The best sources of energy are products high in starch such as maize, wheat, barley and oats, and products high in sugars such as molasses. However, high levels of starch and sugars in the diet need to be counterbalanced by ingredients high in digestible fibres such as sugar beet, soya hulls and citrus pulp, as well as forage high in structural fibre such as alfalfa, straw, hay, wholecrop, grass silage and maize silage.

Otherwise the animal is in danger of developing acidosis. This is where the acidity of the rumen drops below pH5.5.

When the acidity drops to this level for a considerable length of time, the rumen starts to shut down and feedstuff is no longer digested in an efficient manner.

Performance drops off and if the diet is not corrected in a timely manner animals will scour, go off their feed, develop laminitis and start to lose weight.

Reputable

Commercial rations from reputable feed manufacturers contain all the essential nutrients listed above except for one.

The missing one is structural fibre. This is essential for proper rumen function and feed digestion. No amount of buffers or yeasts in the ration will make up for the lack of structural fibre in the overall diet.

We at Capper Trading have been feeding beef cattle for over 40 years and have always recognised the importance of structural fibre in the diet.

We developed the Complete range of feedstuffs with this in mind. The incorporation of structural fibre in the form of alfalfa or straw in the ration ensures your animals’ rumen function is optimised, thus maximising digestion of all the other nutrients and enabling maximum animal performance.

Whether you’re trying to develop the rumen of the young calf or lamb or ensure proper rumen function in the intensively fed finishing beef animal or fattening lamb, we have the ration for your needs. Our sources of structural fibre are top-quality wheat straw and alfalfa.

We source only the best-quality straw in the British Isles. We import alfalfa from southern Europe.

Our cereals (maize and barley) are cooked on site to maximise their freshness and feed value.

Our recently renovated mill has the most modern process control system installed to ensure the maximum accuracy.

All our calf, store cattle and beef diets are extensively tested on our calf/beef farm in Co Westmeath, before being released for general sale. Here we annually rear and fatten over one thousand beef animals.

We are constantly monitoring animal performance and testing new concepts in the feeding and rearing of these cattle.

Pictured at Capper Trading’s research farm in Archerstown, Delvin, Co Westmeath, are Alison Cairns animal feed mill manager and Robert Capper, managing director. \ Anna Allen Photography, Mullingar

TIPS for best performance

  • Ensure ration is formulated correctly with optimal amounts and sources of protein, minerals, buffers, yeast, oil, digestible fibre, starch and sugar.
  • Slowly introduce the ration and build up to desired level of feeding over a two-week period.
  • Ensure quality forage is always available.
  • Ensure clean water is always available.
  • Feed ration “little and often”.
  • Complete Bean Meal

    In recent years we in Capper Trading have been very conscious of the carbon footprint of the raw materials we use in our feed.

    We are constantly looking for new and innovative raw materials grown locally, which we can use in the mill to ensure maximum animal performance. One such raw material is field beans. They are a source of both high-quality protein and starch.

    Our beans are sourced in Ireland and are cooked and flaked in our state-of-the-art facilities in Dungannon.

    They are then incorporated at the optimum level in our high-performance feeds such as our Complete Bean Meal, which is now our largest selling beef finishing ration.

    It can be fed safely at high levels while minimising the risk of the cattle developing acidosis. It contains Devenish Bullpower which gives optimum levels of minerals, yeasts and buffers.

    Feeding Complete Bean Meal allows the farmer to feed high levels of starch and sugars, while minimising the risk of acidosis. This ensures high performance in your fattening cattle.

    We at Capper Trading are continuously testing new products and ideas to improve the performance of our range of ruminant feeds. We have no sales force on the ground as we know that top-quality rations will sell themselves based on animal performance and a competitive price.

    To place your order for Complete Bean Meal for delivery or collection or for more information, please contact Alison Cairns at Capper Trading on 087 4945731/048 8772 3736 or email alison.cairns@cappertrading.com