Reflecting on 2024: This time of year is a good time to assess your performance for the year. Sit down with a pen and paper and make a list of the things that you got right and a list of the things that, in hindsight, you may have done differently.

Ask yourself if another 2024 came around again, what would you do different and how could you be better prepared. Remember, it is only a mistake if you make it twice it’s a learning experience the first time. Set yourself targets for 2025. What are the key jobs you want to carry out on the farm? For example, do you want to reseed a proportion of the farm, improve fences, tighten the calving interval, improve cow quality or change the stock bull? While it will be an endless list on most farms, it will help to focus the mind if you prioritise the jobs you want to do over the next 12 months.

Target Slaughter Date: Steers and heifers that were built up on to heavy meal feeding in October should now be coming fit for slaughter. In the case of heifers, extending the intensive feeding period beyond 60 to 70 days is questionable, as performance levels will be starting to drop. For steers, the feeding period can be extended for a further 20 to 30 days before performance levels start to dip.

Keep a close eye on heifers and early maturing steers as they will start to lay down fat quickly. With high cereal prices, you should be selling at a fat score of 3= through to 4=. While you may increase output value, costs of production are increasing at a faster rate. Remember, where animals are being fed an ad-lib concentrate diet costing €300/t, daily feed costs are in the region of €3.30 per day or €23 per week. Counting in straw and other items, it’s closer to €30 a week and gets into big money where numbers are involved. Feeding 20 bulls could be costing over €600 a week. Handle cattle through a crush on a regular basis if you can. Weighing will also help visual assessment.

Profit Monitor: While the profit monitor system isn’t perfect, it’s one of the best ways that farmers have of assessing farm performance and completing a profit monitor is a good step to see where you are in relation to others. This is a key task to assess performance on your farm.

There is no point sticking your head in the sand thinking that poor financial performance will go away unless you make changes to your system and management. Put the time aside before the end of January to gather up all sales and input dockets from 2024. Make an appointment with your Teagasc adviser to complete the profit monitor and, more importantly, make a follow-up appointment to assess the performance. This is not a box-ticking exercise.

The scorecard report is good for analysing performance, as it highlights areas where performance is good and areas where it is poor. Make a list of five changes that you will undertake in 2025 to improve performance and stick it on the fridge. There’s a great feeling of satisfaction to be achieved when you cross them off when completed.