Thursday, March 28, 2024

Fodder beet block fills nutritional gap

Avatar photo
Fodder beet is an increasingly popular winter crop for beef and dairy cattle because of the large amounts of drymatter it produces, but it has nutritional gaps, Seales Winslow product development manager Jackie Aveling says.
Reading Time: < 1 minute

High-sugar content makes fodder beet very palatable to stock, but it has sub-optimal protein content (13%), low fibre levels (less than 20%) and is low in phosphorus, magnesium and essential trace elements.

To compensate, the company has produced a specially formulated Cattle Fodder Beet Block available throughout New Zealand following onfarm testing. The new block helps to overcome phosphorus deficiency and balance other minerals like magnesium and essential trace elements that are lacking in cows and heifers on a fodder beet diet.

“A diet deficient in these minerals, particularly phosphorus, can lead to ‘creeper cows’ in the short term, and longer-term difficulties including poor milk production, reduced appetite, weight loss and poor reproductive performance,” Aveling said.

“Current practice to reduce the chance of phosphate deficiencies developing in stock grazed on fodder beet is to dust the crop with dicalcium phosphate (DCP) or use a slurry of the compound on silage or straw. However, these practices can be dusty, time-consuming, wasteful and the intake is variable.”

The new blocks come in 25kg tubs that are placed at the crop face under the fence in front of the cows.

Available from merchant retail stores, the block pays its way in terms of convenience, labour time saved, a reduction in downer costs and potential longer-term stock problems, Aveling said. It also compares favourably with the price of a single intravenous downer cow treatment. The recommended block-to-cow ratio was 1:25.

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading