Feedlots are the fastest way to put weight on lambs, but they are rarely the cheapest. With good soil moisture and rising temperatures, Riverina winter pastures look set to stay green right up to Christmas.
That gives producers a valuable window. Riverina livestock nutrition specialists AusFarm Nutrition Products (ANP) are urging producers to use that green feed to stack weight on growing animals before it dries off.
The cheapest protein is already in your paddock
Dr Paul Meggison, Chief Nutritionist at ANP, believes many lamb producers underestimate what their green feed can do. Too often, they chase growth rates in confinement instead.
“Protein is the most expensive nutrient in a diet, and the cheapest form of protein is growing in paddocks,” Dr Meggison says.
Mature pasture still has plenty to give
As green pasture matures, its energy, digestibility and protein all decline. Dr Meggison uses a lush ryegrass pasture as an example:
| Measure | Ryegrass in July | Same pasture now |
| NDF (%) | 40 | 54 |
| Energy (MJ ME/kg DM) | 12 | 9 |
| Crude protein (%) | 25 | 16 |
“In this scenario, producers chasing growth rates tend to push animals into a feedlot early, and in doing so, can miss out on cheap gains on mature green feed, when all they needed to do was feed more grain in the paddock,” he says.
Paddock gains cost half as much
For Dr Meggison, on-farm profitability comes first. Growing a lamb in a feedlot costs about $2 per kg of gain, roughly double the $1 per kg it costs in the paddock.
That is why the ANP team recommends using up every source of green feed before opening the feedlot. That includes regrowth from hay paddocks, summer crops and lucerne.
Build the finishing diet in the paddock
A lamb finishing diet needs 14% crude protein, minerals, and as much energy as you can fit in. Dr Meggison says the most economical way to get there is to graze green feed for as long as possible and boost energy with grain.
As the season goes on, the diet can be adjusted step by step:
- Green pasture plus grain. Graze for as long as the feed lasts, using grain to lift energy.
- Stemmy pasture plus grain and pulses. “When the pasture becomes quite stemmy, I’d even add some lupins or beans to the diet to boost the protein,” he says.
- Full grain ration. Step animals up onto a full grain ration before inducting them into the feedlot.
Support grain feeding in the paddock
ANP’s most popular spring supplement, StockMins-Lamb Finisher, is designed for grain-assisted green feed grazing. It combines minerals, vitamins, trace elements, Bovatec® and buffers to:
- support grain feeding of up to 800 g/head/day
- reduce the risk of coccidiosis
- support higher liveweight gain
Want to get the most out of your sheep this summer? Call the friendly team at AusFarm Nutrition Products today.
