With animals housed across the country, many farmers are looking to purchase winter feed.

Meal companies are not required to publish the energy content of their rations but are required by law to list ingredients in descending order on inclusion rate.

Energy is the most important feed value when feeding finishing cattle, with protein and energy important when feeding autumn-calved cows sucking calves and weanlings.

The table below lists some commonly used ingredients in rations. Cereals will be highest in energy, while soya bean meal and rapeseed meal and maize distillers are all good sources of protein.

If purchasing a ration, look for an inclusion rate of the different ingredients to make sure you are getting good value.

Keep things as simple as you can with a good energy source, a good protein source and some fibre.

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