Cattle rations usually have a base of cereals such as barley and mazize. Some farmers have a preference for one cereal over the other, claiming cattle do a better thrive on one more so than the other.
April 10, 2021, 3:00 pm
With plenty of cattle planned to be finished off grass over the coming months, a recent study conducted by Teagasc has examined the meat eating quality of bull beef that is finished off grass.
In research carried out by Aidan Moloney, Mark McGee and Edward O’ Riordan of Teagasc, it revealed how carcass fat score is not related to the eating quality of bull beef.
In terms of the market specifications, some beef markets require bull carcasses to have a minimum carcass fat score of 2+ ( or 6.0 on a 15-point scale).
In a lot of cases bulls that are destined for these markets are usually finished intensively indoors on high-concentrate rations.
In this month s edition:
BEEP-S
Earn €80-€90 per cow/calf pair. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) announced a new Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEP) scheme for suckler farmers (BEEP-S) last month.
Applications
Applications are open until 23:59 on April 26, 2021 and can be submitted online through your DAFM Agfood account or by your advisor.
Basic Payment Scheme - Deadline May 17, 2021
Applications for the 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and the Greening Scheme have now opened online. The closing date for BPS applications is Monday May 17, 2021.
Dairy beef calf programme
The DAFM has announced the opening of a new and pioneering dairy beef calf measure for 2021. The core action is the weighing of eligible calves, for which there is a payment of €20 per calf up to a maximum of 20 calves.