Livestock Handler - Issue 1

LIVESTOCK MANAGEMENT FOR IMPROVED EFFICIENCY, PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY

PRECISION MANAGEMENT FOR BETTER WELFARE, EFFICIENCY AND GENETIC PROGRESS

Stockmanship still matters to profitability Good stockmanship remains crucial to any successful livestock business the key to achieving an efficient and productive flock or herd.

This occasional newsletter aims to highlight its importance from an animal and human welfare perspective as well as from a financial one. As a livestock farmer you will spend much of your time undertaking routine health and husbandry tasks. Having well-

designed handling facilities plays a major role in ensuring this is done as efficiently and effectively as possible.

In this issue we feature a farmer maximising his seasonal lamb sales through routine handling and weighing to get the most out of a tight marketing window.

We also tell you how you could win an integrated handling and weighing system worth over £8,500.

In this issue...

Extra pair of hands always available when Evans farming family needs them Hitting finished beef specifications demands new levels of accuracy When one lame sheep leaves invisible trail of infection for all others Just like Meccano™ or Lego™...Prattley systems can be expanded too Support for farming's next generation at National Young Stars, sponsored by Allflex UK Group £8,500 opportunity to start up, expand or branch out

Handling system offers 'extra pair of hands' whenever Evans family needs them malting barley and winter beans, together with a 600ewe flock of North Country Mules. These are bred to Suffolk tups to produce a 21kg finished lamb carcase.

Lambing takes place February and March. The aim is for all lambs to be away by the first week in August for two principal reasons: To catch seasonally better prices before the autumn flush of finished lambs, and to keep summer workloads in check when cropping priorities prevail.

Achieving this demands top of the league growth rates of 320g/day (5lb/week) from birth to sale in 120 days.

The impact of proper handling and weighing, from an animal welfare and farm profitability perspective, is well illustrated by one Northampton farming family. Peter & Janet Evans and Son on their 274 hectare (680 acre) Manor Farm at Dalscote in Northants. This is a four-generation family business, today manned in the main by David Evans and his father Peter. The farm business was established by Peter's father, while David's son Jack, age 17, has recently moved south to work for a farm contractor.

Cropping is bread-making winter wheat, oilseed rape,

For comparison, top third flocks in the AHDB Beef andSheep Stocktake 2015 report had growth rates of 240g/day and average weaning age of 113 days.

The flock is run as six separate mobs of 100 ewes. Weaning takes place at 10 to 12 weeks of age depending on the season.

This is remarkably early compared to industry averages, allowing the best grazing to be allocated to lambs, while ewes get maximum recovery time before tupping from September to October. For the lamb crop, a strict 'no stragglers' policy sees 100% sold as finished lamb by the August deadline. continued on next page

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In addition to the tight lambing season, this is achieved by using a 20% protein creep feed and weekly weighing during the run-up to sale.

For each mob, Peter and David used to construct a dedicated handling area using hurdles. However, they say it only took a short spell of rain to turn them into a bog, damaging the pasture on which they were sited and increasing the risk of lameness. In early 2015, this became a thing of the past, according to David Evans, when they invested in a Prattley mobile sheep handling system.

"Each time sheep need handling now, we can take the system to them rather

CASE STUDY

When one lame sheep leaves invisible trail of infection for all others Another aspect of Peter and David Evans's story with widespread implications for the sheep industry is the ability to gather sheep on clean ground every time. During wet periods like June 2016, this becomes even more of a challenge.

In 'Reducing lameness for better returns'* published by AHDB Beef & Lamb, it explains, "Avoid spreading infection during handling, gathering and when the sheep are out in the field. Bacteria spread easily in wet, soiled handling areas and in muddy fields.

"Portable handling systems offer the advantage of not gathering all sheep in the same place – which avoids the whole flock being exposed to one contaminated area." (*Sheep BRP Manual 7)

than moving sheep to a handling area," he says.

"Although it's impossible to measure, I'm convinced that using a clean area every time is worth a lot."

After assembling the system only a few times, David found he could set up single-handed in just 15 minutes. The weigh platform and digital scale make it easy to weigh lambs weekly and draw finished lambs to hit the exacting 21kg carcase weight target.

