There is no doubting that well-run bull beef production systems offer efficiency gains, but an aspect that is frequently forgotten when comparing systems of production is that efficiently run steer systems offer numerous advantages in terms of finishing animals on a grass-based production system and utilising the farm’s resources. This is coming more into the frame following a sharp rise in concentrate costs in the last two years.

Michael Mellett farms in Shrule, Co Mayo, and is well placed to test the potential of a store to beef production system. After converting from dairying to beef production about a decade ago, he became an active participant in the Teagasc/Dawn Meats Beef Programme and, since the conversion, has continually tweaked his system with the target of improving efficiency.

With a focus on maximising grass utilisation and finishing steers where possible off grass, he is a very suitable host for this year’s IGA beef conference and farm walk next Tuesday, 18 June.

Farming system

Michael farms 40 hectares (100 acres) of grassland and runs a store to beef production system, finishing approximately 120 cattle each year.

Land type can be described as dry with the potential for a long grazing season. However, like many farms in the West of Ireland, it is fragmented into seven individual parcels spanning a mile from the farmyard in two opposite directions. He said this presents challenges with grazing and is a contributing factor to why he never experimented with bull beef production.

In a normal year, cattle are finished off grass from May through to July with replacement stores also purchased as finished stock leave the farm. The type of animal purchased is a suckler-bred continental steer that will kill predominately R grading with a percentage of steers feeding into U grades. Age for weight is a strong consideration and at present, 2012-born cattle are being purchased at a desired weight range of 450kg to 500kg. The aim is to finish at 24 to 28 months of age.

Grassland management

Grassland management is straightforward with a paddock system in operation. Grass demand is matched to grass supply in individual land parcels by using temporary electric fencing to sub-divide paddocks or by altering the number of stock grazing in a particular area if required. This is another factor in Michael’s preference of steer production as cattle can be mixed with little disturbance.

Priority cattle close to finishing are released early in the year in small numbers with the first steers released this spring on 23 February. These animals were given access to the best quality grass with the first animals drafted for slaughter on 25 May. The target is to keep good quality grass ahead of animals and achieve liveweight performance well in excess of 1kg/day by grazing swards down to 3.5cm to 4cm, weather permitting, early in the year and offering animals a grass height of 9cm to 12cm.

Spring difficulties

Inclement weather last autumn and a slow start to spring growth led Michael to adopt a different approach with store cattle purchased in 2012.

A group of 25 stores were housed early last autumn to conserve grass and allow the remaining animals to be held outdoors. These animals were finished around Christmas time on an ad-lib finishing diet.

With grass growth slow this spring, a further group of 25 steers were transferred onto an ad-lib finishing diet in early February and finished out of the shed in early May.

This increased finishing costs but Michael said that, in hindsight, this proved to be very beneficial as it took the pressure off grass demand this spring, allowing him to leave silage ground closed.

A rising beef price also improved the economics of finishing steers on ad-lib meals. Michael said that one benefit of finishing cattle in different systems this year is that it will allow him to re-analyse his costs and see how the systems compare in terms of costs and margin achieved. The costs are currently being analysed and will be presented next Tuesday.

Saving high quality silage is central to reducing his winter feed costs (reduces concentrate supplementation) and achieving high levels of animal performance.

The target is to ensile first cut silage in excess of 70 DMD, with this year’s silage harvested on 28 May. The crop benefitted from not having to be grazed this spring and is estimated to have yielded between nine and 10 tonnes per acre.

Ongoing developments

Michael said that his system has developed to suit the farm’s resources, with labour efficiency also a consideration, given that he works full-time off farm.

Ways to improve efficiency further will be considered where available. A recent example of this is weighing of cattle. Regular weighing and monitoring of liveweight performance has greatly brought aspects of his production system more into focus.