WORD about a new cattle feed resource at Townsville is not taking long to get out and it proved timely for David and Dianne Hood at Kirkton Station near Ravenswood last season.
ADM, one of the world’s leading grain processors and manufacturers, is offering new stockfeed products for collection or delivery from Townsville in conjunction with local stevedoring, storage and logistics business, Sizer and Cogill.
David and Dianne run 4000-5000 Simmental and Brahman breeders over the 40,000-hectare Kirkton Station, as well as some stud cows.
After a reasonable dry season on the Goldfields country, which comprises predominantly Indian couch grass on the red duplex soils, they were feeding some 30-month-old bulls ready for sale and were starting to run out of a feedlot bin ration.
“We had 30 in a pen feeding on the bin ration out of Advantage grain feeders to keep them pushing ahead. It was a mixture of grains, soybean meal and cottonseed meal,’’ David said.
“We only had 6-8 tonne and were nearly out of it and then heard about the Corn Gluten Feed Pellets (CGFP) at Townsville, so we got a local carrier to get 24 of the 1t bulk bags.
“The bulls went on to it easily and it flows well and works through the bins.’’
The pellets were fed at a rate of 10-15 kilograms per head per day and the bulls also had access to good quality Rhodes grass hay.
“We were planning on feeding for 100 days to get them looking good, but they were in there for 90 days and people were happy with them,’’ David said.
Use of the ADM CGFP feed also allowed the Hoods to market all of their weaners together, which can be difficult with a three-week mustering period.
“This was one thing we were very happy with,’’ David said.
“We got a lot of weaners with the first mustering and we wanted to keep them powering ahead.
“We put the pellets in a big Master Tub, like an open trough, and they went straight on to it and were as full as a chook.
“It took the full three weeks for us to get them all together and they were all sold.’’
Imported direct from ADM’s corn and soybean processing facilities in the US Mid West, CGFP is the by-product from wet-milling of maize grain, with the remaining corn gluten feed from the process being dried and pelletised.
It can be used as a supplement in both paddock and confined cattle feeding situations and its high level of crude protein and gross energy particularly supports weaner growth and development.
“The protein and energy numbers certainly stack up,’’ David said.
ADM’s CGFP has 21 per cent crude protein and an energy rating of 12.7 megajoules per kilogram of dry matter.
Compared with the alternative of Brisbane, David said the location of the feed at Townsville was fantastic, servicing most of the north-east Australia region, and many producers were now enquiring about the feed.
ADM’s Central and North Queensland Manager, Michael Vaughan, said the company’s feed products were in high demand right across North Queensland’s Gulf Country, from Mt Garnett to Burketown and Camooweal, and then down to Clermont and Jericho in Central Queensland.
Michael said producer feedback on CGFP had centred on its high palatability, as well as its affordability.
In addition to the 1t bulk bags, ADM’s feed products also can be supplied quickly from Townsville in bulk and feeding recommendations can be provided upon request.
Central and North Queensland producers and stock feed consumers interested in further information about ADM’s Townsville feed offering can contact Michael Vaughan on 0427 308 317. Alternatively drop into the ADM stand at Beef Week 21 – WP64 in the Walter Pearce Pavilion.