"This is really important for financial results," David adds. "For every lamb kept just a week too long, there is another seven days' feeding to pay

Of course, this is only one sub-section in the Avoid element of the five-point plan for controlling lameness is sheep (© Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board 2016).

But vet Dr Ruth Clements at FAI Farms, who led research on which the plan is based, reckons the risk and extent of cross-infection is badly under-estimated by farmers.

"If only we could see a trail of luminous pus on the ground where a lame sheep leaves infection, this would become much higher priority," she suggests.

"Unfortunately, there is no visible evidence, but the risk to the rest of the flock is no less real."

for, another seven days to wait for payment, and a risk of being penalised for sending out-ofspecification lamb."

Aside from lamb productivity, financial performance and good stockmanship, Peter Evans also mentions two security benefits. "By not having fixed handling pens set up through the summer, we're not making it easy for thieves to steal our sheep," he says. "And nor are we at risk of the hurdles being stolen to sell for scrap! The handling system, of course, can be locked in a secure shed."

Mobile systems help manage lameness Mobile handling systems including mesh floors will help prevent lameness. By setting up the system in a different place each time its possible to avoid poaching the same ground in wet conditions.

Invisible trail of infection Dr Clements urges all sheep farmers who haven't already done so to get hold of a copy of Sheep BRP Manual 7. "As an AHDB levy payer, you've contributed to the cost of producing it," she adds. "Taking advantage of the research-based advice it contains would be a good way of gaining payback from the levy."

Just like Meccano™ or Lego™...Prattley systems can be expanded too In the era before computer games, many of today's farmers will have enjoyed Meccano or Lego for birthday or Christmas. For the keen ones among us, the original set could be expanded with additional components and special kits.

The same applies to mobile handling systems for cattle and sheep. Most users today possess more elements than they started with. Additions include more gates, both standard and specialist (e.g. guillotine, drop-in, anti backing); weigh platforms and digital weight displays; drafting/shedding gates and restraint/treatment crushes; EID readers and integrated data recorders.

Many handling systems today comprise more elements than perhaps were originally purchased

as livestock producers come to understand the benefits of integrating weighing and recording equipment within a core handling system.

EID stick reader and integrated data recorders and electronic applications are becoming increasingly important as a way of streamlining livestock handling and processing tasks. Specialists from the Allflex UK Group - Distributors of Prattley and Alligator handling systems in the UK can advise on retrofitting additional components to your existing handling system.

Hitting finished beef specifications demands new levels of accuracy Regular weighing can reassure that things are going well, or sound early warning of problems

For many beef finishers, hitting the optimum priced carcase grades recently became more difficult.

According to market analyst Robert Forster, (Beef Industry News, issue no 111) penalties on overweight carcases are expected to tighten this summer: “Some processors contracted to supermarkets are prepared, at present, to tolerate up to 420kg with the remainder drawing the line at 400kg."

He says the explanation is that costconscious consumers are most interested in medium priced steaks and roasting joints and, for meat processors, their retail turnover has to be protected by taking beef from medium weight cattle.

To illustrate how this prediction is turning out, Mr Forster more recently calculated a mere £44/head difference between 380kg and 420kg R4L commercial steer carcases offered in the lower half of England or Wales: 380kg at 320p/kg worth £1,216, compared to 420kg at 300p/kg and £1,260.

"The current view is that top weights in Great Britain are likely to continue to come down," he reports. "Expectations are that while processors with supermarket contracts are currently prepared to buy carcases weighing up to 400kg without introducing penalties, most will have established a top weight of 380kg by the end of the year and carcases weighing 381kg or over will be discounted."

Mr Forster also reports that processor McIntosh Donald "is urging beef finishers to respond to retail demand for affordable cuts from medium sized carcases and give up on sending in overweight cattle that produce outsized, over-expensive, steaks and roasts."

He expects this Aberdeenshire-based processor to set a maximum carcase weight of 380kg later this year.

Clearly, these developments demand great precision from farmers when selecting finished cattle. In addition to accurate liveweights, of course, they need a good idea of the likely killing out percentage.

Complicating things further at certain times of year - April this year, for example - are reports of queues into some meat processors being several weeks. In order to predict how many cattle to book in each week, three or four weeks before they're ready, finishers also need a clear measure of daily liveweight gains.

