For a number of years, representatives from meat factories in NI have highlighted that they want cattle in the 280kg to 380kg weight range at slaughter.

The argument put forward is that heavy cattle above 380kg produce a striploin that doesn’t neatly fit into fixed weight retail packs.

It means that the most valuable part of an animal (worth up to 32% of total carcase value), is heavily discounted, and sold in lower value outlets outside of the British supermarket trade.

At present, most factories pay up to 400kg without applying a price penalty. Some pay up to 420kg, or even higher, when demand for beef is strong. But, sources in the trade maintain that more pressure will come in future, on farmers to produce cattle under 380kg.

That is a particular problem for the specialist suckler sector and anyone finishing continental-bred calves.

The reality is that many U-grading male cattle are difficult to get into fat score of 3, while killing at under 400kg. It might be possible to put these cattle on to a more intensive feeding regime earlier in their life to get them finished at lighter weights, but to keep output up, farmers will then need to keep more animals. It would also mean cattle generally spending more time indoors on expensive finishing diets.

The other option is to look at different breeds, and as highlighted below, the use of some traditional breed genetics will usually mean that cattle are finished at lighter weights.

The increased influence of Angus (in particular), and also Hereford genetics in the overall cattle kill, is a factor in a slight reduction in average carcase weight seen in recent years.

Prime cattle average weight down in 2017

An analysis of DAERA statistics shows that carcase weights for all prime cattle slaughtered in Northern Ireland (steers, heifers and young bulls) have fallen slightly over the past three years.

Carcase weights in 2015 averaged 339.5kg, which reduced to 337.5kg in 2016. Carcase weights fell again during 2017, bringing the average prime beef carcase down to 334.2kg. The downward trend in carcase weight can be attributed to a number of factors.

Probably the biggest factor is the increasing percentage of dairy-bred cattle in the local kill. With more beef cattle originating in the dairy herd, carcase weights will be lower as a result.

During the final quarter of 2017, beef heifers bred from the dairy herd accounted for 28% of total heifer throughput, an increase of 25% on the same period in 2016. Dairy-bred steers accounted for 25% of all steer throughput.

Conformation has slipped as a result, with an increase in O grade cattle and small reductions in U and R grade animals.

Coinciding with this trend is the increasing use of Angus sires. At the same time, the use of continental breeds such as Charolais and Limousin is down.

Aberdeen Angus accounted for 20% of beef calf registrations in 2017.

Across the year, 16% of the prime cattle kill consisted of Angus cattle, with another 5% being Hereford bred.

Charolais breed produces the heaviest cattle

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Irish Farmers Journal was able to obtain slaughter data for the seven main beef breeds used in NI.

The data is held on the Bovine Information System (BovIS), managed by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI).

The data highlight that Charolais-sired cattle continue to produce the heaviest carcases in NI.

As shown in Table 1, the average Charolais-sired beef carcase in 2017 was 363.4kg, a marginal drop from 364.7kg in 2015.

Blonde d’Aquitaine has the second heaviest carcase across all classes of cattle with an average of 355.2kg in 2017, followed by Limousin with an average carcase weight of 348.7kg.

Angus-sired cattle averaged carcase weights of 316.4kg, with Hereford cattle at 322.7kg.

Steers

Table 2 shows the average carcase weights for steers from the seven beef breeds. Charolais is again top, with steers averaging 384kg in 2017, down by 1.9kg from the previous year.

Blonde d’Aquitaine steers averaged 374.3kg. Limousin is next, followed by British Blue and Simmental.

Angus steers averaged 329.4kg in 2017, with Hereford cattle at 337.3kg.

Across all cattle breeds, steers averaged 349kg in 2017, down nearly 4kg from the 2015 average.

Heifers

Similar trends are seen with heifers, with Charolais-sired animals in 2017 topping the list at an average of 380.4kg. That is down by more than 5kg on 2015.

Blonde d’Aquitaine-sired heifers averaged 373.7kg with Limousin-sired heifers third highest in 2017 at 361.9kg.

Angus-sired heifers averaged 322.8kg, a drop of almost 10kg on the previous year. That decrease is probably mainly due to an increasing percentage of Angus-sired heifers originating from the dairy herd in 2017.

In late 2017, there was also a tendency for farmers to offload cattle at an earlier age due to limited fodder reserves.

Increased meal feeding would have led to Angus heifers reaching a suitable fat cover at an earlier age, and will also have influenced final carcase weights.

Comparing weights of steers and heifers, perhaps surprising is the small differences seen in carcase weights. In the case of Charolais bred cattle, the difference is less than 4kg in 2017.

Cows

Carcase weights for all cows slaughtered in 2017 averaged 300kg, which is similar to previous years.

Removing dairy cows from the slaughter mix, beef-bred cows averaged around 345kg, with Charolais again being the heaviest at 366.6kg.

Blonde d’Aquitaine cows averaged 353kg with Simmental cows at 347kg. British Blue cows averaged 345.2kg followed by Limousin cows on 344.7kg.

Despite the significant differences recorded in prime carcase weights between continental and traditional breeds, these differences are less pronounced in the final slaughter weight of cows. Angus animals averaged 334.7kg, with Herefords at 330.4kg. It suggests that cows from these traditional breeds are still able to grow into mature weights that are not that far behind their continental counterparts.