This is a subscriber-only article
This week we look back at the carcases produced by the BETTER farm group from the date they started officially in the programme on 1 January 2017 up to the end of February this year.
Steers
Eleven of the group killed steers that they bred themselves in 2017. Average carcase weight was 360kg at 24 months of age and average grade was R=. The top five producers are outlined in the table above and ranked on weight for age.
Weight for age is important. Firstly, housing is generally the first factor limiting herd growth on a beef farm. In an ideal world, unless there is a lot of grassland and a lot of shed space to use, we should be trying to slaughter some or all of our progeny prior to a second winter.
Obviously we are paid on kilos, but it takes inputs to put on those kilos. Younger animals are also more feed efficient so there are more rewards to be had when we put these inputs into a younger beast.
Sean Hayes tops the pile, as he did in our weaning weight league table last autumn. To achieve an average carcase weight of 411kg at 21 months is exceptional performance and a testament to the effort he puts in to the breeding of his cattle.
Comparing him with Tom Bolger, he achieved the same carcase weight three months sooner.
However, inclement weather forced Sean to house these animals earlier for finishing than Tom in the southeast, who was targeting a longer grazing season.
Also, the fact that Tom’s animals achieved two grades higher on the conformation scale means that they would’ve had a higher propensity for muscle deposition in their weight gain and thus taken longer to reach a desirable level of fat cover.
In Offaly, John Dunne achieved a carcase weight and grade of 386kg, R= on average across 65 steers, which is worth a mention. The fact that his average age at slaughter was 28 months is keeping him out of our top five.
However, John has almost 300 acres of land and is already at the maximum cow numbers that he is able to handle. He holds on to some of his steers for a third year at grass, which helps him to keep his farm’s grass stocking rate high.
By the time these animals are slaughtered, they will have consumed very little concentrates in their lifetime.
Bulls
We have 12 bull finishers in the programme and during the period in question, seven of these aimed to finish their animals under 16 months of age on the QPS grid. Understandably, given weight for age is our metric, our top five come from this cohort.
Joe Healy in Meath must be applauded for his average carcase weight of 414kg across 40 bulls, a phenomenal achievement. Doing it on 10 bulls would be impressive, but to achieve consistent high performance across so many heads is exceptional.
Genetics is one of the keys to a successful under-16-month bull system. Age can give us wriggle room when producing an older bull or steer, but to get a big weight at a young age we need good genetics in place.
What immediately stands out from the five bull producers in the table is that they’re all big into breeding – they all use a good degree of AI on their farms. That said, a good stock bull and cow combination can work brilliantly in young bull beef too.
In Louth, Martin O’Hare deserves a mention for the fact that he achieved an average conformation grade of U+ across 39 animals.
The group included two animals that graded E-, one from the NCBC Limousin AI sire FTY and one from his own five-star terminal Charolais stock bull, bred by the well-known CF85.
To put this in perspective, the under-16-month producers in the group averaged U= at the same carcase weight as him. Across Martin’s 39 bulls, he gained over €900 by jumping a grade on the QPS grid versus a situation where he averaged a U=.
While many farmers may aspire to change to finishing systems, the first step is to achieve a high daily gain up to weaning off grass and milk, as this will cut the silage and finishing bill at the other end.
Interestingly, some of the top steer producers are achieving carcase weights before the second winter that can match the top under-16 month bull producers.
While more land is required for the steer system, input costs in terms of meal and housing will be lower once the second winter is avoided and I imagine these farms will increase their profitability significantly once systems are up and running.
For any farmers considering changing to finishing for the first time, it is essential they educate themselves on market-spec fat scores and carcase weight requirements to ensure they achieve quality assurance bonuses and are paid on the QPS grid.
SHARING OPTIONS: