On farms that have stored cattle over winter, now is the time to decide whether these animals will be finished out of the shed by late spring.

Doing up a simple budget will give a good indication if a margin can be made. If not, the alternative options will be to cash in stores through the live ring later this spring, or sending them back to grass.

When doing up a finishing budget, the starting point is to get a handle on cattle weights at the end of the store period, and what animals would be worth if sold live immediately.

Steers

Continental steers should be around 100kg to 120kg below the target finishing weight by the end of the store period. Traditional beef breeds should be 80kg to 100kg below finishing weight.

Steers should be limited to an intensive feeding period of 100 days, during which, animals fed to potential will gain 1kg to 1.2kg/day. Feeding beyond 100 days is not economic as weight gains will tail off quickly.

Bulls

For spring-born bulls, liveweight should be 150kg to 180kg below finishing weight, meaning animals should be over 500kg at the start of February.

Bulls should be moved on to ad-lib concentrates as soon as possible and finished over a 120-day period, depending on age limits and fat covers.

Heifers

Heifers should be 80kg to 90kg below target finishing weight at the end of the store period and finished over 70 to 90 days.

Changing the diet

Gradually increasing concentrates by 1kg every four days until animals reach the upper limit will help to avoid rumen problems.

On good-quality (70+ DMD) meal, levels can be capped at 6kg to 7kg. On average- to good-silage (66 to 69 DMD), increase feed levels by 1kg. Below average silage should not be fed to finishing animals.