Paul Smith,Teagasc, is undertaking research focused on reducing the average finishing age of the ‘prime’ beef cattle population. Earlier finishing of beef cattle, not only has the potential to decrease the quantity of GHG emissions an animal emits over their lifetime, but can be economically advantageous, by lowering total costs associated with rearing an animal, and thus is a key contributor to on-farm profitability.
Farmers sought for Beef Quest project
As part of the Beef-Quest project, a new large-scale on-farm study is planned that will aim to generate new data to investigate the effect of nutrition, health and on-farm environment on the lifetime live weight gain performance of cattle on commercial beef farms. Data generated from the project, will be utilised to determine both the environmental and economic benefits associated with the optimisation of animal nutrition, health and on-farm environment, and subsequently aid the identification of the most effective on-farm measures for reducing the finishing age of Irish beef cattle.
Expressions of interest from both suckler and dairy-beef farms interested in participating in the Beef-Quest project are currently being sought.
Benefits for signing up to the project include free live weight recording of growing cattle, forage analysis as well benchmark reporting of your farms performance with that of other farms within the programme. Regular live weight recording of growing cattle is the only way to accurately monitor the live weight gain performance of growing cattle, so why not avail of free live weight recordings as part of the Beef-Quest project.
Free weighing service and forage analysis offered to participating farmers.
If you are interested in signing up to Beef-Quest, please contact [email protected] .
More details on the project available at: https://www.teagasc.ie/news–events/daily/beef/farmers-wanted-for-beef-quest-to-reduce-finishing-age.php