College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) beef and sheep adviser, Jack Friar has reminded beef producers in Northern Ireland of the importance of opting in to the Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) Scheme.
The BCR Scheme pays eligible beef farmers £75/eligible animal except for the period January to March 2024. Payments in this period will be £20/animal in January, £40/animal in February, and £60/animal in March.
The end of year one of the Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) Scheme is now approaching and from January 1, 2025, the maximum age at slaughter for the scheme year will be 28 months.
The CAFRE adviser said: “Now is the right time to check ages and fat covers of all finishing cattle currently in the herd” and urged farmers to contact their abattoir in advance “to ensure these animals can be slaughtered before they reach the maximum age”.
Advice on finishing cattle from the shed
He advised beef farmers who are aiming to finish store cattle out of the shed to “plan now to move these cattle onto a finishing diet” and outlined a number of key areas to consider.
He reminded farmers that high-quality silage is the basis of a good finishing diet and that silage should be tested to determine if any supplementary feeding is required, and if needed, the correct type and quantity to feed.
“Target a final finishing period of 70 days for traditional breeds such as Angus and Herefords. For continental bred animals they can be fed for longer periods (80 to 100 days) as they don’t lay down fat as fast.”
“Don’t be tempted to keep cattle any longer than the target finishing periods as feed efficiency will drop resulting in a poor financial return from keeping animals,” according to the CAFRE adviser.
When changing over from a grower/store ration to a high-energy, low protein ration, the transition should be gradual.
Finishing ration should be introduced gradually by mixing it in with the grower/store ration and after five days, this mixture can be increased to 50:50 and then moved onto 100% finishing concentrate another five days later.
While feed is an important aspect, the CAFRE advisor added that water is equally as important.
He said: “Fresh clean water is often the most forgotten element of animal nutrition. Intakes and weight gains will be compromised if cattle do not have a constant supply of fresh clean water. Check and clean out drinkers daily. For rough calculations, cattle will need 5-6L of water for every 1kg of meal fed.”
He reminded farmers to ensure pens are not overstocked so cattle have adequate space for both feeding and lying and said that “if a pen is overstocked, cattle performance will be impacted”.
Friar stated: “You can have the best-quality silage and meal available to these cattle but if their health is compromised, targets will be difficult to meet. Ensure a clear health plan conducted by your vet is in place to deal with issues such as worms, fluke, lice, and especially respiratory diseases.”
