In this episode of Head Shepherd… 

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Rob Bell, co-founder and chief technical officer at ProAgni, as well as CEO and principal consultant at Formula Ag, joins us to discuss how to help lambs thrive through the weaning process and beyond. To hear more of this conversation with Rob Bell - from the impact of cortisol and adrenaline on meat-to-muscle ratios to seeing your ruminant livestock as a homebrew kit - listen to the full interview on the Head Shepherd podcast.

Weaning is not just a date circled in red on the calendar to be crossed off. It is an opportunity to realise investments made in genetics, lift lamb lifetime performance and add more resilience to the whole farming system. In Rob’s words: “Take weaning as a two- or three-week process. Let's educate animals to eat. Let's support those animals with good practice in terms of animal health programmes, vitamin/mineral supplementation and gross nutrition in terms of energy and protein. And let them find their own feet. And…I think we can actually do that much earlier than what the industry expects or traditionally does.” 

Early weaning and building up a feed reserve

Rob advocates weaning livestock earlier than is typical in the wider industry. “I encourage most people to wean most years in that 15-20 kilo range, whether it's Merinos or crossbreds, and cattle somewhere in the 120-150 kilo range. The reason being is that the economic impact of getting those animals off and under their own steam early is significant from a grass bank and a gross energy-saving perspective.” 

Thinking strategically about how to use the feed reserve later in the season is crucial. “The day we wean is the day we reduce our total demand in the business by 40% for energy; we have a feed reserve being built then.” He encourages farmers to ask what banking those four or five extra weeks of pasture growth could mean for the business at the other end of the season. 

Protein requirements 

Where required, Rob recommends using specialised supplements to meet the specific needs of young lambs. He points out, on the first day of weaning, a 15-17 kilogram lamb needs a diet of approximately 20-21% crude protein. They also need sufficient starch to help develop their rumen capacity. “They don't eat much, so what they do eat needs to be good quality. We need to be targeting that high starchy content and we need to be targeting good quality, high protein levels,” stresses Rob.

Within about 14 days, as the rumen develops further and microbial fermentation kicks into gear, the protein requirement from feed decreases to about 16-17% crude protein. Rob highlights the transformation of the microbes driving fermentation in the lamb’s gut into good-quality amino acids (at the end of their three- to four-hour life cycle). These ‘dead bugs’ reduce how much protein the animal needs to take in through its food. Keeping the ideal balance between protein, starch and fibre (as well as minerals) in that feed is essential for the population of live microbes to continue to perform well. 

Educating young livestock

Rob asks what systems can be put in place during the weaning process to minimise stress on the animals and the people managing them. “We have this opportunity to gain weight, to let an animal express its genetic potential, to move forward and be healthy and happy for the rest of its life. Or we have the opportunity to effectively starve it, apply a lot of stress, create animal health issues as a result of that stress and cost our business a bucket-load of money at the same time.”

He suggests implementing strategies, while ewes and lambs are still together, that help to educate lambs about eating the kinds of foods they will be weaned onto and get them used to people being around. An example is imprint feeding when introducing grain: “I tend to recommend 50 to 70 grams of whatever they're gonna see. If it's a concentrated food like grain, through that last fortnight do it three times a week. Do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Just get a run in there.” 

Rob highlights the benefits of getting young lambs used to high-quality feed before weaning to minimise (or even eliminate) any negative impact post-weaning. The lamb’s digestive system starts adapting as it transitions off milk, helping with post-weaning weight gain. And they learn what to do from the ewes and quickly begin to recognise feeding times and the presence of humans as a positive event, rather than a threat.  

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“Take weaning as a two- or three-week process. Let's educate animals to eat. Let's support those animals with good practice in terms of animal health programmes, vitamin/mineral supplementation and gross nutrition in terms of energy and protein. And let them find their own feet. And…I think we can actually do that much earlier than what the industry expects or traditionally does.”

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Wasted horsepower

“You don't see too many guys that buy a 400-horsepower tractor and pull a 20-foot seeder around,” quips Rob. He encourages farmers to be honest about whether the food being put in front of their young livestock matches up to what they need to fully express their genetic potential. Chasing production gains via breeding - particularly in the key traits tied to the cheques coming in each season - can fall flat, if better genetics are not matched with better feeding. 

“If we are going to select animals for improved genetic gain year on breeding year, and we're striving to get somewhere, we need to understand that every time we do that, we create a demand for nutrition that increases…we're putting more pressure on the system, so we need a bigger bucket,” says Rob. He points out that we need to “...be prepared to go the extra yard to support that potential growth or expression of those genetics into the future.”  

Rob sees weaning is an opportunity for not only lambs and ewes to come out the other side in better shape, but also the people working on the farm and the farming business as a whole. “Let's take what can be best practice in terms of grass budgeting, labour allocation, animal welfare and animal production and performance. Let's tie all that together so that we can make a business really thrive, not just survive.”

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Listen to the full interview with Rob Bell on the Head Shepherd podcast.

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com.

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