Background
Roger and Carole Ludbrook farm 262 ha effective near
Ohaeawai, Northland. They run a breeding cow herd on
the steeper proportion of the farm and finish cattle on
the easier areas – mainly bulls. One of the classes of stock
farmed is autumn born Friesian bulls. These are targeted
to finish before their second Christmas, however during
difficult years the targeted weights may not achieved
leading to later slaughter which puts pressure on summer
feed supply and times in with a lower schedule.
Roger has used a formulated meal previously to support
spring born calves during the summer/autumn, with
seemingly good results. Whether similar responses could be
achieved with straight PKE or PKE blends was debated. This
study involving autumn born cattle investigated the use of
three different supplements to improve bull growth rates.