Winning grassland and livestock: attention to detail

Attention to detail has earned beef and sheep producers, Peredur and Llyr Hughes the top All-Wales Grassland Farming award made by the RWAS in conjunction with the Federation of Welsh Grassland Societies. Not only was tribute paid to their soil and manure management and integration alongside environmental opportunities on their 420 acre holding, Fferam Gyd, Llanbabo, Anglesey, but also their exceptional quality livestock reared from grass.

Those plaudits were reflected in the market place last month when Charolais cross suckled calves from the father and son partnership’s 80 cow herd found themselves in the day’s top average prices at Gaerwen mart. Six to seven month old steers averaging 375kg sold to level at £630, while same age heifers averaged 290kg and £530. The crop was purchased by repeat buyers.

“We aim to produce the highest quality calves and are consistently among the highest averages,” Llyr explains. “Our objective is for as many as possible of our spring born calves to reach target weight and sell straight off their dams and grass in October. We want to avoid over wintering these calves and the accompanying costs of labour, feed and accommodation required together with the risk of health issues.” The same strategy applies to the Hughes’ crop of lambs from their 650 ewe flock, all of which are sold finished off grass. Genetics, feed and management are critical to the family businesses success which also includes a 20 cow pedigree Continental herd, he says.

As far as genetics are concerned, then Charolais plays an integral role as the herd’s terminal sire. In fact Charolais has ‘always’ been used, says Llyr. “Compared with other Continental crosses, Charolais cross calves grow faster and achieve higher carcase weights, an average 25kg to 30kg during the same period. Furthermore, they are always in demand from local finishers and this year commanded an extra £30 to £50 a head,” he says. “When I’m selecting a new bull, then he has to tick all the boxes; I have to like the look of him, and he has to be accompanied by high pointed Estimated Breeding Values for growth rates, in particular 200 day and 400 day weight, muscle score and calving ease.”

The herd is set stocked throughout the grazing season with two cows and calves per acre followed by sheep to ‘tidy up’. “We attempt to keep the swards between 5cm and 10cm, and to quote my father, a lick of grass is better in March, than a mouthful in September.” Cows are turned out to grass with their new born calves immediately after they have had their first colostrum. They are reared off milk and grass until 12 weeks of age when they are introduced to a supplementary creep mix comprising home grown barley, wheat and oats which are included in a six to eight year grassland rotation.

“We like to exploit our Charolais cross calf growth potential at its optimum which is within the first eight months of age, and feeding creep also takes the pressure off their dam; it helps her to keep her condition more readily - in target condition score 2.5 to 3 throughout the season, and that contributes to her standing to the bull more successfully.”

The management practice pays off. This year the herd calved within a 12 week period and calves were reared from 91% of cows put to the bull, a satisfactory rate attributed to the breed of Continental cross cow selected to put to the bull and fertility, while any females not in calf after four to five services are culled.

To the future, and Llyr says he is optimistic. “A growing global populations means food will always be in short supply, therefore our job as farmers is guaranteed, it will be a case of continuing to check our costs and improving our efficiency.”