Superior quality In an entirely separate development, the Scottish Rural University College (SRUC) have reported that cattle killed after 12-15 month of age "eat their own profits." Based on data from seven abattoirs over 12 years, they found that reducing slaughter age would improve beef profitability, regardless of breed. Savings on feed, bedding and labour costs made significant contributions to the figures.

The study found, for example, that peak carcase value for Holstein Friesians was at 730 days of age. However, the difference in value between this and 365 days was only £135/head...clearly insufficient to cover the extra costs of the older cattle. Similarly, Limousin-dairy crosses reached peak

carcase value at 800 days of age, only £80/head higher than their value at 365 days.

Researchers also found no real differences in conformation or fat class between cattle finished at 365 days or much older. SRUC is very clear in its conclusions: "If cattle do not reach slaughter weight between 12 and 15 months, the cost of feeding and housing them over the extra period means that all they do is eat their own profits."

Another upshot, according to Robert Forster, is that younger, better store cattle will be in demand. He reports breeders and rearers being advised to present stores for sale weighing just short of 500kg, so they can be immediately moved onto high energy finishing diets and sold for slaughter weighing in the region of 630kg at 60 percent killing out.

To reach this weight at the 400 days of age advised by SRUC will demand an average lifetime growth rate, assuming 50kg birth weight, of 1.5kg/day. Clearly, the SRUC advice means that any deviation from this path will come at a cost, and therefore puts the spotlight on accurate and frequent weighing.

While some farms have modern, safe and accurate ways to weigh cattle, many still do not, according to Paul Hunter, handling systems specialist at Allflex UK Group.

"Considering the price advantage from selling finished cattle on-spec and in good time, or the penalties from missing carcase weight targets or keeping them longer than necessary, the payback time on investing in an integrated handling and weighing system can be short," he says.

"In addition to gauging when finished cattle will be right for sale, regular weighing along the way can provide either reassurance that growth rates are going well, or an early warning of things going off the rails due to nutritional or health problems.

"Clearly, today's beef production environment demands exacting levels of accuracy and timing."

Long-term investments that won’t let you down Prattley mobile sheep and beef handling systems have become renowned across the world for their superior build quality and ability to stay the course under a wide variety of conditions and locations.

The investment made by thousands of livestock farmers across the UK over many years have helped make their stock-handling efficient and wellfare friendly. The Prattley range includes mobile cattle and sheep handling systems, weigh crates, foot treatment baths and much more.

Prattley systems are distributed in the UK exclusively by the Allflex UK Group. The Group also sells Alligator mobile sheep handling systems. For a no-obligation discussion about your livestock handling needs or for a brochure, please get in touch.

More information about the Prattley and Alligator ranges (including TruTest weighing equipment) can be obtained by calling 01450 364120 or email sales@allflex.co.uk. visit our website: www.allflex.co.uk

£8,500 opportunity to start up, expand or branch out Earlier this year the Allflex UK Group was pleased to sponsor the National Young Show Star event aimed at encouraging the farming industry next generation. The event was the launch platform for a summer-long competition to win an £8,000 mobile sheep handling system. It is aimed equally at ambitious young would-be farmers and their more established senior counterparts. For the winner, the prize offers an opportunity to climb the farming ladder, according to Mark Lawrence from Allflex UK Group.

“Whether it’s a young person looking to establish or expand a flock, or someone wanting to realise the benefits that accurate weighing can have on financial results, the system could be just what they need,” he says.

“It’s also possible the winner could be someone looking to establish a contract sheep handling business, affording them a valuable second income or rural business start-up opportunity."

Entry to the competition is via a short video uploaded to Facebook or Youtube using #iwantanalligator, or a 400 word submission to www.winanalligator.co.uk, where more information can also be found. For budding TV presenters, a 'People's Choice' award will also be made, judged by public vote via the organiser's and media partners' websites.

Open invitation to the Allflex UK 'Stockmanship Warehouse' at summer 2016 events To find out more about handling systems or the wide range of professional livestock care products from Allflex UK Group, please visit the Prattley and Alligator stands at many of the major farming events across the UK, including the Royal Welsh Show and the National Sheep Association event at Malvern.

Allflex UK Group Ltd 1 Greencroft Industrial Park, Stanley, County Durham, DH9 7YA Phone: 01450 364120 • Fax: 0800 140 4202 e: sales@allflex.co.uk • www.allflex.co.uk