Ronan Lynch, agronomist with Deeside Agri, and suckler and beef finisher, Brian Kirk from Co. Louth, are on this week’s Beef Edge to discuss the opportunity of using native grains in rations. 

Ronan explains that of the 7 million tonnes of grains used in the country, only 2 million are produced in Ireland. 

He highlights the benefits of oats and reducing the carbon footprint by incorporating homegrown grain ore in rations such as oats. 

We often hear that barley is the premium grain, and oats are just a second-best option for livestock. However, Teagasc trials showed that when feeding finishing beef cattle on a grass silage-based diet, rolled oats performed just as effectively as rolled barley. 

Brian then details his suckling and finishing system and discusses how performance on his farm has improved by using oats in the rations.

Further details at:

https://teagasc.ie/publications/oats-a-high-performing-native-grain/

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

 
Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Image: FarmersJournal.ie