W8 - Lecture 24 Grazing for Beef Flashcards
what are production costs in the beef industry
are volatile
- Fertiliser prices, concentrate costs, competition for land rent
market price will have to adjust to the higher costs of productions just like beef farmers attitude to what
beef farmers attitude to grassland management
what does poor grassland management do
force up cost of production
Grass10 Report 2014-2020
Number of grassland farmers using PastureBase Ireland:
2017
2020
2017 - 2,696
2020 - 3,664
in current grassland management, lower demands by the animal results in ?
lower level of production
what are the objectives of beef industry - grassland management (7)
- Increase grass production and utilisation
- Extend the grazing season
➢ reduce the cost of wintering animals - Improve the quality of beef pastures
- Grass measuring and budgeting
- Increase liveweight gain/ hectare
- Increase proportion of clover in swards
- Improve the quality of grass silage
challenges for the beef sector(6)
- 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
what are the grazing systems in beef (5)
- Continuous stocking
- Rotational grazing
- Leader-follower system
- Creep grazing
- Mixed grazing
when is continuous stocking suitable
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
how is rotational grazing grazed
Grazed in a planned sequence
with rotational grazing, what happens after each grazing
sward rested and allowed to regrow (+/- N fertiliser)
what is the principle advantage of rotational grazing
it allows reliable feed budgeting of grass supply
what is mixed grazing
Grazing of two or more animal species
* Sheep and cattle the usual mix
what does mix grazing increase
pasture utilisation
what does mix grazing reduce
parasite burden
how do you set up grazing infrastructure for beef (5)
- 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
what should the ratio of field sides be
Ratio of field sides no more than 4:1
what is the ideal paddock size
Ideal paddock size (3d) needs to be matched to peak demand ie. 50 suckler cows and calves
what is the minimum number of divisions per grazing group
6/7 divisions
what is the objective for autumn grazing for beef (2)
- Maximise the proportion of grass in the diet
- Finish the grazing season with desired farm cover
how are theses objectives for autumn grazing for beef achieved(2)
- Building AFC from August and adhering the targets in September and beginning of October
- Using an Autumn rotation planner
how should beef animals be housed in autumn
house heaviest animals first
when should the drier soil paddocks be grazed and why
Graze some of the drier soil paddocks earlier > available in spring
what is the end of November AFC
550-600 kg DM/ha