Having the right diet to finishing beef this winter

Knowing the market and feeding an effective finishing diet are important aspects in maintaining beef margins this winter. Jeremy Hunt explores how a South Yorkshire family manages to finish profitable beef

This winter’s beef margin’s are under pressure from rising feed prices and lower market returns, but a South Yorkshire family is determined to maintain the quality of the cattle they produce – and their profitability – by adopting a strict approach to inputs and overall costings.

The Garthwaite family from Calder Grove, near Wakefield, are finishing about 180 cattle a year – including some bought-in as stores from local farms – and while they’re all sold through their thriving farm shop, the farm’s beef business has to “stand up and be counted” in terms of its bottom line profits.

There are no get outs just because we’re selling cattle to our own farm shop, says Mary Burgess, who farms 850 acres with her parents John and Anne Garthwaite and husband Matthew.

“The farm and the shop are two totally separate businesses. The beef cattle have to be profitable at the farm end,” she says.

FINISHING CATTLE EFFICIENTLY

And the grower ration that’s being fed to weaned suckler-bred calves from late November onwards is considered as important as the finisher diet they’ll move onto. The system is currently producing prime cattle weighing 350kg deadweight at 13-months-old and the mid-winter finishing mix is costing £1.54/kg – achieving a cost/kg gain of 85p.

“We keep a sharp focus on every aspect of the beef business. We don’t have a fancy set-up in terms of our buildings and machinery but we try and use all our resources – and our staff – in the best way we can.

“The aim is to produce quality finished cattle as efficiently as possible. We want cattle away at the right weight, carrying the right level of finish in the shortest time,” says Mrs Burgess.

The business is based on two farms: Broad Cut Farm, Calder Grove is owned by the family while Kirklees Park, Brighouse is farmed under contract. The Brighouse unit – which includes 200 acres of arable land – also carries the family’s 190-200 spring calving suckler cows while Broad Cut Farm houses growing and finishing cattle.

Although the family is now producing its own replacement heifers by using a Simmental bull on Limousin-cross cows, the bulk of the herd is a “mixed bag” of beef crosses put to a range of sires including British Blue, Charolais, Limousin and Aberdeen Angus.

“We’re meticulous about how we manage every stage of the beef system but the diets we feed have a massive part to play,” says Mrs Burgess who brought in Seth Wareing, senior nutrition specialist with Keenan UK, to formulate rations and oversee the costings of the beef system.

Suckler cows are turned out after calving in the spring. Calves have access to creep feeders from June onwards offering a mix including barley, beet pulp and distiller’s grains. All bull calves are cut and weaning takes place at housing in late November when calves are switched to an ad-lib “grower” diet of straw, silage, beans and barley.

“By late January or early February we draw out the bigger steers and move them on to the finisher diet. These steers stay inside until they’re finished but in March/April the smaller steers and heifers are turned out,” says Mrs Burgess.

But she stresses this is a system designed to keep cattle “moving forward” at every stage and the growing diet ensures bigger steers have the frame ready to be fast-tracked on to the finisher diet to produce cattle for slaughter by 13-months-old. The variation in breeds ensures there’s a year-round supply of cattle.

Says Mr Waring: “The target finishing weight is 350kg deadweight and a lot reach that and are even heavier. But the growing diet is just as important as the feed going into the finishing cattle. The growing ration is based on grass silage, straw, beans and barley but the finishing ration – which is being fed all-year-round – includes a range of alternative feeds as well as standard ruminant ingredients.”

This winter’s diet for the straw-yarded finishing cattle is based on maize silage – something that has now become the main forage component – as well as straw, soya, rolled barley, rolled wheat and including feeds such as Yorkshire puddings and mashed potato, plus minerals.

“The maize stays the same and we’ve changed to soya as the protein source. The alternative feeds are useful but it depends on what we’re using, so we adjust the mix to achieve the balanced ration we’re aiming for.

“The soya has replaced urea which wasn’t giving us the level of finish we wanted. John Garthwaite wants a diet that puts a good level of finish on these cattle to produce 4H or 5L carcasses. Although the shop’s customers don’t want a lot of fat on their meat they do want flavour and the Garthwaite family’s beef has a wide reputation for that.

“The soya is producing the finish that’s wanted, particularly on the British Blue crosses which weren’t doing as well on urea as the protein source. Cattle are getting 0.6kg of soya a head a day,” says Mr Waring.

The cattle troughs, which are filled-up every other day during the winter, are taking a 3t mix at each feed. The mixer wagon is fitted with the PACE management system to provide precise computerised monitoring of the feed ingredients being used.

“If we’re a fraction out on the weight of a particular ingredient the system will show that discrepancy. It’s definitely worked well for us in terms of helping staff mix the feed and recording the precise costs of what we’re feeding these cattle every day.

“We thought we had a good system before, in terms of knowing how much everything was costing, but this has really taken things up a gear.”

Since the system was introduced the finishing time has been reduced. This year’s 13-month finishing time is the best the farm has ever achieved. We’ve shortened the finishing period by about four to six weeks just because we’re feeding them even more efficiently.”

ACHIEVING SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE THROUGH NUTRITION

Consistency of the diet and how it’s fed is the key to achieving sustained performance and weight gain, says Mr Waring.

The Garthwaite family’s beef cattle were gaining 1.5kg a head a day at grass during the summer and early autumn but the yarded finishing cattle have been gaining 1.8kg a head a day on the finishing ration.

“There’s no compensatory growth. The calves go from their mothers with creep feed, on to the growing diet where they’re gaining 1-1.2kg a head a day and then move sharply into the finishing period to gain as much weight as quickly as possible.

“Daily intakes this winter are 13kg DM a head but while it has always been considered that cereals are the mainstay of many finishing diets, high cereal intakes impact on rumen function.”

Mr Waring says the maize silage has been providing starch and energy but it is also opening up the diet and acts as an excellent rumen buffer.

The farm is well situated to take advantage of human food by-products but remains conscious of the need to ensure there’s adequate stability of the products it uses and that supplies can be maintained.

The mid-winter finishing mix comprises: 15kg maize silage, 0.9kg soya, 4kg Yorkshire puddings, 4.5kg mashed potatoes, 2kg barley, 1kg straw, 150g minerals, 2kg rolled wheat.

“We’re aiming for 12 ME, just over 13% protein, 35% starch, and 33% NDF with the maize as the base and working everything around that. The amount of maize being fed per day can vary between 10 and 15kg depending on the quality of the other ingredients going in,” says Mr Waring.

MARKET PRICES

High store cattle prices and rising feed costs are tempting some producers to keep hold of finished cattle for too long. But extra kilos aren’t always profitable kilos, says Mr Waring.

“It’s essential to know the costs of what’s going into all cattle – and pushing for those extra kilos can be expensive. If it ever gets to the stage where it’s costing £1 in feed costs to gain 1kg of weight gain, the cattle should be sold. A bigger cheque doesn’t represent a bigger profit.”

He says the cost of the diet that has been formulated for cattle at Broad Cut Farm is providing the most efficient way of producing profitable beef animals on this system.

“But if a finisher has a lot of cereals going into cattle costing 16p/kg and animals are eating 10kg a day, it’s costing £1.60 a day in feed. Taking account of all other inputs and that animal is costing towards £2 a day to maintain. If that can’t be earned back in terms of liveweight gain those cattle need to be sold.

“As soon as cattle switch from laying down lean meat to laying down fat, the costs rocket. It’s five times more expensive in energy terms for an animal to lay down fat compared with lean flesh. It could be costing as much as £4 for a beef animal to put on 1kg of fat.”