Consider the Costs of Lot Feeding

By Ian Bryson, Rural Solutions SA.

Planning for the next eight months must start now.  There are a number of options available to the sheep producers in areas of feed shortage.  These include supplementary feeding, drought lot feeding, the sale of wethers and old ewes and, in extreme times, culling of breeding ewes. 

Correct decisions made now will protect the soil and the sheep and enable rapid recovery next year.  Supplementary feeding and drought lot feeding encompass a number of factors. These include the timing of the feeding, the type of feeding required, the most appropriate methods and, of course, the economics of the feeding.

One of the most important factors in terms of livestock management in times of feed shortage is the timing of the feeding operations.  Depending on the conditions a number of decision needs to be made.

Firstly, is supplementary feeding the answer?  Producers with a low quality pasture can feed grain on the ground to meet the sheep's nutritional requirements.  Secondly, at what time should the feeding begin? The timing of operations will vary depending on the situation on each farm.

A rule of thumb is, if there is less than 400 to 500kg of feed dry matter a hectare then the paddocks should be locked up and lot feeding should begin.  This will avoid permanent land and pasture degradation.  There will be no benefit in keeping sheep on a pasture that is providing little to the sheep and creating a severe erosion risk.

Once the decision has been made to lot feed the sheep, many points have to be noted.  The site of the feedlot should be an area of flat, hard ground, preferably near the yards, with available shade and water.  The infrastructure required could be a little as a prefabricated fence, a trough for water and another for feed to minimise loss.  The trough can be can be made using material available on most farms - see the 'Feeding Sheep' book.

The animals must be slowly introduced to a grain diet.  If they have come from supplementary feeding to the feedlot there should be few problems.  With direct introduction to the feedlot include roughage such as good quality hay (at least 150g per sheep) for the first two weeks.  After this, straw could be used in place of hay.

The most important factor to be considered is the economics of the lot feeding.  Many producers have tried lot feeding to finish the animals in times of trouble.  Unfortunately, at times money spent on feed is not recouped in the price received once the lambs are finished.  The calculations need to be made about whether they will make a profit by going into lot feeding or would be better off selling for cash at current prices.

If the sheep are lot fed purely to survive the poor conditions, the cheapest ration available needs to be used in order to minimise the economical impact of all costs involved.