How the right nutritional strategy can shape your beef herd’s performance

Depending on their stage in the productive cycle, beef cattle require specific amounts of energy, protein, minerals and vitamins. In tropical regions, grass is the primary source of nutrients. However, tropical grasses rarely provide a balanced diet for grazing cattle due to nutritional constraints that affect their intake and digestibility.

It’s also common to see significant variation in animal performance at different times of the year. For example, the nutritional quality of grasses is generally lower during the dry season. This results in a lower nutrient input (and especially protein), which can limit the growth of the animal.

Effective supplementation pays dividends

One of your priorities as a beef farmer is to match your cattle’s nutritional requirements with the correct grass quality and availability. Supplementation is the most effective way to compensate for nutrient imbalances in tropical grasses and enhance the growth rate of your cattle. Together with increasing the stocking rate of your pasture, it’s an effective way to maximise productivity and make full use of the available forage resources. In this way, working with intensive or “semi-intensive” livestock systems – like beef production in grazing-supplement (growing phase) and grain-finishing (fattening phase) systems – helps to substantially reduce land requirements compared with traditional, extensive ones. What’s more, a more intensive approach can help to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for each kilogramme of meat produced.

Optimising the effects of diet quality, the environment and additives on growing and finishing cattle can directly influence performance and feed efficiency. Balanced nutrients (protein, energy, fibre, minerals and vitamins) should be used optimally to improve rumen function and gut health, resulting in higher carcass and meat production.

Improve quantity and quality with the MaxMeat Plan

Unlike other nutritional programmes, De Heus’ MaxMeat Plan matches the diet and the available grass to your animals’ specific requirements. By taking into account the full developmental needs of your cattle throughout the different seasons, we provide a route to improve the average daily gain and feed efficiency – and to optimise your herd’s performance.