Weanling rations

Landys

Hi

I am just wondering what people think is the best ration to feed weanlings with silage over the winter. A lot of talk in papers about buying rolled barley but you cant feed it on its own as far as i know. I am in Sligo area and know where i could get rolled barley delivered in ton or half ton bags but dont what to mix with it or where i would get it. I think i read somewhere beat pulp or soya??

Or perhaps there are some merchants that make a good mix supplied in 25kg bags that is reasonable in price in north west.

would appreciate any comments.

Thanks

Sam Kade

http://www.independent.ie/farming/is-straight-barley-adequate-1880494.html
All the information you need is in this link.

reilig

I was talking with my farm planner last night and he was telling me that Connacht Gold are selling a 3 way mix for €150 per ton delivered. It contains Barley, Soya and Citrus Pulp. It also has minerals mixed through it. He gave me the % mixtures through it, but I can't remember what he said (but have them written down at home). He advised me that this was the best feed at the best price available. I normally buy from pattons, so I am going to contact them and see if they can do a similar feed at a better price if I take 12 or 15 ton from them. I will be using it to feed weinlings. I will also have to feed some to cows this year as I am short on silage. If Pattons can't beat it, I will buy from Connacht Gold.

He advised me against buying cheap feed. And cited Flynn feeds as being one of the companies selling lorry loads of bagged feed into our area at just under €5 per 25kg. He says its the cheapest of the cheap that goes into this kind of stuff. He also advised me to go for a mixed feed with minerals added rather than buying a straight as he claims that the poor weather has left poor quality crops.

On a positive note, my planner is on a committee that monitors marts and factories. He said that they have noticed a huge amount of cows for sale in the last few weeks. There are a lot of people cutting down and some getting out of cows altogether. He recons that there will be a 20% reduction in weinlings in the country this time next year and that barring some catastrophy like BSE or F&M, prices will be very strong. He is encouraging his clients to try to keep their current stocking levels if they can endure it financially and they will be compensated with better prices in 2010.

Here's hoping that 2010 will be a year of economic recovery - led by the farmer!!!!!

Sam Kade

By law mills are to have what they have in the bag written on the tag but there is no law against having something written on the tag that is not in the bag.

reilig

Sam Kade wrote: »

By law mills are to have what they have in the bag written on the tag but there is no law against having something written on the tag that is not in the bag.

Not all mills try to cheat the farmer either.

Bitten & Hisses

I hopped this off my co-op manager recently and he said he could do a mix of 30% wheat, 30% barley, 20% citrus and 20% maize (percentages would vary slightly as there would be a small amount of molasses added for dust and there would be mionerals added too) for €190 to €200 blown into a bin in 3-tonne lots. Presumably, a larger quantity would be bought at a better price, but I thought it was reasonable as I have no facilities to handle straights.
He more or less told me that he will quote for any mix I want if I wanted to increase protein or go for something cheaper or whatever.

Landys

reilig wrote: »

I was talking with my farm planner last night and he was telling me that Connacht Gold are selling a 3 way mix for €150 per ton delivered. It contains Barley, Soya and Citrus Pulp. It also has minerals mixed through it. He gave me the % mixtures through it, but I can't remember what he said (but have them written down at home). He advised me that this was the best feed at the best price available. I normally buy from pattons, so I am going to contact them and see if they can do a similar feed at a better price if I take 12 or 15 ton from them. I will be using it to feed weinlings. I will also have to feed some to cows this year as I am short on silage. If Pattons can't beat it, I will buy from Connacht Gold.

He advised me against buying cheap feed. And cited Flynn feeds as being one of the companies selling lorry loads of bagged feed into our area at just under €5 per 25kg. He says its the cheapest of the cheap that goes into this kind of stuff. He also advised me to go for a mixed feed with minerals added rather than buying a straight as he claims that the poor weather has left poor quality crops.

On a positive note, my planner is on a committee that monitors marts and factories. He said that they have noticed a huge amount of cows for sale in the last few weeks. There are a lot of people cutting down and some getting out of cows altogether. He recons that there will be a 20% reduction in weinlings in the country this time next year and that barring some catastrophy like BSE or F&M, prices will be very strong. He is encouraging his clients to try to keep their current stocking levels if they can endure it financially and they will be compensated with better prices in 2010.

Here's hoping that 2010 will be a year of economic recovery - led by the farmer!!!!!

Thanks lads, that one in Connacht Gold sounds like good value and is just the mix they are reccomending in the Journal and other places. Obviously the biggest problem with keeping those mixes in an open house is vermin but that is always a problem I suppose.

Hope your planner is right about prices next year, makes sense if national herd reduces by 20% demand and consequently price should go up.

Rujib1

Bitten & Hisses wrote: »

I hopped this off my co-op manager recently and he said he could do a mix of 30% wheat, 30% barley, 20% citrus and 20% maize (percentages would vary slightly as there would be a small amount of molasses added for dust and there would be mionerals added too) for €190 to €200 blown into a bin in 3-tonne lots. Presumably, a larger quantity would be bought at a better price, but I thought it was reasonable as I have no facilities to handle straights.
He more or less told me that he will quote for any mix I want if I wanted to increase protein or go for something cheaper or whatever.

I'm using a ration from made by Crecora Mills Limerick. It's price equivalent of €218 per ton, bought in 25kg bags. It seems a good ration based on rolled barley, maize gluten, soya bean meal, beet pulp, flaked maize and citrus pulp plus minerals.
At €218 a ton, it's a bit expensive but at least there is no loss and spoliage when using fresh out of the bag.
Bull weanlings on 4kgs a day. Hope to sell after SFP has been paid out to potential buyers
Heifers on 2kgs a day. I am keeping heifers for breeding. Banking on good prices being paid for springers in 2011, after the cull of cows which is happening at the moment.

