In March 2019, Tom and his family were approached by ForFarmers Beef Specialist, Katherine Muirhead, to see whether they would be willing to take part in a trial to test the impact of Levucell live yeast on finishing beef cattle.
“We are always looking at ways to improve cattle performance and are willing to try new things, so I felt that trialling the live yeast would be a good idea,” continues Tom. “Recently, we had also invested in a new electronic weighing system on the farm, so I knew that we would be able to closely and accurately measure any improvements in cattle performance that the Levucell helped achieve.”
“I am conscious that the diet we feed our cattle is quite ‘potent’, with high levels of starch, and that this can cause rumen instability and digestive issues. I was keen to see the impact that Levucell would have on stabilising rumen performance and therefore improving feed efficiency and weight gains.”
The trial ran for 15 weeks and comprised of a control group of 108 cattle and a trial group of 118 that were housed before the start of the trial. Both groups were fed the unit’s normal finishing die, but the trial group was supplemented with 25g of Levucell 30 per head, per day.