding management needs to be precise with feeding levels built up gradually and split to twice daily feeding once levels exceed 0.5kg. High barley-based diets are not normally advised for ad-lib feeding.

Q I can purchase a four way mix (barley, maize, soya hulls and soya bean, plus minerals and vitamins) in half tonne bags collected from my merchant for €260 per tonne. My merchant says it is 14% crude protein; can I feed it to weanlings and sheep?

A. You will have to ask your merchant if the minerals included in the ration are safe to feed to sheep as well as cattle. There are standard mixes that can be fed to both but, where it is not suitable, feeding cattle minerals to sheep can cause copper toxicity. It is useful to ask for the energy value of the mix. It looks like a good mix but a high percentage of soya hulls could pull back the energy content.

Q I can buy barley for €230 per tonne delivered. Is it good value relative to other feed ingredients or how do I know?

A. Barley is taken as the standard feed when comparing energy levels and has a value of 1 UFL. If an ingredient like wheat pollard, for example, has a value of 0.77 UFL, then it has only 77% of the value of barley. In this case, the value of wheat feed compared to barley is €230 x 0.77 = €177. Likewise, if maize meal has a UFL of 1.05 UFL, then it has a monetary value of 105% of rolled barley an energy basis. Value of maize meal; €230 x 1.05 = €241.50. It is important to note that this compares ingredients solely on energy and leaves aside considerations of protein, fibre or mineral content. Teagasc have a ‘ready reckoner’ for formulating rations for different requirements and least-cost price formulations. CAFRE advisers have a similar programme.

Q I am feeding about 1kg per day in two feeds of a mix of 50% barley, 30% oats and 20% maize meal to finish lambs at grass. Do I need to include minerals?

A. The recommended percentage of minerals and vitamins in sheep rations is about 2.5%. A lower level of 2% can be fed where feeding high levels or ad-lib meals.

Q I am thinking of putting my lambs indoors and finishing on ad-lib meals. What quantities of meals will lambs eat on average?

A. Finishing lambs intensively is a high-cost system. Once built up onto ad-lib meals, lowland lambs can eat approximately 1.3kg to 1.4kg meals. Light hill lambs will eat 0.9kg to 1.2kg per day while lambs weighing 35kg+ can eat similar levels to lowland lambs. Due to its high cost, lambs should be targeted for a short finishing period of 50 to 60 days.