The speaker at the March meeting of Fermanagh Grassland Club was Dr. Ryan Law, a Fermanagh man who has formed his own consultancy business on animal nutrition.
Speaking on ‘Key considerations for successful beef production’, Dr. Law has more than 20 years of experience in ruminant livestock.
He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Degree in Animal Science and then studied for a PhD in Ruminant Nutrition at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Dr. Law took up a post as Senior Scientific Officer with AFBI for five years until 2013, after which he became Agricultural Research Manager, Dunbia until 2020.
He was co-founder of Anupro as a Consultant and Supply Chain Specialist and also advises on Wagyu beef production.
Outlining his talk, Dr. Law said the beef industry had a fragmented supply chain, and the age of slaughter was too high, and there were significant losses within the supply chain.
He said there was a low efficiency in most of the beef systems, and there was not a utilising of genetic potential.
There was also poor data collection and limited supply chain integration.
With the decline of suckler cow numbers, dairy origin beef had become more important.
Starting off with calf rearing, Dr. Law said calf rearing was notorious for high levels of disease with a high percentage of calves suffering some level of disease from birth to 12 weeks of age.
Antibiotic use was unavoidable at that point, but antimicrobial resistance was a concern.
However, Dr. Law said reduced antibiotic use was based on good nutrition, environment, preventative health planning and data collection.
Age of slaughter would be a big factor, going forward. He also said immune competence should outweigh pathogen load.
Dr. Law said some milk powders used for calf rearing were too high in protein, and palm oil – if included – was not easily digested by young calves; coconut oil was better absorbed.
He said a milk powder blend of 22 per cent fat, 20 per cent protein with coconut oil was preferred.
Speaking on feeding calves in the first six weeks of life, Dr. Law said you need to kickstart the good bugs in the rumen, and reduce the fibre content.
On calf housing, he said calves were social animals and should be grouped at a young age to reduce stress. Good ventilation was required.
He then referred to Positive Pressure Ventilation for continuous flows of air. Dr. Law also advocated a robust vaccination plan. Respiratory disease could be easily controlled if diagnosed early.
There is a debate over when to feed silage to young calves. Dr. Law said silage could be fed to calves from three months old.
He said an ad lib finishing system for cattle – especially with rations specifically designed to maintain rumen stability, functuality and to optimise animal performance – was ideal.
During questioning, Dr. Law was asked for his views on clear roof sheeting, which has become popular in cattle housing.
He said cattle liked good definition between day and night, and this type of roof provided that.
Dr. Law is a founder of Anupro Nutrition, which specialises in animal production systems with a focus on nutrition, housing and health, taking a whole-systems approach to ensure delivery of high levels of performance and efficiency, animal welfare and low levels of disease and antibiotic usage.
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