Last week, Alastair McNeilly, Antrim, hosted a discussion group meeting for the programme farmers.

As well as a detailed discussion on benchmarking results, the group got an update on the system changes on Alastair’s farm and his future plans.

Since joining the BETTER Farm NI programme in 2017, Alastair’s gross margin has increased from £894/ha to £1,060/ha, the highest across the 10 farms.

Variable costs were £475/ha and account for 35% of herd output, which was £1,507/ha over the past year.

Stocking rate has increased by one-third from 1.85 CE/ha (cow equivalents) to 2.4 CE/ha. Liveweight produced on farm has increased from 691kg/ha to 856/ha.

Farm size remained static at 58.9ha of grassland, with 21.9ha owned and 37ha rented as two separate land blocks.

Cow numbers have increased from an average of 66 breeding females in 2016 to the current 96 cows calving down this spring.

All male progeny born on farm are finished as steers. Heifers that are surplus to breeding requirement are sold live and finished depending on housing space.

The spring calving herd has expanded over the last three years with 96 cows set to calve down this year.

Required investment

Growing the herd to its current level means the farm has reached its limit on housing space and slurry storage.

To finish all cattle on farm from a herd of 95 cows will require a new shed and slurry storage to be constructed.

Alastair has priced a new tank for a five-bay shed. Based on estimates, an outlay of close on £40,000 would be required to complete all ground work, tank and slats.

Viability

The cost of the shed is still to be incurred after this. It would be a huge investment for any suckler farm, and at current beef prices, the return on investment does not stack up.

Such an investment would require more cattle to generate additional income to dilute the costs of the shed.

But with two poultry houses on farm, and Alastair being the only full-time labour unit, he is reluctant to increase cow numbers further.

Discussion among the group focused on the alternative options to investing in a new cattle house.

All options discussed can be easily accommodated on the farm, and immediately alleviate the pressure on housing facilities for next winter.

Option 1: Reduce the suckler herd

The herd had a target of weaning 85 calves from 85 cows annually by 2019 but has expanded beyond this.

To hit the target, Alastair needs to put around 95 to 100 cows to the bull each year with the aim of having 88 to 90 cows calving each spring.

This allows for cows scanning empty, embryonic loss and some calf mortality.

Currently, the farm has scope to sell some cows and Alastair has already considered doing so. Selling now takes the pressure off housing facilities before calving gets under way.

As the herd starts calving from mid- to late-March, cows will remain housed at capacity for a few weeks yet.

However, if weather conditions improve, yearling cattle will go back to grass and automatically reduce stocking density in cattle housing. This option will be reviewed later in spring.

Option 2: Finish strongest male calves as bulls

The next option discussed was finishing 10 to 12 of the strongest male calves as young bulls, cutting out the need for a second winter housing period.

The herd is bred to Angus and Limousin bulls, with some Shorthorn semen now being used. Cattle performance is good, with male calves averaging 278kg at 200 days of age when weaned last autumn.

Within this group, there is potential to creep-feed from the start of September to get as many bull calves to a target of 300kg by weaning.

These animals would then be intensively finished over winter. The farm produces high-quality silage each year, which would reduce the volume of concentrate required to finish bulls. Ideally, the target would be to finish the Limousin calves as bulls, with the remaining animals finished as steers.

Down side

However, the downside to this option is cattle performance is improving and age at slaughter is reducing year on year.

In 2017, no spring-born steers were killed before Christmas. In 2018, 10 steers were killed in December, increasing to 20 in 2019.

These are the animals which would potentially be killed as bulls, yet they are currently finished as steers with minimal purchased feed.

As genetics and performance from grass continue to improve, there is scope to further increase the number of cattle killed in December and potentially kill some Angus-bred steers off grass.

Option 3: Sell steers as stores in September

The big strengths on Alastair’s farm are the grazing system and performance of cattle at grass. Cattle are grazed on high-quality swards from early to mid-March, weather depending.

This means cattle get the benefit of compensatory growth in spring and can put on a lot of cheap liveweight. Last year, steers gained 1.09kg/day from grass alone from February to late July.

Under this option, the herd is utilising grassland to its potential.

In contrast, reducing cow numbers and finishing a group of males as bulls would mean there is more surplus grass in the system.

The key with option three is to maximise weight gains from turnout to September. At this point, cattle should be weighed.

Budget

A budget could be drawn up based on liveweight, beef price, mart price, silage stocks and concentrate costs.

The options available to the farm would be to sell off some steers at this point. Heavy cattle that will finish by December would most likely be retained, depending on the economics of finishing.

The lightest cattle should be in the region of 480kg to 500kg liveweight and could be sold live at this point in time.

As these lighter animals would require a longer housing period, and greater quantities of purchased feed, offloading early would free up considerable housing space for the winter period.

The big plus from the group meeting is that Alastair has options. As a farmer that weighs cattle regularly and carries out feeding budgets under the programme, he is well positioned to make an informed decision based on hard data.

All three options fit with Alastair’s long-term aim of a sustainable, profitable system for one full-time labour unit, rather than investing in new housing.

Read more

Irish prices matching EU average

Five essential purchases for the calving kit