R1

reilig

Rujib1 wrote: »

I'm using a ration from made by Crecora Mills Limerick. It's price equivalent of €218 per ton, bought in 25kg bags. It seems a good ration based on rolled barley, maize gluten, soya bean meal, beet pulp, flaked maize and citrus pulp plus minerals.
At €218 a ton, it's a bit expensive but at least there is no loss and spoliage when using fresh out of the bag.
Bull weanlings on 4kgs a day. Hope to sell after SFP has been paid out to potential buyers
Heifers on 2kgs a day. I am keeping heifers for breeding. Banking on good prices being paid for springers in 2011, after the cull of cows which is happening at the moment.

R1

When you buy in bulk, you can buy at least €50 to €70 per ton cheaper than per 25kg bag.

That sounds like a good mix though.

Its the bigger fibres in meal that determine its price. I'm sure we've all bought ration that is very dusty - well most of the dust in ration is distillers which costs €50 to €60 per ton and millers use it to bulk up feed. It hasn't a great feeding value to be honest. Its much better to see barley, wheat, maize and soya as the bulk of the feed rather than the dusty distillers. Mollases is also used to bulk up ration by millers. It weighs well, but again has a poor feeding value relative to its weight.

To answer Laqndy's question, its not good to keep a mix in an open house. It will attract rats and mice from miles around for free food.

A couple of years ago (10 or more), Leitrim Partnership offered a grant to farmers to buy or build vermin proof ration storage facilities. We applied for the grant, there were very few conditions, only that it would have to be capable of holding more than 4 ton, keep the meal dry and keep all vermin out.

We had an old stone shed about 30ft x 10ft and decided to use it. There is a factory near us that makes cold stores and we got seconds panels from them, sealed the whole lot together to make a solid room, made a blow in pipe and an insulated door and from there we had a shed that can hold almost 25 ton of feed. Ok, we have to shovel it out of it, but that's not hard to do with a grain shovel and wheel barrow and tip along the cattle's heads.

The best thing about it was that we got a grant od £400 for it. It cost us about £100 in materials and the rest was a grant for labour.
Its one of the best things we ever did.

Its worth considering. Some people don't know that there are far cheaper alternatives to silos.

Bitten & Hisses

Rujib1 wrote: »

I'm using a ration from made by Crecora Mills Limerick. It's price equivalent of €218 per ton, bought in 25kg bags. It seems a good ration based on rolled barley, maize gluten, soya bean meal, beet pulp, flaked maize and citrus pulp plus minerals.

I'm using the same stuff at the moment for weanlings, as my usage is relatively small right now. I'll probably get the wheat/barley/citrus/maize mix blown into the bin for the winter.
Reilig, your meal store sounds like a great idea. Well done.

snowman707

Rujib1 wrote: »

I'm using a ration from made by Crecora Mills Limerick. It's price equivalent of €218 per ton, bought in 25kg bags. It seems a good ration based on rolled barley, maize gluten, soya bean meal, beet pulp, flaked maize and citrus pulp plus minerals.
At €218 a ton, it's a bit expensive but at least there is no loss and spoliage when using fresh out of the bag.
Bull weanlings on 4kgs a day. Hope to sell after SFP has been paid out to potential buyers
Heifers on 2kgs a day. I am keeping heifers for breeding. Banking on good prices being paid for springers in 2011, after the cull of cows which is happening at the moment.

R1

I think that mill is owned by John O'Connell, & if so, even though I have have never dealt with them or have have any connection I can vouch that they only use quality ingredients in their ration.

Rujib1

snowman707 wrote: »

I think that mill is owned by John O'Connell, & if so, even though I have have never dealt with them or have have any connection I can vouch that they only use quality ingredients in their ration.

Yes, that is the one. Before this ration I was using Bloom bagged weanling crunch from local Kerry Co Op. Price gone to €8 a bag / €320 a ton.

It seems like much the same ingredients, but it's a much wetter / sticky type of meal. I guess a higher proportion of molasses. Unreal expensive though.

R1

lifelover2006

just regarding weanling rations, has anyone ever actually given just rolled barley with silage to weanlings. I have good quality silage (pit) for my weanlings and was thinking of also giving them rolled barley (€150 tonne) as opposed to the weanling crunch which I gave last winter which costs me €300 tonne albeit bought in 25kg bags.

What are the views of this and/or the pros and cons of same.

snowman707

lifelover2006 wrote: »

just regarding weanling rations, has anyone ever actually given just rolled barley with silage to weanlings. I have good quality silage (pit) for my weanlings and was thinking of also giving them rolled barley (€150 tonne) as opposed to the weanling crunch which I gave last winter which costs me €300 tonne albeit bought in 25kg bags.

What are the views of this and/or the pros and cons of same.

Weanlings will always benefit from minerals & Protein. You should be able to source perhaps a 3 way mix ..barley/citrus/soya c/w minerals for around €180-€200 per ton.

IMO the mix would be more cost effective than straight barley.

with good quality silage you don't need to feed a large amount of meal especially if you intend to keep the cattle for grass ( feed a little more if you plan on selling)

whelan1

yesterday i got a ration with barley ,wheat , rape , citrus , soya and molasses its 17% and cost me 183 collected

nilhg

Iv'e just checked with my brother, we make up our own ration 60% rolled cereal (wheat in our case, as we grow it ourselves) 25% citrus pulp and 15% soya, this gives a good balance of starch and fibre with 14% protein and including decent quality protein which is important. Has worked well for us.