28 March 2022
The Jones family grew eight hectares (ha) of the crop at Pantyderi Farm, Boncath, as part of their project work as Farming Connect demonstration farmers.
The pulses replaced a 36% protein concentrate blend that had been fed at a rate of 1-1.5kg/head/day, with grass silage and home-grown urea-treated crimped barley in the growing and finishing rations of 400 head of cattle.
Eurig Jones, who farms with his father, Wyn, says it is an important step towards a goal to become self-sufficient in protein in the beef enterprise.
The crop, which he harvested on 3 September, analysed at 16.4% protein as fed, 13.6 ME and 61.7% dry matter (DM), and achieved a protein yield as fed of 860kg/ha as a crimped feed.
Costings calculated by the project’s nutritionist, Hefin Richards of Rumenation, priced the feed at £242/tonne(t)/DM compared to £275/t for the concentrate blend – a feed based on rapeseed meal and maize distillers grains.
Not only is the mix £33/t cheaper, but Mr Richards pointed out that the cost is consistent year on year, and is not dependent on the volatile protein market; in January 2021, soya prices peaked at £480/t.
“The more feed a farm can produce itself, the less exposed it is to that volatility, and that resilience is repeated year after year,’’ said Mr Richards.
“We are also now in a place where the environmental considerations for growing feed are equal to the economic ones.’’
The Joneses considered growing single crops of beans or lupins, but felt that yields could be improved significantly by bi-cropping beans and peas and crimping them. This allowed for storage in an outside clamp, with the feed processed at harvest, clamped and ready for feeding out in the winter.
The crop favours free-draining soil, and responds well to plentiful moisture, which made it a good match for the conditions at Pantyderi.
Lime was applied to the trial field at a variable rate of 937kg/ha to lift the pH from 5.8 (the ideal pH for beans and peas is 6.5). Farmyard manure was applied at 25t/ha; there was no requirement for nitrogen inputs.
The growth habits of beans and peas are very complementary - the beans provide a strong scaffold that helps keep the peas standing later in the season; they also benefit from the same agronomy approach, said Farming Connect Technical Officer Dr Delana Davies, who managed the trial.
“Double-cropping also tends to synchronise any varietal differences with regard to time to maturity, and the peas fill the air gaps between the larger particle size of the beans in the clamp,’’ she explained.
The seed was planted in two passes on 22 April; the beans were sown first at a rate of 308kg/ha and a depth of 60mm, followed by the peas at 225kg/ha and at a depth of 30mm. These seed rates were calculated using an app available through the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO). A fungicide was applied twice to tackle chocolate spot.
Mr Jones harvested the crop with his own combine, fitted with a side knife. “The side knife is a must, an essential bit of kit for the job,’’ he said.
Getting the timing right was a balance between having the crop dry enough to go through the combine, but at above 30% moisture for crimping.
The crop yielded 5.25t/ha - 42 tonnes from 8ha - and also produced 22 bales/ha of haulm – the fibrous part of the plants that is nutritionally superior to straw.
In systems where soya is fed, on a cost per kg of protein basis, soya is cheaper at £0.83 compared to £1.08 for peas and beans. However, with some milk and beef contracts now stipulating that soya must not be fed, Mr Richards said those figures must not be taken in isolation and other benefits factored in:
“There is a real benefit to a cereal crop that follows because soil fertility is lifted by the nitrogen-fixing characteristics of beans and peas; this combination crop is definitely worth consideration,’’ he says.
Project costings incorporating contractor fees and field rental cost:
The rations formulated by Mr Richards for the growing and finishing cattle at Pantyderi show not only a cost benefit by including the beans and peas mix, but a marginal uplift in predicted liveweight gain, too.
On a per head/per day basis, the 2021 growing diet is costed at £1.29 compared to £1.35 in 2020, with a predicted daily liveweight gain of 1.19kg/head compared to 1.15kg in 2020. In the finishing diet, cost is reduced to £2.18/head/day from £2.39 in 2020, and the predicted daily liveweight gain is 1.44kg/head compared to 1.43kg in 2020.
This reflects the higher starch and energy content of the whole grain peas and beans, compared to a protein blend based on by-products.
Beef producers are advised to improve forage quality as a starting point for increasing feed protein sources.
At Pantyderi, by cutting grass silage earlier and from reseeded leys containing clover, the last two years’ harvest has analysed at 16.4% crude protein compared to 10.5% previously.
Beef farms have a tendency to make more mature silage, favouring bulk over quality, but when silage analyses at 11-12% protein, other protein sources are needed to raise the level in the ration.
“There needs to be a greater focus on cutting silage younger and cutting from younger leys to get better quality and higher protein yields,’’ Mr Richards suggested.
“Growing silage with 16.4% protein has had a big impact on how much protein is needed to balance the ration at Pantyderi.’’
Mapping soils to match seed rate application to land type has allowed the Jones family to capture an 8% increase in spring barley grain yield.
One half of a field at Pantyderi was sown at a variable rate using the soil nutrient information captured by mapping, at 135-180kg/ha across 3.6ha and the other at a flat rate of 150kg/ha on 3.4ha.
Both fields were drilled by the same contractor, and received the same management inputs over the summer. At the variable rate, the crop yielded an average of 5.6t/ha of grain, and the flat rate plot 5.2t/ha. Mapping, which costs around £12.50/ha, allows nutrients to be targeted according to need.
At Pantyderi, 40ha of grassland and 60ha of cereal growing land was mapped and these zones were analysed for phosphate, potassium, magnesium and pH as well as laser texture to give an absolute value to the soil type. Nutrient management plans were drawn up for each mapped field.
The use of soil mapping realised a saving in liming costs on both the grassland and arable areas, as a result of variable rate lime-spreading. Compared to flat-rate application, on the grassland, a price saving on lime of £323 was captured, with £720 on the arable land.
FARM FACTS
445 hectares farmed across two units and off-lying land
80 spring-calving Hereford-cross suckler cows sired to a Limousin bull
Store cattle purchased for fattening - around 200 fattened annually
1500 Texel-cross ewes
Farming Connect is delivered by Menter a Busnes and Lantra Wales and funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.