Improve beef feed conversion efficiency for better margins from less feed

Making money out of beef is always going to be a short to long-term process depending upon the production system, but add the risk of adverse market changes in the price of beef and purchased feed costs, and it is no surprise that profit levels can often be quite unpredictable.

While some of these issues are outside the control of the farm, one factor, which can improve or reduce profit levels, and can be controlled at farm level, is total feed costs per kg liveweight gain.

As cattle grow, the efficiency of converting feed into gain naturally declines, with the energy cost (megajoules, MJ) of producing fat being much greater than producing the same amount of lean tissue.

In bulls finished at 550-600kg liveweight over 14-months, an overall feed conversion efficiency (FCE) of 6kg feed dry matter (DM) per kg achieved gain would be considered highly acceptable. Letting it slip to 8:1 means feeding an extra tonne of feed DM for no extra gain, and it’s the farmer who is going to have to foot that bill.

Making sure all cattle continue to grow well throughout their lifetime with no periods of store feeding is one way to keep FCE on track. The other is to make sure the rations you feed work with optimal effect at all times.

Beef cattle, like dairy cows, are rationed according to metabolisable energy (ME) and protein (MP). Rations of between 11.5 and 12.0 MJ ME/kgDM are suitable for most beef animals, but there are too many instances when the ration energy is not being used fully due to poor ration formulation.

To keep FCE under control, to maximise feed conversion into liveweight gain and to control feed costs per kg gain, its crucial that the rumen is correctly fed at all times.

As the first two of the four stomachs in the animal’s gut, the rumen needs strong muscular contractions to mix the ingested feed with the rumen microbes, prolonged periods of cud chewing to promote feed breakdown and salivation (to control rumen acid levels) and controlled rates of passage of feed from the rumen to optimise feed digestion and conversion into liveweight gain.

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