The Irish beef industry received a massive boost this week with the announcement that Turkey is now open to live cattle exports from Ireland. After last month’s visit from Turkish veterinary officials, Department of Agriculture officials stated that a health certificate has been issued and cattle are now free to leave Ireland for Turkey, subject to a few conditions yet to be clarified.

Live exports of cattle are vital for a strong and viable beef industry. They provide a real source of competition in the marketplace for the primary producer – the suckler farmer. Without a live export market, the only outlets for beef cattle are selling directly to the factory or for further finishing before selling to the factory.

Last year, Turkey imported approximately 380,000 head of cattle. The majority of these animals were sourced in South America, with Uruguay being a key country in sending cattle to Turkey.

France exported 120,000 head of cattle to Turkey, but with Bluetongue restrictions, French export numbers are well behind last year.

The Turkish market provides a massive opportunity for Ireland. While there has been no indication of when the first shipments are likely to commence, some shipping agents have been active in trying to source weanlings in advance of this week’s announcement.

Reported prices on offer have been around the €3/kg mark, but will very much depend on the weanling type.

Beef prices in Turkey are currently strong, with finishers receiving around €8/kg for finished cattle.

One thing to be finalised by Department officials is whether shipping agents can sell directly into Turkey or whether cattle have to be sold through a state agency.

Export weanlings must undergo a 21-day quarantine period in an approved facility. These animals must be isolated from other cattle not intended for export to Turkey.

Cattle type

The Turkish market requires good-quality continental weanlings with plenty of muscling. Bull weanlings are mainly required, but heifers will also be suitable if they are of good quality. Cattle required are Irish-born suckler-bred beef animals under the age of 12 months and below 300kg liveweight. These cattle are in short supply at the moment, as many autumn weanlings will be well in excess of such weight limits.

The market may currently provide an option for early spring-born weanlings, especially those operating in areas of the country where land is heavy and achieving high levels of weight gain from grass in the autumn is difficult.

Exporting such a light weanling can place the animal under stress if it has not been well managed prior to sale. It is important that suckler producers who are thinking about selling into this market take every step to ensure they sell healthy animals that are strong enough to endure the journey.

Weanlings are fed for another six to eight months in Turkey and slaughtered around 700kg liveweight.

Preparation for sale

Selling a weanling between 270kg and 300kg liveweight means the animal may need to be weaned at six to seven months of age. The calf should be weaned at least one month prior to sale to reduce the risk of pneumonia developing in the animal due to stress.

Calves should also be consuming meals from at least two weeks pre-weaning. Feeding 2kg to 3kg of meals per day will keep the calf settled when weaning and reduce any loss in liveweight during this period. It will also help to improve the animal’s conformation, which can increase the sale price.

Calf health is crucial when selling cattle for live export. Healthy animals will help to grow the market and increase the chance of repeat sales for your herd. There is a big difference between a 280kg weanling sold for export and a 480kg weanling in terms of hardiness.

Calves should be wormed at least twice during the grazing season, with the second dose administered around two weeks pre-weaning. Where possible, using a wormer with a residual cover period of six to eight weeks is recommended to ensure calves have healthy lungs. Use of a pneumonia vaccine is also recommended to cover for Pasturella, RSV and PI3.

Added competition

With an increase in the number of finished cattle expected to come on to the market this winter, beef price may come under severe pressure in late 2016. Poor beef prices can drain confidence from the weanling trade in marts.

Having additional competition for Irish cattle is to be welcomed. The Turkish market will hopefully bring an alternative outlet for light weanlings should the domestic mart trade come under pressure. Live exports of Irish cattle are lagging well behind 2015 levels as indicated in Table 1.

Exports of calves are down almost 12,000 head, despite calf registrations being up this year. The Netherlands is the main market for live calf exports from Ireland.

Exports of finished cattle are down almost 11,000 head on 2015 levels. Northern Ireland was the main market for these cattle in 2015, but with a stronger euro exchange rate and improved domestic prices, fewer cattle have moved north for direct slaughter this year.

Budget

As always, you should do a few simple budgets to give an indication of which market is the best option for your cattle before you sell. Once sold, you cannot do anything about the price. Make sure you use realistic prices for your cattle.

There is no point in doing a budget based on a mart price of €2.80/kg for a bull weanling in November if you have never received such a price or in using a liveweight that only a handful of weanlings will achieve.

Table 2 outlines a simple budget for a farmer with 20 spring-born weanlings and the typical costs incurred to date. Two sale options are outlined. One option is to sell weanlings on 1 September for the Turkish market and the other option is to sell weanlings on 1 November through the local mart.

In both examples, liveweight gain is taken at 1.3kg/day from birth to sale. Meal is fed to the cow for 30 days after calving due to the poor spring this year. In option one, meal is introduced to the calf on 10 July at 1kg/day. From 1 August, an average of 2kg/day is fed to weanlings before selling on 1 September.

For option two, meal is introduced on 1 September and fed at a rate of 2kg/day for 30 days, then increased to 3kg/day for the next month.

The examples outlined are purely hypothetical and exclude fixed costs, finance, labour and land rent. The example is merely to highlight the importance of doing a budget to explore your sale options.