With BETTER farm entering its third phase, new participants are very much in tune with the principles of the programme and where success was achieved in previous years. This group is a driven one – chasing high margins across the board. One of the most interesting observations from our early visits is just how many of the new entrants are enquiring about bull beef – the most profitable production system the last time round.

Processor thoughts

Our beef processor stakeholders do not interfere with any aspect of management or specific enterprises on any of the participating farms but are available to offer input when requested. Having communicated with them, the messages regarding bulls are clear.

All say that their main market is for steers and heifers, although demand for bulls exists to varying levels. Bulls slaughtered at less than 16 months are preferred to the typical 18- to 22-month production system due to their suitability for the UK market but, that said, there is a word of caution on this production system in the longer-term due to Brexit-related market uncertainties.

Listen to a discussion of Robert's options with his advisors in our podcast below:

Listen to "BETTER farm: contemplating bulls in Longford" on Spreaker.

For older bulls, processors continue to advise the same caution that existed in previous phases.

Yes, niche demand exists but the advice for anyone considering progressing down this production system, or indeed an under-month system, is to talk to your processor first to gauge likely demand and the type of carcase specifications that are likely to generate optimum demand.

For example, getting an adequate cover of fat (2+ or greater) is critical for all with carcase weight limits, with a general upper limit of 400kg to 430kg.

No guarantee

The market for under-16-month bull carcasses cannot be guaranteed in the long-term given the uncertainty around Brexit and the fact that this product is typically UK-bound. For older bulls there is even more uncertainty, and demand is very much on a factory-by-factory basis.

All this being said, decisions must be made based upon profit and there is no glaringly obvious indicators out there to suggest that bull beef will not remain the most profitable suckler beef system in the coming years, albeit when run in an efficient manner.

Robert Abbott, our Longford BETTER representative, is aware of this. A traditional weanling producer, he is keen on taking the leap into finishing. With winter accommodation a big issue on the farm, he is leaning towards a bull beef system where the need for a second winter period is eliminated.

Recently, the BETTER team met with Robert and his local B&T adviser, Shane Devaney, on his farm to chew the fat on the farm’s future. Listen to some of the debate on the podcast below.

First steps

Having first decided that Robert would calve his herd of 35 sucklers in the springtime, the next decision to make was on his finishing system.

Two options

With bull beef he has two options. He can turn his yearling bulls to grass after a store winter (0.5-0.7kg ADG) for 100 days of cheap weight gain before housing for a high-concentrate finish, or keep them indoors once weaned and build them up to a high-concentrate diet around their first birthday and slaughter under 16 months.

The first system above forgoes payment on the QPS grid, which eliminates the 12c/kg QPS bonus quality assurance bonus and is seen to produce non-prime beef and thus discounted. Its merits lie in the lucrative weight gain at grass as yearlings – well-managed animals of good breeding can readily achieve in excess of 1.3kg ADG during the three-month grazing period.

The under-16-month system produces a higher-value carcase – that has potential to achieve conformation and QPS bonues – at a point in the year when beef price is typically high, but carries risks with the amount of meal input required.

It can be argued that both are specialised. For someone who has never finished cattle, putting up to 1.5 tonnes of meal into a beast and trying to hit a weight and age specification might seem daunting, but so is the prospect of grazing bulls.

For me, a big factor to consider is the cow and the sire – will the cocktail deliver heavy weanling? Because these systems automatically become much easier and cheaper if this is the case. Many would consider any bull weanling lighter than 350kg unsuitable for an under-16-month system.

Darren Carty also contributed reporting to this article.

Read more

Watch: spring or summer calving debate rages in Longford

All reports from the BETTER farm programme