1 Do the sums and know your budget: Winter finishing is an extremely tough business and has been for many years now. Farmers need to re-appraise the system if it’s not profitable. Many large finishers will have budgets to work on what they can pay around the store ring. If you know the starting price, it’s easy to add transport, feed costs, health costs, fixed costs, slaughter costs, interest and, most importantly, the margin per head that you require for the labour input involved.

While many farms will choose to finish certain numbers each year, budgets may mean tweaking the type or weight of animal purchased. It’s been very disappointing in recent years that we haven’t seen a much-needed lift in prices for the most expensive time of the year and farmers really need to question the operation if it’s losing money year on year.

2 Talk to your processor: Many winter finishers will purchase stock this autumn based on what they have done in the previous autumn. Some will sit down with their processor and discuss supply. Big finishers can leverage a forward price when guaranteed and regular supply is provided. For the smaller finisher, it’s somewhat harder to get forward prices, but this shouldn’t stop farmers sitting down with their processor and analysing what can be done to ensure the maximum price is obtained at the end of the finishing period. There are niche markets that some processors are targeting and there may be opportunities for some finishers to tap into as well by discussing specs with them.

3 Buying animals stress-free: Stressed animals are prone to sickness and this will reduce potential to thrive. Many large finishers have moved to purchase animals on farm where they have control over weaning and vaccination protocols. When purchased, animals should be housed in a well-bedded shed and allowed to acclimatise to their new surroundings. Animals should not be stressed during this time. Minimise time animals spend in marts and monitor animals closely for the first few days on farm.

4 Ensure adequate lying space and ventilation: There are many factors which affect animal performance that are often not thought about on farm. Achieving good animal intakes is very important to achieve high daily liveweight gains. Make sure there is adequate lying space for animals. Typical area required for a 550kg finishing steer would be 2.5m2 rising to 4m2 in a straw-bedded shed. If sheds are stocked too high, it will increase the chances of an outbreak of a disease. Make sure that there is adequate inlet and outlet ventilation and look for cobwebs or moisture, which are signs of a poorly ventilated shed.

5 Implement an animal health programme: Consult with your vet and use farm history to develop an animal health plan. On some farms where there has been previous issues with pneumonia, think about vaccination. Have a structured plan in place for liver fluke, rumen fluke, worms and lice. If dosing at housing, take some faecal samples six to eight weeks later to make sure that it worked and dose as required depending on results. Monitor animals daily to make sure they are all feeding. An animal not feeding is the first sign of sickness. Look for animals lying down ruminating – a sign that you have healthy animals.

6 Analyse your forage: This should form the basis for the feeding plan over the next few months. Your feed company will more than likely offer this service free of charge. If silage quality is very poor, it may make economic sense to up meal levels and finish on an ad-lib diet. Testing silage also means you can feed the best silage to finishing cattle and leave the poorer cuts for suckler cows, etc. Make sure to take a cored sample to get a good representative sample. Silage should be 68-plus D-value for finishing cattle. Animal intake will be higher with high D-Value silage. Whole crop and arable silage have important roles to play in finishing diets on some farms.

7 Keep the diet simple: Keep the diet as simple as possible and make sure you source high-quality ingredients to formulate rations. Rations should be formulated on an energy basis and finishers should aim for an ME of over 12 for finishing cattle. Monitor intakes if you can. Typical intakes for a grass silage-based finishing diet for steers and heifers would be between 1.6% and 1.8% of bodyweight. For example, a 600kg steer at 1.7% of bodyweight means 10.2kg/DM intake/day.

A simple three- or four-way mix containing an energy, protein and fibre source with minerals added will be suitable for finishing cattle. Barley is normally the best choice energy source, with wheat and maize also being high in energy. Protein sources include soya bean meal and rapeseed, with maize distillers sometimes a good option due its high energy content.

The main digestible fibre feeds available are citrus pulp, beet pulp and soya hulls. If feeding ad-lib, be very careful to build up meal intake slowly to avoid acidosis and digestive upsets. Cattle need minerals to maintain good health and finishing cattle should be fed a good-quality mineral if not included in the ration.

8 Set targets for liveweight gain – weigh, weigh, weigh: Weighing animals and monitoring performance is an absolute must for any serious beef finisher. A weigh platform and clock is a relatively small investment and can highlight issues before the naked eye can see them. Animals should be weighed at the beginning and end of the finishing phase at the very least. It will inform you whether your finishing diet is working or not. In bigger units, it’s sometimes interesting to see cattle from one source outperforming others arising from genetics or previous management. Coming closer to finish, it will be a good guide on drafting animals within spec. Weight records can be maintained on a farm software package for review.

9 Keep within spec: Make sure all animals are slaughtered within the abattoir’s specifications. While broadly similar between slaughter houses, maximum carcase weight limits may differ by 20kg. You also have to watch grades and fat cover and be sure you are meeting minimum spec. On the other side, avoid feeding animals for too long, pushing them overweight while trying to get a fat cover on them. If fat cover is an issue, review your diet spec and type of stock purchased.

Review the operation: At the end of the finishing period, look back and see what worked well and, more importantly, what didn’t work well. Doing the same things every year and expecting a different outcome doesn’t make economic sense. Keep a track on all actual costs versus estimated costs at the beginning and try to put an estimate on time involved in the finishing enterprise. See what improvements can be made and target areas for improvement for the next batch. Ask yourself some questions – can purchase price be reduced? Can feed costs be reduced? Can performance be increased? Can sale price be increased? Am I making a profit?