Newford Farm drafted 22 more cattle for slaughter on Friday 19 November, including 15 heifers and seven bullocks killed at an average age of 20.5 months of age.

Starting with the heifers first, analysis by Teagasc's Michael Fagan shows the average liveweight of the batch was 588kg and with an average carcase weight of 326kg, the heifers killed out at 56%.

Fifteen of the heifers satisfied the quality payment scheme criteria, with the four remaining heifers killing with a fat score of 2=.

In terms of conformation, 12 heifers were R grades and three were U grades. The average sale price per kilo was €4.48/kg and the gross value was €1,460.27/head.

Meal feeding

Michael reports that nine heifers consumed 496kg of concentrates during the finishing phase, costing €151/head (concentrate cost of €305/t).

Concentrates were introduced to this batch on 26 July, with these heifers targeted for an earlier finishing date.

The average liveweight of these heifers was 611kg, compared with 553kg for the seven heifers which started on meal at housing on 28 October.

This latter batch of heifers consumed 157kg of concentrates at a cost of €48/head.

Bullock slaughter performance

The seven bullocks had an average liveweight of 668kg, kill-out of 55% and carcase weight of 367kg. The bullocks graded three R+, three R= and two R- grades, while the fat cover averaged 3-, with all animals recording a fat score above 2+.

The average price per kilo was €4.42/kg and the average sale price was €1,622/head.

The bullocks had also been on two different feeding programmes. Three of the bullocks were part of a group of bullocks which started to receive concentrates on 2 September, while concentrates were introduced to the other four bullocks at housing on 20 October.

The total concentrates consumed was 366kg for the three bullocks, costing €112/head, while the four bullocks consumed 157kg of concentrates costing €48/head.

Michael reports that the 22 remaining 2020-born bullocks are being finished on ad-lib high-feed value grass silage, which tested in the low-70s for dry matter digestibility along with 6kg concentrates. The concentrates are been offered in morning and evening feeds of 3kg.