Improved grassland management achieves 100kg additional live weight gain Reseeding old grassland with a mixed ley of ryegrasses, chicory and clover can dramatically improve live weight gains and improve beef returns by more than £100 per head.  Those are the findings of Rob Powell, of Powell Bros, Blaenbwch Farm near Builth Wells in mid-Wales, who has seen live weight gains in his store cattle increase by 100kgs per animal as a result of a proactive grassland reseeding regime.

The upland farm at Blaenbwch in Powys consists of 370 acres of land that is used to rear sheep and beef cattle. Mr Powell typically over-winters his sheep on a crop of swedes which are grazed from January through to the end of April. This land is then either put to whole-crop cereals to reduce winter feed costs, or is reseeded for grazing and silage. New leys are established on a rotational basis using two separate grassland seed mixtures from Wynnstay to ensure that swards remain as nutritious and productive as possible.

The farm rises to over 1200 feet in elevation, and as such many fields are too hilly for silage making. The farm’s upper slopes are seeded using Imperial, which contains a mixture of five different late perennial ryegrasses plus a selection of white clovers and chicory. By choosing later maturing varieties, a healthy pasture is available for grazing well into the autumn, without the risk of the grasses going back into head.

On the more accessible land, Squire is sown to provide a mixture of red clover and hybrid ryegrasses. The resulting sward provides two cuts of silage per year and still allows lambs to be fattened quickly without the need for excessive winter feeding.

On average 15% of the land at Blaenbwch is reseeded each year, and this strategy is paying dividends. “I didn’t realise just how beneficial reseeding could be until I started finishing cattle on another farm that I recently acquired,” Mr Powell explains.

Last year, Mr Powell bought an additional 300 acres of old grassland and split a group of 90 store cattle across the two farms. The two groups were grazed at identical stocking densities from April to September and weighed before being brought inside to be finished.

“The difference in the performance of the two groups of cattle was enormous,” Mr Powell claims. “The cattle that had grazed on the managed pasture at Blaenbwch achieved an average live weight gain of 150-160 kilos. In comparison, the cattle on the older swards had only gained an average of 50-60kg.”

The two groups of cattle were then fed inside to their finished weight. “All the animals achieved the same confirmation class at slaughter,” Mr Powell adds, “but the group that had been grazed on the freshly seeded leys achieved a higher killing out percentage. Those carcasses were 40kg heavier and have netted an extra £110 per beast.”

“The swards at the new farm remained relatively clean throughout the grazing season, but were probably past their best,” Mr Powell explains. “Although there was never a shortage of grass, I could see that the quality of grazing was not as high as on the reseeded land.”

Ben Wixey , grass seed manager for Wynnstay believes that this proves that perennials are more easily digested in the rumen. “Both groups of cattle had access to the same intake of forage, but the perennial grasses were converted into meat more efficiently. Similar benefits can also be seen in dairy herds, where cows fed on fresh perennial pastures will produce more milk,” says Mr Wixey.

“All of the varieties in the seed mixtures used at Blaenbwch have been selected from the NIAB herbage varieties list to ensure that they are of a high quality. By sowing a balance of late perennial ryegrasses, chicory and red clover, the grassland provides large quantities of sugar and protein which make meat production more cost effective. After all, it makes sense that finishing lambs and cattle on grazed pastures is going to be cheaper than fattening housed animals,” Mr Wixey adds.

“It doesn’t take a lot more time or effort to manage the grassland effectively, but it can cost a fortune to get it wrong,” Mr Powell claims. “Increasing live weight gains from grass has helped to reduce our feed costs during the winter and we have been able to send a lot of animals to slaughter ahead of schedule. That has allowed us to increase the farm’s total throughput of animals.

“The next stage is to start improving the quality of the grassland on the new farm using a red clover mixture so that the production efficiencies at Blaenbwch can be replicated,” he concludes.

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