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Maddocks Producer Report
To produce consistent quality beef for the Morrisons supermarket chain is the aim of specialist beef finishers Brian Maddock and partner Anne Potter, who farm 200 acres centred around Pools Platt Farm, Antrobus, Cheshire.
Strong store cattle of between 18 & 24 months of age are bought in throughout the summer at an average weight of 400 kilos.With heifers and steers being separated and batched according to size and fed ad-lib on the home-mixed ration.Heifers are usually finished within 10-12 weeks with steers taking about 3 weeks longer to achieve target weights.
 "We prefer big Charolias, Limousins and Belgian Blues if we can get them, the bigger the better,” explains Brian, “this means that we focus on a feeding system which gives consistent weight gain, have a fast throughput and don’t have the hassle and losses associated with rearing calves.”
Consumption rates in the first weeks are 6kg/head/ day, rising to 12 kilos as the animals reach the target killing weight of 650 kilos, giving an average daily live weight gain of 1.62 kilos. “All cattle are weighed “full-belly”prior to leaving the farm; last year we averaged a killing-out percentage of 60%. We are penalised if dead-weights exceed 410 kilos, so it’s important that we get this right.”
The current ration comprises of:
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Feed Ingredient
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Kg / Ton of Mix
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Crimped Barley
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670
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Milled Lupins
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150
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Sugar Beet Nuts
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100
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Long-Chop Straw
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20
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QLF Allstock 25
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60
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Yeast Supplement
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Y
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Vits and Mins
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Y
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The produce of 50 acres of home-grown barley is the basis of the ration, with more bought in from local farms when the need arises.
Last year a Murska roller mill was purchased to speed up the rolling of the barley and lupins. With a throughput of 10 tons per hour the system is quick and labour efficient. The major problem in the early stages was excessive dust in the milling area, so on the advice of David Barnett of Wynnstay farmers, QLF Allstock 25 was trialed on the farm, as a dust suppressant with the added feed value of 22% protein and 25% sugars.
“The result was amazing” says Anne, “an inclusion of 6% is sufficient reduce the dust dramatically and we now have a much cleaner milling area.”
This is demonstrated by the two photos below showing the output from the mill.
Both were taken with a flash, showing that there is far more dust without the liquid than when it is included. So successful was the introduction of Allstock 25 that a 5000 litre bulk tank was installed on the farm in March, leading to substantial savings of about 6p/litre compared to buying in minibulk, with the liquid transferred to 1000L containers on the farm
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