Feeding Cattle at grass

Once cattle are housed for fattening, the cost per kg of live weight gain increases by up to 50% compared to grass-based finishing.

Finishing cattle need to be kept gaining 1kg liveweight per day at a minimum. Cattle can grow in excess of 1.3kg per day in the first half of the grazing season on grass alone.

However, even the best quality autumn grass will only support a max of 0.8kg LWG.

WHY:

Autumn grass is lower in sugar and energy. Max UFL = 0.95 vs 1.05 in the spring. Autumn grass is lower in DM of 14-16%. Cattle cannot reach a high dry matter intake to satisfy its nutritional requirements.

Feeding levels required for 1kg LWG

Once you have to go above 6kg/day, it may be as well to go indoors on an ad lib concentrate diet.