A shift from high input to low-cost production on a beef and sheep farm presented a challenge – continuing to meet trace element requirements with little to no supplementary feed. We explore the cow supplements that helped them overcome such a challenge…
James Perkins, farm manager on the Sydenham Estate farm near Tavistock in Devon had a goal to increase sheep and cattle numbers without investing heavily in extra buildings, while also reducing their cost of production.
The soils on the Sydenham Estate are deficient in iodine. Cutting out the concentrates left the cattle and sheep at risk of iodine and other essential trace element deficiency.
First, the sheep
“The flock was previously high input but the goal was to make lambing as low cost as possible,” says James. “When we went down the low-cost route, we knew the sheep would need to get their trace elements from somewhere other than their feed”.
The answer was to supplement their grass and forage rape diet with an ANIMAX Tracesure Sheep bolus twice a year, at tupping and just before lambing. This, combined with changing their sheep breed from Mule to Romney, has brought multiple benefits.
“The lambs had been slow to get going but they are now up and sucking straight after hitting the ground. Romneys are good at that but only if they have everything that they need. On average, we now only get 2 out of every 100 ewes that need assistance at lambing”, says James.
“Lambing is probably the best time of the year because it is so easy, especially if the weather is good. We lamb from April 5th. We have got some sheds but the ewes are better when they lamb outside, especially now they have been bolused.”
“With the sheep there are two of us on the job, one loading the bolusing applicator and the other bolusing. We can get 120 done in an hour. I get quite excited about getting a job like that done in as short a time as possible!”
Lambs are sold fat to the Randall Parker Food Group at 18kg deadweight.
Second, the cattle
Similarly to the sheep, James is in the process of changing his cattle breed from South Devon cattle to Aberdeen Angus, with the view that they’ll do better on a grass-based diet.
During the winter, the herd gets a daily ration of 2kg of corn a day together with silage and wholecrop. Steers are finished at 340kg and heifers at 320kg before they are sold to St Merryn Foods.
The ANIMAX Tracesure cow supplements has also made it’s mark on the estate’s 100-strong suckler herd which is bolused in January ahead of calving in March and April.
“We get three weeks of calving out of the way before lambing starts,” says James. “This year, we only had 75% cows calved in the first three weeks and only one cow not calving in the first six weeks. Last year was the first year we tried the boluses on the cows and it was unbelievable how quickly they calved and how lively the calves were”, explains James.
“Bolusing is a straightforward job. We have a hydraulic crush for bolusing the cows and there are no issues whatsoever. We can bolus 100 cows in two hours and give them a fluke treatment at the same time.”
“I see the boluses as an insurance policy. When everything performs well I don’t see any reason to change. If I ring up a merchant to buy the bolus but they don’t stock Tracesure, they might try to sell me another brand, but I insist on ANIMAX Tracesure”, concludes James.
