New feedstuff helps finish cattle faster

Beef farmers could finish their cattle quicker and more efficiently thanks to a new feedstuff.

Available in blends or as a farm pack, ProFinisher boosts daily liveweight gain by up to 6% – so cattle are finished earlier on less feed. Cattle are said to achieve an overall 19kg increase in total liveweight.

ProFinisher is manufactured for Carr’s Billington by Techna. It contains a blend of 100% natural plant-based essential oils, which work to improve the energy efficiency of the digestive tract in ruminants while helping to keep animals healthy.

Financial benefits

Carr’s Billington feed specialist Jessica Bertram says: “This not only delivers a financial benefit for farmers due to less feed being required but also delivers environmental gains because the cattle are being finished on fewer inputs.”

ProFinisher works by increasing the amount of propionate – a volatile fatty acid – in the rumen. This improves energy utilisation and increases the crypt depth of the villi in the hind gut ensuring better absorption of nutrients.”

Sales manager Jamie-Leigh Douglas says another benefit of the feed is the inclusion of specific coatings on the natural oils for targeted release within the rumen and hindgut – ensuring it is effective where it needs to be.

Ms Bertram believes these two modes of action, alongside the coatings on the oils, are key to ProFinisher’s success, and the wider success of a beef enterprise.

She adds: “By ensuring cattle make better use of the energy and nutrients in their diet, they will gain weight more quickly – something which is key to the success of a profitable and efficient finishing enterprise.”

How artificial intelligence is boosting dairy herd health

Artificial intelligence is helping dairy farmers improve herd health by identifying sick animals and cows in heat.

The digitally powered DeLaval Plus performance portal uses data sensors to record and analyse individual cow behaviour. Herd managers then use the results to inform their decision-making.

The system is now available to farms choosing to operate with DeLaval’s VMS milking robots, DeLaval market solutions manager Ben Thompson told visitors to the Dairy-Tech at Stoneleigh on 5 February.

“With this additional management tool, animals can be responded to quickly, with the right action, driving the performance of the farm by increasing cow productivity and welfare.

“Producers with Behaviour Analysis in their farm management toolbox have total visibility and oversight of their cows, allowing data to be converted to decisions efficiently.”

The system uses biosensor ear tags which automatically communicate with housing sensors. The data is shared with DeLaval DeepBlue, an AI-based software which analyses the information using bovine behavioural analysis.

This provides state-of-the-art heat detection, rumination and eating behaviour calculations to enable better, faster and more accurate decision-making, says Mr Thompson.

“Dairy-Tech is the best forum in the UK to demonstrate the benefits of DeLaval’s new herd management solutions and we are looking forward to sharing exciting new developments for 2025.”