Boost flock margins with better ewe nutrition

Tuesday 15 December 2009

WITH feed currently representing around 40% of a typical flock’s annual variable costs and some 20% of total cash costs, most sheep breeding businesses could do to boost performance by improving the efficiency of ewe nutrition this season.

Analysis of the latest annual Business Pointers costings by EBLEX shows average lowland and Less Favoured Area breeding flocks could both add £2/ewe to their bottom lines by boosting their feed cost efficiency to the level achieved by top third performers without any increase in lamb output (Table). For many this could represent the difference between profit and loss at the net margin level.

Table: Feed Cost Efficiency of Costed English Flocks (2008-2009)

	Lowland Flocks	LFA Flocks
Average flock lamb output (£/ewe)	73.82	64.28
Average flock feed cost (£/ewe)	16.00	11.62
Average flock feed cost efficiency (£ per £ of lamb output)	0.22	0.18
Top third flock feed cost efficiency (£ per £ of lamb output)	0.19	0.15
Average flock feed cost with top third feed cost efficiency (£/ewe)	14.00	9.60
Extra margin for average flock with top third feed cost efficiency (£/ewe)	2.00	2.00

EBLEX identifies a whole host of ways in which flocks can realise such feed cost efficiency gains from mid-pregnancy through to weaning in its new 20-page Sheep Better Returns Programme Manual on ewe nutrition. These primarily revolve around greater precision in feed analysis and supplementation aided by body conditioning scoring and pregnancy scanning.

Specific feed efficiency improvement opportunities identified include:

Accurate analysis of key winter forages by a reputable laboratory to ensure the right supplements are provided at the right time for optimum performance;
Strategic use of roots and forage brassicas to provide a high energy winter ewe diet requiring less supplementary concentrates;
The best value ingredients in simple home-mixed concentrate rations formulated to avoid unnecessary as well as insufficient supplementation;
Scanning and grouping all ewes by litter size as well as expected lambing date to ensure preferential supplementation of those bearing twins and triplets;
Adequate trough space to allow each ewe in a group to receive her supplementary feed allowance, and ad-lib fresh water at all times;
Body condition scoring throughout pregnancy so feeding can be fine-tuned to ensure all ewes lamb in the right body condition; and,
Careful management of grazing with sufficient supplementation whenever the grass is less than 4cm high.

Copies of Sheep BRP Manual 12: Improving Ewe Nutrition for Better Returns are available free of charge to English levy payers from EBLEX on 0870 2418829 or brp@eblex.org.uk. Alternatively, you can view the manual Here