Grass supply has been good during the last two months with surplus silage being taken almost on a fortnightly basis to maintain quality in swards.
Grass supply has been good during the last two months with surplus silage being taken almost on a fortnightly basis to maintain quality in swards.
Cattle are being grazed in two groups of heifers and bullocks with animals spending two to three days per paddock on average. Weights are being monitored on a regular basis and the latest weights demonstrate that performance is on target for 2020. Weight performance is outlined in Table 1.
Performance has dropped a little in the last weighing session with bullocks weighing in at 495kg on the last date of weighing on 30 July with heifers weighing in at 458kg. Weight gains for the bullocks for the last six weeks are 0.68kg/day while the heifers have gained 0.61kg/day for the same period. While this is below the target of 1kg/head/day, stock have performed well since turnout with heifers gaining 0.86kg/day since turnout and bullocks gaining 1.03kg/day since turnout. Twenty of the heaviest heifers have been selected for meal feeding at grass for the next six weeks prior to slaughter
Further weighing will take place at the end of August to assess weight gains from 30 July to 30 August.
Read more
Watch: 400 pedigree Angus heifers exported to Europe
Beef management: housing autumn-born bulls for intensive finishing
2020 Grassland Farmer of the Year competition launched
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: