One of the most common conversations among beef producers at this time of year is whether they have many cattle left to kill and whether they plan to finish them out of the shed or off grass. More farmers might find themselves in this situation this spring, with many store cattle at a more advanced stage.

There is no simple answer. There are many expert and valued opinions offered, and others that are less logical, but the fact remains that you have to do what is best for your business.

One thing that should be used to form the basis of your decision is a budget. It can be as simple or complex as you want to make it, but make sure the information used, eg beef price, carcase weights or carcase grades, is relevant to your farm.

There is no point in doing a budget and using prices or weights you have never achieved before. The budget will highlight potential income and costs from this point forward.

After the costs incurred from feeding cattle this winter, this is not a decision that should be made lightly. Winter feeding costs are spread out over five to six months. It is only when they are totalled that it will give you a handle on what it costs to produce 1kg of liveweight on your farm or what price you need to cover costs before selling.

Considerations

There are a number of options for strong, forward cattle at the moment, such as:

  • Intensively finish in the shed.
  • Sell live now to another finishing unit.
  • Return cattle to grass and kill during the summer or next autumn.
  • Return to grass and sell live in summer or autumn.

    • When considering your options, there are other factors besides beef price and sale weight that must be remembered. Some of these options will not be available to you if your farm is already overstocked or operating on heavier land.

    Forward cattle may be another grazing group competing for grass with either cows, replacements or next year’s finishing cattle, which will then be too light at housing.

    Finishing cattle off grass is not a straightforward option. What happens if there is a wet summer? Can your land carry steers weighing 600kg to 700kg during a prolonged wet period?

    Grass management needs to be good, as does grass quality. Otherwise the anticipated cheaper weight gain will not be realised and you may end up feeding large amounts of meal outside, or even having to rehouse cattle to get them properly covered.

    The spring will soon be upon us and the time for making a decision for forward cattle needs to be made soon.

    On many farms, there are other tasks competing for your limited time besides feeding cattle. Calving, lambing, slurry, fertiliser spreading and grazing are all to the fore in planning which jobs need tended to on a daily basis.

    Completing a budget

  • 1. Weigh cattle: Weighing cattle will give you a sound base from which to work. You will have a firm grasp on how far animals are from the target finishing weight.

    • With lighter cattle, knowing the weight will give you an indication of their potential sale value and whether this will be enough to cover costs to date. If it does not, then you can consider the option of holding them until late spring, early summer or autumn before selling.

  • 2. Calculate feeding period: When you know the weight, you can calculate how many days it will take to finish cattle. Weight gain for steers will vary from 0.6kg to 1.2kg/day on farms, depending on the diet fed.

    • Taking a 650kg steer with a target carcase weight of 400kg and typically killing out at 57%, then the target liveweight should be 700kg (400kg divided by 0.57). At a daily gain of 0.9kg/day, it will take about 55 days to reach the target sale weight.

    The same applies with turning the animal out to grass. There will be a period of around 20 to 30 days with little weight gain as the animal adjusts to the grass diet.

    This period can be influenced by body condition at turnout. Over-fat cattle at turnout take longer to re-adjust to grazing.

    If the animal is 560kg liveweight at present and the target carcase weight is 380kg, it needs to weigh around 670kg liveweight when finished.

    At a daily gain of 0.9kg/day, it will take around 140 days (assuming a 20-day transition period after turnout), with the animal slaughtered in mid- to late August.

  • 3. Calculate feed inputs: For finishing animals eating 15kg of silage (£20/t) and 10kg of concentrate (£190/t), the daily feed cost is £2.20. Over 55 days, this amounts to £121/head.

    • With the animal returned to grass, what are the grazing costs likely to be? If grazed grass costs £60/t DM and the animal is eating 2% of its body weight in DM/day, then a 600kg animal would have a grazing cost of £0.72/day. Add in the meal costs also if fed.

    Reduce the grass fed by 1kg DM for every 1kg of meal fed. Do not forget to factor in any vet or fencing costs.

  • 4. Beef price and sale weight: Use a realistic price and sale weight based on the type of cattle you will sell, whether this is for finished cattle or selling live through the mart. Deduct the costs that are likely to be incurred and those already accrued from this winter.

    • Best options

    So, what is the best marketing option for a select group of cattle on-farm this spring? The following options look at a steer finishing system. It assumes the animals all have the same starting weight on 1 April of 560kg and a daily liveweight gain of 1kg/day.

    From housing on 1 November until 1 April, the cattle consumed 3.75t of silage (£20/t) and 450kg of meal (£190/t). They were given fluke, worm and lice drenches. Total wintering costs are £175/head.

    The options outlined include intensive finishing, grazing and finishing and selling live immediately.

  • Option one: Intensive finish indoors: For this option, you realistically need an animal that is 60 to 80 days off slaughter weight, as it is not cost-effective to intensively feed steers beyond this period. Heifers will suit this option better than steers, as they are easier to put flesh on.

    • Taking the steer on 1 April weighing 560kg and fed for 80 days, it will reach a sale weight of 640kg. At 57% kill-out, carcase weight is 365kg. The animal is fed an average of 8kg/day of meal and 15kg of good-quality silage (66 D-value) during this period. Total feed costs for the 80 days are £146.

    Taking in the winter feed cost and purchase price of the animal at 1 November being £1,000, the animal needs a breakeven price of £3.62/kg for a 365kg carcase. An increase of 10kg in carcase weight reduces breakeven price by 10p/kg.

  • Option two: Graze and finish: In this option, the animal is turned out to grass on 1 April and has a 20-day period to adjust to a grazing diet. No weight gain is assumed during this period. Finishing date is 1 August. Assuming a 1kg/day daily liveweight gain, the animal has a sale weight of 660kg.

    • But as it is a grass-finished animal, kill-out is reduced to 55%. Meal is fed for the final six weeks before slaughter. Breakeven price in this case is £3.54/kg. However, is this going to take up land that should be grazing growing stock over the summer months?

  • Option three: Sell now: In this option, the animal is sold through the mart on 1 April. No further costs are incurred. Breakeven price is £1,225 when all costs including winter feed costs are factored in. At 560kg that’s a liveweight price of £2.19/kg.

    • Summary

    The outlined options and budgets are merely a guideline for costings to be considered. Something to remember is that good cattle will always sell well in the live trade, which adds value to the animal. You can always bring an animal home from the mart if you are unhappy with the price, whereas on the finishing side, you only get one opportunity to sell cattle. Once they are on the lorry, the decision to sell is final.