Beef Farmers of the Year: Brongain Farms go for carbon neutral

In doing so, their system was highlighted at the British Cattle Breeders' Conference in Telford, by George Peart of Brongain Farms sustainability adviser, George Peart of Promar, and nutritionist Iwan Vaughan, of Dairy Diagnosis.

Brograin Farm is home to 1400 head of cattle finishing 800 per year

The Pickstocks who farm near Llanfechai, Wales, were recognised for using only commercial and affordable methods and mostly by relying on a new grazing system for their livestock and planting trees on unproductive farmland.

Their newly built 350-ha Brogain Farm, founded in 2019, is reliant on a semi-extensive beef finishing system whereby mostly Aberdeen Angus cross calves from the dairy herd are purchased from known producers at two to four weeks of age for finishing primarily off grass. In all, this permanent pasture unit is home to 1400 head of beef cattle with 800 are finished every year.

Purchased calves are bred from easy-calving Angus sires boasting easy fleshing traits. The Pickstocks also look to buy calves that have had sufficient colostrum at birth with an additional £10-£15 per had paid for those that record a positive result via a rapid calf colostrum test, when they are less prone to disease.

This is because calves with signs of low colostrum intake and subsequent health issues, finish at 25 months on average.

Nutrition is also key with regular analysis of grass and silage fed and calves/cattle weighed on a monthly basis to record individual growth rates per day. A large proportion of the calves are also genomic tested to match sire with health risk, finishing time, and carcase quality.

Calves are bought at two to four weeks of age with premiums paid for calves that have had sufficient colostrum

Target daily liveweight gain is 1.1kg off grass with animals finished at 650kg aged 22.5 months, and are on grass for 270 days, with a target is to reduce slaughter age to 20 months.

To achieve this, calves are fed on automatic machines and weaned onto a straw and concentrate diet at 10 weeks age which transition to a forage-based TMR by four months of age.

Animals are rotationally grazed for 250-270 days of their life from six months of age in mobs of 150 head, typically from early March to late November.

During the winter, cattle are housed and fed a forage-based TMR of grass silage and barley, or protein blend, when necessary.

For the final 60-day finishing period, cattle are fed a silage-based TMR supplemented with 5kg rolled barley.

So far, a 5% improvement in growth rates and reduction in finishing times has been achieved.

A mob grazing system has been implemented alongside the reseeding of long-term perennial ryegrass and clover leys. As a result, daily liveweight gains have improved and purchased feed has halved, as have the associated emissions.

Since incorporating herbal leys and clovers into their grassland swards, they now use no artificial nitrogen on the 160-ha grazing platform, instead using digestate from the abattoir.

“The focus over the last three years has been to improve forage quality. Over the last two seasons, the business has switched from a two-cut system to multi-cut silage system. This has led to greater animal performance and reduced bought in protein which is helping meet our carbon aspirations,” explained Mr Vaughan.

The team also uses Bokashi to ferment manure anaerobically. This has retained 11% more nitrogen, 56% more carbon and reduced emissions by 2.6% within the first year it was implemented, with its effect on emissions in subsequent years being routinely measured and validated. Alongside this, they have integrated clover and multi-species into grass and use remedial-only tillage.

Using mixed swards was seen as an integral part of meeting carbon demands and improving soil health but it has also helped lift grass production from 7t DM/ha to 10-11t DM/ha, explained Mr Vaughan.

Animal health has been another big focus area for the Brongain team with weight data showing pneumonia significantly increases days to slaughter.

“Over the last couple of years, we have made ventilation changes to the shed and implemented strategic vaccination programmes,” said Mr Vaughan.

Mr Peart said that ‘genetics underpinned each of the key areas of efficiency gains needed to hit net zero’.

They work with dairy farmers to select sires for calving ease and growth rate using Genus ABS Nuera Profit Index.

Cattle are finished within 22 months gaining 1.1kg per head per day at grass

“One the dairy farm we procure the calves from, we want zero-calving intervention because of the associated growth rate drop, pneumonia risk and other health risks that come with that,” explained George Peart, sustainability lead for Promar and advisor to Brongain.

The team at Brongain now plans to delve deeper into ranking animals individually. They will start measuring gross energy intake from forage and activity tracking animals to assess how much energy is going toward growth versus maintenance and establish the variation in feed conversion, even at pasture.

“In the future, if we can select for specific rumen microbiome and the associate methane drop, this is something we will be diving on very quickly,” said Mr Peart.

Outwith the livestock, Brograin Farms has also introduced hedgerows and planted trees on unproductive farmland, such as the corners of fields which are not cut for silage which has increased carbon sequestration and biodiversity on the farm.

George Peart of Brongrain Farms told delegates at the British Cattle Breeders' Conference that the business looks for zero-calving intervention because of the associated growth rate drop, pneumonia risk and other health risks that come with it.

Investment in cattle housing has also proved beneficial in terms of profitability and production, including specialised ventilation systems and sloped floors for optimum drainage. Furthermore, after years of heavy machinery use, including ploughs and power harrows, the team rely on a no-till system without seed treatments and fungicides.

Yield is no longer the focus of the system. Instead, the focus is on sustainability of the soil and the land’s ability to produce crops for future generations.

“Tracking our carbon footprint is a positive way for us to constantly challenge our business plan. It drives continuous improvement, reduces waste and increases profitability.”

Farm Facts

Farm: 350 hectares of permanent pasture.

Livestock: 1400 head of cattle on farm, finishing 800 Aberdeen Angus cross dairy calves per year.

Animal health: Premiums paid for calves having received optimum colostrum at birth. Investment in bedding to reduce lameness, which has contributed to improved finishing times and a reduction in enteric emissions.

Biodiversity: Planted 5000 trees on non-productive areas, increasing tree cover from 5 to 8.5% to improve carbon sequestration.