It’s no secret that Irish beef cattle prices are on the rise, and with demand forecasted to remain strong and supply expected to be down on last year, the latter half of 2021 and onwards is looking fairly positive for Irish beef price.
Speaking at a farm walk in Co. Wexford last week, Teagasc’s head of drystock, Pierce Kelly, welcomed the rising beef prices and noted it had not been anticipated.
He explained that earlier this year, market signals were indicating that “beef price was heading for €3/kg and now, people are talking about beef reaching €5/kg”.
Pick out beef cattle
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to start identifying cattle for finishing and deciding whether they will be finished off grass, or put into the shed and fattened.
Teagasc’s business and technology advisor Peter Lawrence noted that the best strategy is to pick a finish date and work back from there.
He noted: “Ideally, cattle would want to be 50-60 days off finish.”
Lawrence explained that grass quality begins to deteriorate in August. Where cattle could be achieving daily liveweight gains of 1-1.2kg/day in summer, that figure could drop to 0.75kg/day from August onwards.
Therefore, getting cattle to eat enough grass to maintain weight gain, growth and fat cover becomes increasingly difficult and introducing concentrates – if not already being fed – becomes a more practical option.
If at all possible, avoiding keeping cattle for a second winter will greatly reduce costs in a beef finishing operation.
Feed costs
Feeding cattle good quality grass along with meal, costs approximately €1-2/day, while feeding cattle in a shed on silage and concentrates will cost a farmer approximately €2-4/day, according to Teagasc estimates.
Once cattle are identified that will be fit for slaughter in September/October-time (60-80 days time), the next step is to identify how much concentrates to feed them.
How much meal?
While different farmers have different preferences on the amounts of concentrates to feed cattle, Teagasc recommends that cattle on good quality grass should be fed half a kilo of meal per 100kg liveweight.
So, for example, a 600kg steer needs 3kg/head/day to finish on quality grass.
A 500kg heifer needs 2.5kg concentrates per day to finish.
In a situation where grass quality has deteriorated, more concentrates can be introduced and should be increased by a further 1kg per 100kg liveweight.
Lawrence noted that a beef finisher ration should be “kept simple” and noted there’s not a huge demand for protein when finishing cattle, its energy the heifer or steer needs”.
“Grass will have sufficient protein later in the year for finishing cattle so it’s just to get energy into them to get the fat cover right,” Lawrence said.
“You’re trying to get fat cover on the animals and improve the kill-out so a simple barley-based diet or a 3-way mix with 11-12% protein should be sufficient.”
Before sending cattle to the factory, it is important the farmer is sure that fat score and factory spec is correct – if selling cattle ‘on the grid’.
Traditional breeds such as Angus and Hereford – namely heifers – can become over-fat surprisingly quick, while continental bullocks can stay lean or ‘short of flesh’ for a longer period, so it is important to be sure your cattle will tick all the boxes when presented at the factory.
While many beef farmers have a well trained eye and can judge when their cattle are fit, those who are unsure should contact their factory agent to take a look at their cattle before sending them to the factory.
Concluding, Lawrence reminded beef farmers of the safety element of feeding beef cattle concentrates on grass and suggested feeding cattle along an electric wire.