In finishing systems this equates to feed costs per kg liveweight gain . Daily output ie daily liveweight gain has a bigger effect on feed costs per kg compared to daily feed costs. Silage is more efficient than grazing . Traditional advice has recommended that fields for first cut silage should not be grazed after the turn of the year. This increases costs of production and reduces animal performance .
Current advice is therefore to turn cattle out early to initially graze silage fields.
The priority for grassland management is to make sufficient cheap silage to overwinter stock . By-product feeds, cereals etc are now a cheaper source of energy compared to grass silage. Feed is the biggest cost for finishing cattle . On many units today fixed costs per kg liveweight gain are greater than feed costs per kg at between 30 - 50p per kg. Fixed costs are fixed .