Aled aims to produce finished animals of between 400-430kgs (meeting supplier specifications) in a 20-month timespan, from birth to slaughter. He also buys in around 50-100 head of cattle each year for finishing, so that the number of animals finished on farm is around 150-225 annually.
“With large numbers of cattle being finished, I am always looking for ways to speed up finishing times and improve feed efficiency,” continues Aled. “After talking to my ForFarmers Account Manager, Dyfrig Hughes, I started feeding some of my second year youngstock on the Blendmix Prime Grade finishing ration and I am really pleased with the results so far.”
In March this year, Aled initially started feeding the Blendmix Prime Grade - which has a high starch and energy content – to a batch of 30 heifers he was finishing. However, the growth rates that these animals achieved were so good (up to 2kg of liveweight gain a day in the best performers), that he is now finishing a total of 80 heifers on the feed.“The initial batch of heifers that I gave the feed to put on really good weights,” concludes Aled. “Their liveweight gains ranged from 53kg to 72kg during the month between each weighing. The Levucell in the ration also seems to help keep the cattle’s rumens settled, which is good as we are encouraging them to take on large intakes through ad lib feeding.
“This is the first year that my wife and I have been running the farm on our own and we have been making changes to our system, including feed. So far the Prime Grade seems to be doing a good job and I hope it will continue to do so into the future.”