The reduction in average carcass weights to date this year has been well-documented, with many farmers in the business of supplying cattle to the factory noticing drop-offs in cattle performance this year.
This performance drop was particularly evident throughout the grazing season and while the autumn conditions have proved much more favourable for grazing this year, autumn of 2023 and spring of 2024 were a different story, with challenging grazing conditions across most of the country.
While weather has been one factor attributing to the drop in carcass weights, genetics and nutrition are also two factors which likely attributed to the drop in carcass weights this year.
The table below details the average carcass weights by category from January to September of both 2023 and 2024:
Category 2023 2024 Change Steers 346.6kg 340.1kg -6.5kg Heifers 310.1kg 303.9kg -6.2kg Young bulls 372.2kg 369.1kg -3.1kg Cows 297.8kg 293.5kg -4.3kg Bulls 439.2kg 432.4kg -6.8kg
As can be seen from the table above, the average steer and heifer carcass weights in the first three quarters of this year have fallen by 6.5kg and 6.2kg respectively.
The young bull carcass weight is back only slightly by 3.1kg and the average cow carcass weight has fallen by 4.3kg.
Changing genetic composition
The change in the genetic composition of the beef kill was highlighted by Bord Bia’s Seamus McMenamin at a recent farmer meeting in the midlands.
He highlighted that in 2013, 46% of the prime cattle kill originated from suckler-bred progeny, 25% of the prime cattle kill were sired by a beef bull and bred off a dairy dam and 29% were bred off a dairy sire and dairy dam.
In 2023, 35% of the prime cattle kill originated from the suckler breeding with 38% of the prime cattle kill dairy-beef breeding and 27% of the prime kill dairy-dairy bred.