Beef - Slides 4 Flashcards
The main objective in suckler beef grassland management is to
Maximise animal performance throughout the grazing season
For optimal grass quality, grazing should be managed to keep residuals at:
3.5-4cm
A common practice to avoid poaching is to:
House animals when soil conditions are wet
Stocking rates for cows and calves in an intensive spring-calving system during April-June are
approximately
0.2 ha per cow and calf
The main reasons for conserving grass as silage include
Facilitating nutrients recycling and winter feed provision
The purpose of grazing tightly in spring is to
Promote leafy regrowth and prevent stemmy growth
A target digestibility for silage for spring-calving suckler cows is
65-67%
Creep grazing helps in
reducing calf stress levels at weaning
The target weight for male calves at 7 months is
320kg
Weaning should ideally occur when the calf is at least
7 months old
Creep feeding aims to
Increase weight gain in calves before weaning
The primary cause of grass tetany in cows is
Low blood magnesium levels
The suggested magnesium intake for lactating cows to prevent grass tetany is around:
20g/day
Which of the following is NOT a typical stressor at weaning?
Increase in grass intake
To prevent stress at weaning, it is advisable to:
Use gradual weaning techniques
The ideal residual height for grazing paddocks to maintain quality is
4-5cm
The first nitrogen fertilizer application in early spring is recommended at:
50kg/ha
What is one key purpose of creep grazing?
Allow calves access to better quality grass
Ideal daily weight gain for suckler calves is around
1.1-1.2 kg/day
The protein requirement in grass silage for growing weanlings should be around:
18%
Meal feeding calves prior to weaning should start
4 week before weaning
A target body condition score for cows at weaning is
3.0
To minimize stress, weaning should ideally be done in
Gradual stages
The aim of creep feeding is to
Improve calf weight gain
