Weanling sales have started well across the country, with mart managers indicating that weanlings are in high demand.

When it comes to selling weanlings, you only get one shot at getting it right. Achieving the best possible price for your weanlings is critical as the sale price must cover the cost of keeping the cows and try and leave a profit.

Therefore, it’s important to take steps to ensure your weanlings are healthy and well presented to attract greater buying interest and improve the sales value of the animals.

Here, we outline some key steps to prepare animals for sale in the coming weeks.

Research at Teagasc Grange has shown that suckler beef calves supplemented with concentrates prior to weaning were less immune-compromised - leading to less problems with pneumonia - and started consuming meal faster when housed indoors compared with non-supplemented calves.

Feeding meal to suckler calves pre-weaning is economically viable as they can convert meal efficiently into liveweight gain.

The response to meal feeding will vary depending on age, breeding and sex of the calf, but with meal and good quality grass, bulls can typically achieve growth rates of 1.3 to 1.5kg/day with heifers achieving 1.2 to 1.3kg/day.

At a ration costing €360/t, creep feeding at 2kg/head will cost 70c/day. Weanlings are currently making €2.60/kg to €2.90/kg at marts, therefore top-quality calves are generating €4/day in terms of weight gain, more than covering the feed cost.

Feed a palatable ration with a crude protein of 15 – 16%. Look at the list of ingredients in the ration which are listed in order of inclusion rate. Barley, flaked maize and soya bean meal should be in the top ingredients. Sugar beet pulp or soya hulls should also be listed early as they will provide rumen fibre.

Nutrias Weanling Crunch is a 16% CP crunch containing toasted and flaked cereals and quality protein from soya bean meal for muscle gain. The crunch is superbly balanced and palatable for ad-lib feeding and also contains a fortified ATP pack with essential minerals and vitamins to maximise performance. The unique flavour ensures higher intakes.

Nutrias Weanling Crunch ATP is an ideal supplement for farmers in the Beep-S Scheme.

Aidan McHale (pictured below), a pedigree Charolais breeder from Ballina, Co. Mayo, has been feeding Nutrias Weanling Crunch ATP to his pedigree Charolais animals for over 10 years and now he won’t consider feeding them anything else.

“I can’t look past Nutrias Weanling Crunch ATP for my pedigree cattle," he said.

Calves are introduced to Nutrias Weanling Crunch from about three months-of-age and Aidan says that “the calves take to the crunch very quickly and are eating well within a few days”.

Aidan finds it a very safe feed even when feeding at high levels: “I never have any rumen upsets in the animals or any problems with lameness”.

He is also very happy with the performance of the animals on Nutrias Weanling Crunch ATP, with bulls gaining an average of 1.8-1.9kg per day.

Aidan feels that the stock remain very natural looking even on high levels of feeding and don’t get overly fat. In the past six years, Aidan has had three champions at the Irish Charolais Cattle Society Christmas Cracker bull show and sale and five All-Ireland winners at the Tullamore Show while using Nutrias Weanling Crunch ATP - it’s no wonder he won’t feed the animals anything else.

Nutrias Weanling Crunch ATP is currently on promotion; buy 10 bags get one free or €10 off per tonne in bulk. Available from your local Farm Commercial Specialist, via your local Homeland store or stocking merchant.

To check where your nearest Homeland store is, click here.

To contact your local Farm Commercial Specialist, click here.

To learn more about Nutrias Weanling Crunch, click here.