A key element of the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme (BCRS) is animals must be slaughtered by a specific age to be eligible for the £75 payment.
In year one, the age limit was 30 months for steers, heifers and bulls. Year two (2025) sees the age limit reduced to 28 months. In 2026 and 2027, the age reduces to 27 and 26 months respectively.
The purpose of lowering the slaughter age each year is to incentivise farmers into finishing cattle at a younger age, thereby reducing lifetime emissions from livestock farming.
While the overall consensus on the BCRS is positive, one drawback raised by farmers and processors is more cattle are being slaughtered without adequate fat cover, simply to meet the age limit.
Getting animals to the correct fat cover can be controlled inside the farm gate. However, for some, it will require changing the way animals are stored and fed during the finishing period.
Factors
Factors influencing the rate cattle gain fat include genetics and sex. Heifers lay down fat earlier than bullocks, which are in turn, easier to finish than bulls.
Native breeds like Aberdeen Angus tend to be early maturing, whereas continental breeds tend to be later maturing. Animals with a strong dairy influence can also be slow to cover.
But the way cattle are managed and fed in the store and finishing phase ultimately has the biggest bearing on getting animals to the right fat cover than genetics.
Management
Cattle that are well managed through early life tend to have good weight gain for age. For example, take spring born suckler bullocks under high levels of management across grazing, feeding and health.
Assuming a typical daily liveweight again of 1kg/day, which is a well-accepted industry target, March born cattle housed for their second winter in October are approximately 20 month of age.
At the outlined weight gain and age, that means cattle will be in the region of 600kg liveweight when housed for the second winter.
The herdowner has the option of a short four to six week store period, before intensive finishing animals for around 100 days, or moving cattle straight on to a 100 day intensive finishing period.
Fat cover
Even allowing for a brief stall in performance after housing as cattle adjust to the change in diet, these animals should comfortably gain adequate weight and fat cover in time to slaughter under 28 months.
More often than not, when cattle are light on fat cover when slaughtered, the root of the issue stems back to an underperformance in the first winter or second grazing season.
Take a similar example of spring born suckler animals gaining 0.75kg/day up to 20 months of age when housed for the second winter. This time, housing weight is 450kg.
As these cattle have roughly 250kg to 280kg to gain before reaching a suitable slaughter weight and fat cover, they will struggle to finish under 28 months of age.
Going forward, to avoid this issue, the farmer needs to focus on driving weaning weight and liveweight gain at grass this year.
That may mean a change to the grazing system, making higher quality silage, as well as changing the type and level of concentrate fed indoors going forward.
The BCRS payment has focused many a beef finisher’s mindset on slaughtering cattle before the required age limit.
In some cases, cattle being offloaded for processing are lacking adequate fat cover to meet this criteria.
Not only does this devalue the carcase in terms of price paid, but these cattle are likely to have a lower kill-out percentage, and conformation class will also be reduced.
Therefore, this poses the question of whether cattle are finished to meet the BCRS criteria, or, forgo the payment by holding animals for an additional period to improve carcase conformation.
Answering the question is not straightforward and will vary from farm to farm, and indeed, animal to animal.
Example
While every situation differs, take the example of a farmer with a pen of good quality bullocks weighing 680kg. Bullocks are approaching the 28 month age and sold for slaughter to meet the BCRS requirements.
However, cattle are lacking fat cover and have potential to put on additional weight, if held on the current intensive finishing diet.
When slaughtered, cattle average 380kg deadweight at R+2= conformation and paid an average 526p/kg, giving a carcase value of £1,998. Adding on the future BCRS payment brings the final carcase value to £2,073 per head.
Alternative
The alternative option is to hold the bullocks for an additional 40 days to improve conformation, but forgo the BCRS payment.
Assuming the bullocks were fed 8kg/day of a high maize finishing ration costing £265/t, continuing to feed cattle at this rate for an additional 40 days costs £85/head.
Factoring in good quality silage at 25kg/day per bullock, at a cost of £25/t, brings the combined feed costs to £110.
Assuming cattle gain 1.1kg day in the 40 days brings the final liveweight to 724kg.
The extra feeding lifts kill-out to 58%, yielding a 419kg carcase at U-3 conformation.
Due to the increase in conformation, and assuming a static beef market, the price paid to these cattle rises to 532p/kg.
This gives a carcase value of £2,229, which is reduced to £2,119 once the additional feed costs are deducted and exceeds the monetary value of offloading at the earlier age.
However, the outlined example is based on high genetic merit cattle capable of sustaining liveweight gains in excess of 1kg/day, which is not always the case.
If weight gain in the final 40 days is reduced and carcase weight averages 410kg, at a beef price of 532p/kg and deducting feed costs means the economics do not stack up on holding cattle.
In reality, the farmer is relying on a sharp rise in market prices over the 40 day period to make holding cattle viable.
Similarly, if cattle theoretically require a much longer finishing period than the outlined 40 days, this tilts the economics in favour of offloading animals under the 28 month age limit.
Ultimately, the merits come down to a farm by farm scenario and should be considered carefully, as the cost of inputs, time and housing space also have to be factored in to the equation.
Long term
But longer term, the farmer needs to alter the system, as going forward, the BCRS age limit will reduce meaning the economics tilt further in favour of slaughtering at a younger age.
Also, everyone in livestock production has the responsibility of lowering emissions and that means earlier finishing of cattle, at market specification, in future.
1 Choose a high energy ration
Energy is the priority in a finishing ration, along with starch. Choose a ration with a high cereal and maize content. Protein should be in the region of 13%. Feeding a higher protein content will encourage cattle to put on lean muscle, rather than fat.
2 Alternative feeds
In some instances, there is merit in offering an additional feed high in energy such as fodder beet along with a concentrate ration. This can stimulate appetite and increase dry matter intakes.
3 Shorten the store period
Don’t prolong the store period, allowing cattle to develop too much frame as this can make it harder to cover the animal.
4 Move onto an earlier finishing diet
Move cattle onto the finishing diet earlier if you have had issues getting animals to the correct fat class in previous years.
5 Genetics
In some cases, a change in breeding or finishing policy may be required to breeds, or bloodlines, that are less extreme in terms of the age of maturity.
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