The standout message at Wednesday’s BEEF2026 event held in Teagasc, Grange was that technical efficiency is key to operating sustainable suckler beef systems.

Analysis presented by Paul Crosson, Teagasc beef enterprise leader, showed that the top third of farmers generated a net margin of €1,580/ha in 2025. This was over seven times higher than the bottom third of farmers which generated a net margin of €220/ha.

Farms operating at a high level of technical efficiency were primed to capitalise on a beef price increase of €2/kg in 2025 with the margin for the top third of farms rising from €520/ha in 2024 while the net margin on the bottom third of farms was negative at -€280/ha.

Crosson pointed out that the margin on the bottom third of farms in 2025 was still lower than the top third of farms in 2024 despite the significant spike in beef price.

The importance of keeping costs in check was also highlighted in sobering figures presented by Teagasc’s Peter Doyle which showed the annual cost of keeping a cow-calf unit within the calf-to-weanling system was €1,000/cow-calf-pair excluding a labour and land charge. This can be broken down roughly to €525 for feed, €121 for veterinary and breeding and €354 for fixed costs.

Doyle highlighted that these figures were based on an efficient 70-cow herd and could be as high as €1,250 on smaller sized farms or in systems with lower performance.

The Teagasc researcher also pointed out that despite the high costs well run systems can deliver a net profit of up to €820/cow.

This equates to €57,000 net profit in a 70-cow herd, €36,320 in a 50-cow herd and €14,860 in a 30-cow herd. However, this could fall to as low as €211/cow/year where performance was limiting. The importance of calving heifers at 24 months of age and making farms more labour efficient and striving for a better work-life balance was also a theme on the opening stands.

Dairy beef systems

Meanwhile analysis presented by Jamie O’Driscoll, Teagasc, on dairy-beef systems showed that farmers using the Commercial Beef Value (CBV) when purchasing calves and selecting five-star versus one-star animals had the potential of achieving a €170 higher carcase value.

This is based on a base beef price of €6.40/kg and is underpinned by five-star animals delivering a 21kg higher carcase when slaughtered and finishing 27 days younger. The cost of five-star versus one-star calves was €55 higher showing the potential to increase the final sale value by €115/head by using the CBV when selecting calves.

Production system analysis presented by Ellen Fitzpatrick, Teagasc researcher, showed that efficient steer systems delivering carcases of 290kg to 310kg have the potential to deliver a net margin per head of €510 and €640, respectively at a calf price of €350/head. This margin reduces to €410 and €540 at a calf price of €450/head.