Beef up work on your young stock, producers urged

May 12 2008 by Jennifer MacKenzie, The Journal

DESPITE the recent relaxation of BSE abattoir controls, beef producers are being encouraged to continue to finish their stock in the shortest possible time at the youngest possible age.

The English Beef and Lamb Executive (Eblex) says that although the easing of regulations removes some of the financial penalty of putting older cattle into the food chain, there are other factors to consider.

Eblex Beef Scientist Dr Liz Genever said: “With today’s very much higher concentrate prices the most efficient finishing feed use is more important than ever – and this invariably comes from faster finishing.”

She says that research clearly shows that popular breeds of cattle have the potential to grow at 1.5kg per day over their entire lifetime.

Equally well-recognised is the considerable feed conversion efficiency advantage that younger animals have over older stock, with 12-month-old steers and heifers requiring 5-6kg of dry matter for every kg of weight gain compared to the 12-16kg or so needed at 18-24 months of age.

As well as the greater metabolic efficiency of younger stock, this reflects the extent to which the amount of nutrients required just to maintain the body increases with liveweight.

Analysis of the latest annual BCMS records shows that large numbers of steers and heifers continue to be slaughtered at beyond two years of age, almost certainly as a result of feeding and management limitations.

Finishing at an average gain of 0.5kg/day it will take a 500kg steer around 14,000 MJ of energy (70 MJ/day) for a final finishing gain of 100kg in 200 days.

This contrasts with just 80 days and about 9,600 MJ of energy (120 MJ/day) at a daily gain of 1.25kg/day.

The higher rate of gain achieves a 30%+ saving in total energy – not to mention protein and other nutrients. At an average price of around 2.5p per MJ this will reduce finishing feed costs by a good £100 or more. And that is before considering the value of 120 days less on farm at the non-feed costs of over £1 per day recorded by intensive beef finishers in the latest Eblex enterprise costings.

Advice on maximising beef returns through breeding, feeding and management improvement is available through the Eblex Beef Better Returns Programme and the Beef Action for Profit resource – www.eblex.org.uk.