Teagasc has published its annual beef finishing budgets. The budgets take a look at the beef price required to breakeven when purchasing different types of cattle this autumn and finishing over the next 12 months. The budgets are calculated by Teagasc beef specialist Aidan Murray and this year’s budget reveals that a beef price of over €6/kg will be required to break even next spring for some cattle types. One of the winter finishing budgets involves the purchase of a 530kg continental-cross store bullock in October at €1632 (€3.08/kg) and finishing it on 4.5kg of meal/day and ad lib silage for a March 2025 finish.
Teagasc has published its annual beef finishing budgets. The budgets take a look at the beef price required to breakeven when purchasing different types of cattle this autumn and finishing over the next 12 months.
The budgets are calculated by Teagasc beef specialist Aidan Murray and this year’s budget reveals that a beef price of over €6/kg will be required to break even next spring for some cattle types. One of the winter finishing budgets involves the purchase of a 530kg continental-cross store bullock in October at €1632 (€3.08/kg) and finishing it on 4.5kg of meal/day and ad lib silage for a March 2025 finish.
Total costs for this system, when purchase price is included, is €2,203/head. When this cost is divided out over the estimated 375kg carcase it means a winter finisher needs a breakeven price of €5.87/kg.
Nobody does anything to breakeven though, and if a €100/head margin were included, this means a beef price of €6.14/kg would be needed.
The budgets also show the huge amount of risk involved in a winter finishing enterprise, or any finishing enterprise for that matter.
Realise a loss
Purchasing 100 bullocks in October for a March finish now involves an investment of €220,300. If beef price holds at the current price of a €5.10/kg base for bullocks, this investment would realise a loss of €11,400, or €114/head.
It’s the fact that there is no guarantee on price is the most frustrating factor for winter finishers, with the stakes very high now if beef price doesn’t increase. Most smaller finishers have walked away from the business and purchasers of forward store bullocks at the moment in marts are a mixture of Northern Ireland-based customers, large finishers or factory-owned feedlots.
Taking a look at some of the other budgets, the eight-month bull beef system requires the highest price of €6.09/kg to reach breakeven and a beef price of 6.33/kg to make a €100/head margin.
The lowest beef price required to breakeven is by purchasing a Friesian store bullock or weanling in autumn 2024 and finishing in autumn 2025.
Important to note
This requires a breakeven price of €4.70/kg, or a beef price of €5.02/kg when a €100/head margin is factored in. This year’s budgets shows an increase of between 7c/kg and 16c/kg on the breakeven price published in the 2023 budgets.
It’s important to note that the calculations don’t allow for any mortality, which would also increase the breakeven price required, depending on the level of mortality that is factored in. Concentrates are priced at €310/t, 72 DMD silage at €45/t at 20% DM. Dosing and health costs amount to €8/head.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: