W8 - Lecture 24 Grazing for Beef Flashcards

1
Q

what are production costs in the beef industry

A

are volatile
- Fertiliser prices, concentrate costs, competition for land rent

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2
Q

market price will have to adjust to the higher costs of productions just like beef farmers attitude to what

A

beef farmers attitude to grassland management

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3
Q

what does poor grassland management do

A

force up cost of production

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4
Q

Grass10 Report 2014-2020
Number of grassland farmers using PastureBase Ireland:
2017
2020

A

2017 - 2,696
2020 - 3,664

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5
Q

in current grassland management, lower demands by the animal results in ?

A

lower level of production

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6
Q

what are the objectives of beef industry - grassland management (7)

A
  1. Increase grass production and utilisation
  2. Extend the grazing season
    ➢ reduce the cost of wintering animals
  3. Improve the quality of beef pastures
  4. Grass measuring and budgeting
  5. Increase liveweight gain/ hectare
  6. Increase proportion of clover in swards
  7. Improve the quality of grass silage
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7
Q

challenges for the beef sector(6)

A
  • Adoption of grassland technology at farm level
  • Higher liveweight gain is required from grass
  • Animals slaughtered at younger ages
  • Bull systems – incorporation of grass
  • Dairy calf to beef
  • Breed for system
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8
Q

what are the grazing systems in beef (5)

A
  • Continuous stocking
  • Rotational grazing
  • Leader-follower system
  • Creep grazing
  • Mixed grazing
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9
Q

when is continuous stocking suitable

A

Suitable for extensive systems
– Does not readily allow for management of surpluses and deficits and leads to periods of excess and deficit
– Low labour, low capital, high tiller densities
– Performance can be very good

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10
Q

how is rotational grazing grazed

A

Grazed in a planned sequence

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11
Q

with rotational grazing, what happens after each grazing

A

sward rested and allowed to regrow (+/- N fertiliser)

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12
Q

what is the principle advantage of rotational grazing

A

it allows reliable feed budgeting of grass supply

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13
Q

what is mixed grazing

A

Grazing of two or more animal species
* Sheep and cattle the usual mix

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14
Q

what does mix grazing increase

A

pasture utilisation

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15
Q

what does mix grazing reduce

A

parasite burden

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16
Q

how do you set up grazing infrastructure for beef (5)

A
  • Map with exact areas
  • Number every paddock
  • Assign specific paddocks to stock – cow paddocks, fattening stock, growing heifers/steers, leader follower/ creep grazing paddocks
  • Limit the number of grazing groups as much as possible
  • Roadways and paddock access - crucial
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17
Q

what should the ratio of field sides be

A

Ratio of field sides no more than 4:1

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18
Q

what is the ideal paddock size

A

Ideal paddock size (3d) needs to be matched to peak demand ie. 50 suckler cows and calves

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19
Q

what is the minimum number of divisions per grazing group

A

6/7 divisions

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20
Q

what is the objective for autumn grazing for beef (2)

A
  1. Maximise the proportion of grass in the diet
  2. Finish the grazing season with desired farm cover
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21
Q

how are theses objectives for autumn grazing for beef achieved(2)

A
  • Building AFC from August and adhering the targets in September and beginning of October
  • Using an Autumn rotation planner
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22
Q

how should beef animals be housed in autumn

A

house heaviest animals first

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23
Q

when should the drier soil paddocks be grazed and why

A

Graze some of the drier soil paddocks earlier > available in spring

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24
Q

what is the end of November AFC

A

550-600 kg DM/ha

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25
Q

What does extending the grazing season in spring/autumn lead to

A

can lead to greater profitability in grass-based suckler beef systems by reducing slurry handling and feed costs

26
Q

what is on/off grazing

A

animals graze for a limited period of time before returning indoors

27
Q

what is the goal of on/off grazing

A

Adequate grass DMI + minimum pasture damage

28
Q

On/off grazing research in Grange
- Autumn calving herd

A

Autumn calving herd
* Treatments:
1. Grass silage ad libitum + 2kg conc.
2. GS + 6hours access to pasture
– Calves remain indoors on GS
- Twice-daily access to dams for
suckling
– 3rd March to 1st April

29
Q

On/off grazing research in Grange
Spring calving herd

A

Spring calving herd
* Treatments:
1. Grass silage ad libitum
2. GS + 6hours access to pasture
* Calves remain indoors
* Twice-daily access to dams for
suckling
* 26th March to 16th April

30
Q

what do results of on/off grazing in suckler systems suggest

A

Results suggested that allowing beef suckler cows restricted access time to grazed pasture daily is a strategy to permit early-spring grazing

31
Q

what are the advantages of early turnout (7)

A
  • Feed costs are reduced
  • Less winter feed is required
  • Lower machinery costs for feeding and slurry spreading
  • Spring grass has a high nutritive value
  • Performance at grass is higher than when housed
  • Increased total weight gain over the grazing season
  • Matching turn-out dates and pasture covers is critical on beef farms as majority of farms are not set up to easily move cattle in and out
32
Q

what is the AFC of early grass

A

600-700 kg DM/ha

33
Q

when should small number of stock be turned out?

what is the LW/ha in the first rotation

A

Turn out small numbers of lighter cattle as early as ground conditions and grass growth allow

1200-1500kg LW/ha in first rotation

34
Q

what should be included in spring grazing rotations

and how many grazings?

A

Include silage ground in spring grazing rotation

1-2 grazings depending on turnout date by April 6th

35
Q

By how much could beef cattle have the winter period reduce by as a result of early turnout to pasture

A

3-4 weeks

36
Q

was there more or less savings made for earlier turnout even though silage yields in May were reduced

A

While silage yields in May were reduced by early spring grazing, this loss was less than the savings made by having a shorter winter.

37
Q

what happened second cut silage yields when they were grazed in early spring

A

Second cut silage yields (early July) were higher on the areas which were grazed early in spring and this yield difference made up for the yield losses on the first harvest.

38
Q

what do you need to maximise in spring

A

grass intake

39
Q

what are the overall spring goals

A
  • 1st rotation swards are able to yield well in
    subsequent rotations
  • Manage grazing during wet weather
  • Increase animal performance
  • Spring rotation planner
40
Q

when is the spring rotation planner used

why was it developed

A

The spring rotation planner tool is used from when the cows are turned to grass until they finish the first rotation.

It was developed to simplify grass
measurement in the spring

41
Q

what is the spring rotation planner

what does it require

A

It is a simple computer or one page paper tool that requires three pieces of information;

  • the date of turnout
  • the date the first rotation will aim to finish
  • area of ground to be grazed.
42
Q

spring rotation planner
- dry farm

A

Dry Farms
* Turnout early to mid February
* 30% of farm grazed by 1st March
* 60% of farm grazed by 17th March
* 100% grazed by end of first week of April

43
Q

spring rotation planner
- heavy farm

A

Heavy Farms
* Turnout late February/ early march
* 30% of the farm grazed by 10th March
* 60% of the farm grazed by 27th March
* 100% grazed by mid April

44
Q

what is the aim for mid season

A

Aim to maximize performance from an all grass diet

45
Q

in Mid Season, what do you need to match grass supply with

A

Match grass supply and stock requirements (2% BW)

46
Q

what sort of grazing system should be used in mid season grazing

A

Adopt a rotational grazing system and the use of paddocks or a well managed set stocking system

47
Q

when should you graze tight ?

what will this minimise?

A

Graze tightly until June

This will minimise seed head production and promote a leafy
sward for the rest of the season.

48
Q

when mid season grazing what sort of approach is needed and why

A

Have a flexible approach – take out areas for silage in times of excess grass and if grass is scarce increase the grazing area

49
Q

why is there multiple demands for grass wedge

A

as there is several grazing in a suckler to beef enterprise

50
Q

what are farmlets required to manage

A

grass growth and feed demand

51
Q

what is the pre grazing targets

A

1300-1600 kg DM/ha (8-10cm)

52
Q

what is the day ahead concept

A

Days ahead is the number of days grazing ahead if
growth were to cease on the farm

53
Q

what is the equation for the days ahead concept

A

Total amount of grass available on farm (kg DM)
____________________________________
Herd demand on grazing area (kg DM/day)

54
Q

as the season progresses what happens the target number of days ahead

A

they decrease

55
Q

what did Black et al. (2010) recommended for a PGHM of
during late spring/early summer for beef cattle
in 2010!!!!!

A

1600 to 2000 kg DM/ha

56
Q

what has Majority of studies investigating the effect of PGHM on animal performance being used

A

used dairy cows

57
Q

what is the PGHM recommendation for dairy cows and now
for beef cattle

A

1400 to 1600 kg DM/ha

58
Q

what does a PGSH OF 4cm optimise

A

herbage production, nutritive supply
stocking rate, milk solids yield output per hectare but a lower individual
animal performance. 4cm is now recommended for beef cattle

59
Q

what does a lower PGHM restrict compared to the higher PGHM

A

A lower PGHM (1500 kg DM/ha) restricts herbage production and
steer live-weight gain on an individual and hectare basis compared
to the higher PGHM (2000 kg DM/ha).

60
Q

what does grazing to a PGSH of 6 cm increase

A

steer ADG at pasture and subsequent carcass weight and, therefore, can act as an effective management strategy to reduce reliance on concentrates to improve steer ADG

61
Q

what is the negative impact of grazing to a 6cm

A

grazing to 6 cm increases
the requirement for more grazing area, which negatively impacts silage yield or stocking rate