Yeast offers decoupled beef systems the required extra margin
Picture: Simon Marsh
An extra £29 per head, which his achievable by feeding a live yeast culture supplement according to recent independent trials, could be a welcome New Year tonic for beef producers as decoupling begins to bite.
Trials on the market leading yeast culture Yea-Sacc1026 were carried out within Harper Adams University College's own beef finishing unit in 2004, and a comprehensive analysis of the results proves the product's capacity to increase growth rates and confirms the significant economic advantages of inclusion.
The trial looked at the effects of including the yeast culture in the ration fed to Belgian Blue cross bulls and heifers on a cereal beef finishing system.
The yeast culture was included in the concentrate ration at the recommended rate of 750g/tonne of feed when cattle averaged 284kg liveweight at approximately 7 months old. The live yeast was fed to one group of 18 animals through to slaughter - when bulls and heifers attained fat class 3 and 4L respectively - and performance was monitored during the period against a control group.
"We recorded a significant increase in daily liveweight gain in the group receiving the Yea-Sacc1026 (1.38kg versus 1.24kg), which resulted in these cattle reaching slaughter weight 21 days earlier on average," explains trial co-ordinator Simon Marsh. "This resulted in a marked improvement in FCR (5.87 versus 6.98) with significant feed cost savings, which was the reason for the £29/head improvement in gross margin. The earlier finish would also allow greater overall throughput on commercial units, which should not be overlooked.
"This is the kind of advantage that producers will need to build into their systems in the future, alongside other cost savings that should mainly be derived from simplification."
Importantly, Yea-Sacc1026 is fully approved by the EU as a performance enhancing feed additive for beef cattle, and is the only live yeast authorised for use in the diet of calves. It works as a natural growth promoter by achieving improved feed conversion efficiency from better rumen function. Manufacturer Alltech says official accreditation is a key point if farmers want to be sure of a return on their investment.
"Farmers should only use products that have been properly researched and have evidence of efficacy behind them," stresses Alltech's UK ruminant technical manager David Wilde. "In order to gain EU approval, a product must have a dossier of research showing that it is effective and safe, and that should provide essential reassurance for farmers, especially with the increasing importance of quality assurance schemes."
