Growing beef or young dairy stock has fixed maintenance feed costs. The faster an animal grows, the less time the animal will need to spend on your farm to achieve the same end weight. So, maximising feed conversion efficiency is the goal to lower maintenance costs and increase gross farm income.
Any increase in the daily Liveweight Gain (LWG) in young cattle improves the efficiency of converting pasture grown into meat.
Here are tips for achieving optimal performance in young cattle:
Feeding the two 'Qs'
Quantity—how much feed is going down the throat each day?
Quality—does the feed have sufficient protein, energy and effective fibre to allow optimal rumen function and provide enough building blocks for LWG?
Controlling internal parasites
Worms rob you of dry matter intake and key available nutrients are diverted away from LWG to mount an immune response to the larval challenge. An effective drenching plan, including appropriate drench selection and other on farm parasite management strategies, reduces larval challenges.
Supplementing trace elements
Most trace element deficiencies become problematic a month or more after weaning. So, weaning is an optimal time to start a trace element supplementation programme.
Managing disease
Diseases like BVD and facial eczema can impact production, so have a plan to minimise disease risk.
Dealing with deficiencies
Many New Zealand farmers are naturally deficient in certain essential trace minerals impacting livestock performance and health.
Here are tips for dealing with common deficiencies in New Zealand:
Selenium
Selenium (Se) deficiency in grazing animals is common and widespread throughout New Zealand because our soils and pasture have naturally low levels.
To offset these levels, you can supplement Se with:
- Long-acting Se injections
- Daily doses of Se added to water supply, supplementary feed, or provided as loose-lick or mineralised block products
- Regular doses of short acting Se injections or oral Se salts via drenches
- Added to fertiliser and applied to pasture.
Copper
There are two recognised Copper (Cu) deficiency syndromes in New Zealand:
- Primary deficiency – a simple deficiency due to insufficient dietary Cu content
- Induced (secondary) deficiency – is caused by Molybdenum (Mo), Sulphur (S), and Iron (Fe) interfering with absorption.
To offset these deficiencies, you can supplement Cu with:
- Daily doses of Cu added to water supply, supplementary feed, or provided as loose-lick or mineralised block products
- Oral Cu bolus which are effective even with interfering elements present
- Injection with a Cu-only product or included with other trace elements.
Vitamin B12 & Cobalt
Vitamin B12 is formed by bacteria in the rumen which is dependent on sufficient dietary Cobalt (Co). Deficiencies are a direct result of low Co intake.
This can be offset with Vitamin B12 supplementation through:
- Daily doses of Co added to water supply, supplementary feed, or provided as loose-lick or mineralised block products
- Vitamin B12 injections.
Animals with trace element deficiencies have reduced performance. Monitoring the trace element status of your animals ensures supplementation is based on a demonstrated need and the effectiveness of your supplementation method. However, once an animal has adequate levels, additional supplementation above the required level has no production benefit and could lead to toxicity. Monitoring prevents toxicity from occurring which is particularly important for Se and Cu.
