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/ Facilities Guides / Estate Guide / Heifer and Beef Unit

Estate Guide - Heifer and Beef Unit

Location:

Lodge Farm and Arthingworth

Aim

To demonstrate high standards of management, economic and physical achievement in the operation of rearing replacements for the dairy herd and a demonstration beef rearing enterprise within the College farm system.

Summary

Calves are removed from their dams at birth and penned separately and given adequate colostrum in the first days of life. This is done to ensure adequate colostrums are received to reach the required IGG levels in the calves' blood stream at 48 hours.

All calves are transferred from the dairy unit to the young stock unit and reared to 6 weeks with the replacement heifers. They are then moved back to Lodge Farm.

AAt the young stock unit, calves are reared on a oncea- day milk powder routine and with free access to long fibre, concentrate pellet and fresh water.

Young stock are fed an ad-lib grass silage diet with a fully mineralized blend. They are served to black and white easy calving bulls, after synchronization, a sweeper Aberdeen Angus bull is then used. The aim is for these animals to calve down at 85% of mature body weight.

Cross breed Continental heifers are retained. The heifers are turned out to grass for the summer then housed and intensively finished out of yards on a concentrate and straw ration. The heifers are sold dead weight via Anglia Quality Meats Ltd.

CContinental cross breed bull calves are reared entire until 12 months of age (approximately 550kg LW) and then sold.

The College is accredited under the FABBL (Farm Assured British Beef and Lamb) Scheme.

Conservation on the Estate

Conservation is an important aspect of the estate. The College is committed to maintaining the estate to a high standard and to providing suitable habitats for wildlife. The farm is operated with a sympathetic and responsible attitude to the environment. As a result the estate has high levels of bird life including lapwings and barn owls.

Students on Countryside Management, Arboriculture and Horticulture in particular are heavily involved in the maintenance and development of the wider estate.

Countryside Stewardship

The College entered the Countryside Stewardship scheme in 1997 and since then has been working on an agreed schedule of maintenance and improvements. The areas included in the scheme we carefully chose to facilitate a circular route around part of the estate when used in conjunction with public footpaths.

Key objectives are:

• Hedgerow restoration and planting.
• To protect and maintain tall thick hedgerows.
• Establish and maintain 6m arable margins and 2m beetle banks.
• Maintain all access gates and keep all routes free from obstruction.

The College is due to join the Entry Level scheme in the autumn.