There is more discussions regarding the finishing of store lambs with some farmers weighing up the prospects of generating a margin in light of higher input costs, while others with surplus grass are looking at their options. The Teagasc store lamb calculator is an excellent resource for farmers to complete a finishing budget.

Click here to access it Clickable Text Here.

This is equally useful for farmers weighing up whether to retain lambs through to finish or to market them as stores.

The calculator is Excel based and will complete most of the work for you in terms of calculating animal performance and the sale price achieved. The performance figures on which the calculations are based on are taken from extensive research carried out for more than a decade to determine profitable finishing strategies for hill and crossbred lambs.

The elements that those completing the budget must include are the purchasing price, the length of grazing and the typical input costs. The example in table 1 works of two options of purchasing Scottish Blackface male lambs at 25kg and 30kg and then heavier crossbred lambs purchased at 35kg liveweight. Purchase price is set at €3/kg for light lambs, €3.30/kg for 30kg hill lambs and €3.50/kg for crossbred lambs which can obviously vary hugely from this.

In all scenarios lambs are brought through to French market carcase weights. There are options to finish lambs at lighter weights but this is something that producers need to discuss directly with the factory where the lambs are slaughtered.

Input costs

The input costs selected are not set in stone and farmers should use their own costs to get an accurate reflection of how this effects the margin. For example there is farmers purchasing concentrates at €360/t to €380/t while there is farmers paying €430/t to €440/t where purchasing in small volumes and 25kg bags.

The length of time lambs spend on farm will have an influence on veterinary costs. There is a number of quarantine costs which can quickly accumulate. For example if purchasing a new generation wormer it can add upwards of €1 per head to the costs while plunge dipping can run anywhere from over €1 per head to €2.50/head plus depending on numbers being dipped and if a mobile contractor is used.

Other costs to consider are vaccination, liver fluke treatment and footbathing.

If these are all included it can quickly surpass €5 to €7 per head.

Transport costs are often not factored in to the mix but given where fuel costs have gone this cannot be ignored. Other costs can include commission and this can range from €2 per head to upwards of €5 per head depending on where lambs are being sold.

Mortality will depend on the finishing system. For a short term finishing system on grass mortality could be as low as zero to 1% while for a long term finishing system incorporating indoor finishing then 2% to 3% mortality is more realistic.

Finishing calculator

Lamb performance will vary depending on gender and lamb type and selecting from the options will alter output metrics. Grass quality will also have a major influence with options of selecting good, average or poor-quality grass.

Consideration should be given to the target carcase weight as while maximising carcase weight will deliver the highest sale value it may not return the greatest margin depending on the system in place.