ABP Food Group’s Advantage Beef Programme farm liaison team leader Amie Coonan told farmers at a recent series of calf-to-beef farmer information meetings that they should look at milk replacer labels before deciding which one to use.
Coonan told farmers, “Milk replacer is going to be an expensive input next year, but when you’re comparing milk replacer prices, it’s important to compare apples to apples.”
She said that the labels on milk replacers “can be hard to read” and that calf-to-beef farmers who need help can get in touch with the Advantage Beef Programme team.
How to find good milk substitutes
Coonan told farmers that the protein level is the first thing to look at.
“The best amount of protein is between 20 and 25%,” she said.
“The more protein you have, the more your calf will grow because protein is what builds the skeleton and makes the calf grow to get the liveweight gain.
But the ABP representative warned that some cheaper types of protein are not as easy for a young calf to break down.
“There are three places from which milk substitutes can get their protein. Whey and skim milk or protein from plants,” she said.
“Whey and skim are byproducts of making dairy products, and they are easy to digest. They are also good for the calf’s growth because they are natural to it.
“On the other hand, soy, peas, and wheat are examples of non-milk products or vegetable proteins. Vegetable proteins are hard for a young calf to digest, which means they won’t grow very well and you could end up with sick calves.
“These are often the cheaper milk substitutes that might seem like a good deal, but the reason they’re cheaper is because they have vegetable protein in them.”
Coonan said, “Fibre is often a good way to tell if a milk substitute is made from a vegetable protein or a milk protein.”
“You want that to be less than 0.15 percent. Anything below 0.15% is usually a by-product of milk and a good-quality product instead of a vegetable protein.”
Other things to put in
The leader of the ABP farm liaison team also said that good milk substitutes should have about 17–18% fat.
“This makes it easier to mix and is also good for the health of the calf,” she said.
And the amount of ash in a good milk substitute should be between 6.5% and 8.5%, but ideally less than 7%.
“A high amount of ash can cause diarrhoea and stomach problems,” she said.
“Farmers often switch milk replacers, and when they do, their calves often get bloated, which can be caused by a very high ash content.”
Coonan said this about feeding whole milk or milk substitutes: “Studies have shown that a calf’s growth doesn’t change much whether it is fed milk or a milk substitute.”
“The good thing about milk replacer is that if there is a disease on the farm, there is less chance that it will spread to the youngstock.”
The meetings were for farmers who buy calves and raise them to become beef. Both Advantage Beef Program members and people who are not members were welcome to attend. There were a lot of dairy and beef farmers at the meetings.
