174
Beef Breeder MANUAL
Figure 7.14. Bale grazing is an efective and low cost winter feeding strategy for cattle, with the bales also providing protection from wind and weather. Source: International Agriculture for Development.
are essential requirements for bale-grazing systems; as is daily monitoring.
7.5.7. Developing a Winter Feed Budget
Early planning for winter is a key discipline for beef cattle enterprises in countries with cold winters. This includes
planning to have suicient quantity and quality of winter feed on hand for the winter feeding program.
To understand the quantity of feed required, a winter feed budget needs to be developed. In its simplest form,
a feed budget is used to identify; • The type of cattle to be fed
• Number of cattle to be fed • Liveweight at the start of feeding, and target weight
at the end of feeding • The number of days that feed will be required to be
fed • Rate of feeding e.g. as a percentage of body weight
• The feeds to be used. The resulting list of animals, weights, feeds, quality and
quantity form the basis of the feed budget Table 7.1. As a part of the preparation of the winter feed budget,
planning should also be implemented for a Plan B management option in the event that the preferred winter
management system is not able to be implemented for part or all of the planned management period.
A completed winter feed budget will then indicate the quantities of each type of feed that is required to
be prepared over the spring, summer and autumn
175
Cold Winter Climates Dry
Matter
in diet
Qty
Tons
in diet
Qty
Tons
in diet
Qty
Tons
in diet
Qty
Tons
in diet
Qty
Tons
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
130 1
st
Nov 31
st
Dec 60
0.84 200
250 2.75
90 43.4
- -
- -
- -
10 4.8
1
st
Jan 30
th
Apr 119
0.84 250
350 2.75
- -
- -
30 38.2
50 63.8
20 25.5
175.7 43.4
38.2 63.8
30.3
130 15
th
Oct
15
th
May
212 0.84
200 350
2.75 -
- -
- 30
62.5 50
104.2 20
41.7
208.4 62.5
104.2 41.7
in order to feed the cattle under the planned winter management system, and a contingency feed budget
Plan B that is required if the preferred strategy is unable to be implemented.
The feed budget will generally be prepared on a dry matter basis, thus these quantities will then need to be
converted to an ‘as fed’ basis that includes the correction for the moisture content of each of the components of
the ration. A contingency for waste and feed spoilage should be added as an additional bufer to the budget.
This quantity may be as much as 10 for grain, and up to 25 for hay, silage and haylage.
Table 7.1. Example of a winter feed budget for a beef cattle breeding enterprise on a dry matter basis.
Formulas: To Calculate Column …
D = C-B J = [A x D x H x I100 x G-F2]1000 = number of cattle x days fed x feed quantity
x rate of feed in diet x average liveweight L = [A x D x H x K100 x G-F2]1000
N = [A x D x H x M100 x G-F2]1000 P = [A x D x H x O100 x G-F2]1000
R = [A x D x H x Q100 x G-F2]1000
TO TALFEED - PL
AN B
Tons , D
ry Ma tt
er
TO TALFEED - PL
AN A
Tons , D
ry Ma tt
er
HEAD ST
AR T
D AT
E D
AY S
END D
AT E
GROW TH
KGD LIVE
WEIGHT K
G ST
AR T
LIVE WEIGHT
K G
END FEED
LW T
SW ATH
SW ATH
PASTURE PASTURE
H AY
H AY
SIL AGE
SIL AGE
GRAIN GRAIN
PL AN A
W eaner H
eif ers
PL AN B
W eaner H
eif ers
176
Beef Breeder MANUAL
8. Finishing Beef Cattle
A RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER OF LIVE CATTLE ARE EXPORTED to cold climate countries as feeder steers.
However, management of locally-bred feeder cattle is increasing in these countries as a result of a signiicant
focus on developing local beef industries. The importation of feeder steers increases the
recognition of the beef breeds being used and improves the quality of beef produced for both domestic and
export markets. Cattle inishing is generally a two-stage process known
as i Backgrounding, and ii Finishing. These two phases accommodate the progressive changes in growth that
