Feeding fields beans to finishing cattle

[Herefordshirefarmer4321]

Currently finishing Lim x cattle on maize silage, grass silage, brewers grains and 5.5kg of barley/wheat mixture. Beans grow well here and interested in if they would have a place in our finisher ration.

Thanks in advance

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Of course they would ...but they can only account for half your protein

 

[mo!]

They work well in ours.

 

[Herefordshirefarmer4321]

Of course they would ...but they can only account for half your protein

Are they likely to increase weight gain ?

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

Of course they would ...but they can only account for half your protein

Why only half?

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Why only half?

Too much tannin, be unpalatable

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Are they likely to increase weight gain ?

They will if you have the whole diet properly set up

 

[Hesstondriver]

(not that it applies to the op) but better than dragging soya from half way round the world of unknown origin

 

[Hampton]

Too much tannin, be unpalatable

In terms of indigestible or nasty tasting?

 

[Matt77]

Put 25% bean's in our basic finishing ration, barley and a bag of GP minerals make up the rest, if you milling yourself check your mill can do it, I upgraded ours when started years ago as the old single roller just jammed all the time and didn't do a good at all, dust or left whole.

 

[delilah]

(not that it applies to the op) but better than dragging soya from half way round the world of unknown origin

All you vegan campaigners on here need to get your facts straight.

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/dairy-cows-livestock-behind-growth-soya-south-america/

 

[Northeastfarmer]

In terms of indigestible or nasty tasting?

Mainly being unpalatable

 

[Hampton]

Mainly being unpalatable

I’m feeding a barley beans minerals mix to my cattle this year and have had no problem with that and growth rates have been good. We do use a bit of mollasses too so maybe that sorts it

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

I’m feeding a barley beans minerals mix to my cattle this year and have had no problem with that and growth rates have been good. We do use a bit of mollasses too so maybe that sorts it

That’s all I have had my bulls on this year and never had them away as quick or as heavy

 

[dogjon]

By field beans do you mean dried beans? We do have some access to cull dried beans here and I've seen them used for sheep in the counties to the south of me. As I understand it they are a pretty hot feed and need to be rationed out.

 

[Exfarmer]

By field beans do you mean dried beans? We do have some access to cull dried beans here and I've seen them used for sheep in the counties to the south of me. As I understand it they are a pretty hot feed and need to be rationed out.

You possibly know them as Fava beans

 

[goodevans]

That’s all I have had my bulls on this year and never had them away as quick or as heavy

@Hampton look pretty good in market report for age as well

 

[deleted user 837354]

As above, they are an excellent feed. There is a surprising amount of starch in beans as well as protein. However, based on the lab analyses I used to have done, I would not say beans are as high in protein as rapemeal or soya (to be fair not much is). From memory they used to be around 22% crude protein. For finishing cattle this is not such an issue as they don't need heaps of protein, just 'enough'.

They do contain tannins but I reckon you would need to feed a lot of them before it became a palatability or digestibility issue. I used to buy hundreds of tonnes of beans to put in rations. They are an ace feed and should be used more often IMO. Dairy and beef rations are both worthwhile homes for beans.

I seem to remember a farmer telling me he thought beans put a lovely 'shine' on his cattle too. I don't know if they contain much oils etc though.

 

[le bon paysan]

When I grew cereals for home finishing the mix was 250 kgs beans 725 kgs barley and the rest was minerals and molasses. DLG was between 1.4 and 1.8 kgs but was adlib. Lorry came from Stratford on Avon.

 

[Hobbit]

All you vegan campaigners on here need to get your facts straight.

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/dairy-cows-livestock-behind-growth-soya-south-america/

I think the point he was making is that why do we need soya when we have home grown protein.
We are mixing beans at 20% with barley and it seems to be working well.