Over 300 farmers attended Teagasc's winter finishing event in Cillín Hill Mart, Kilkenny.
ADVERTISEMENT
Winter finishers will require a farmgate price in the region of €4.44/kg next spring, while those finishing heifers will require a higher breakeven price of €4.61/kg. The required returns increase to €4.57/kg and €4.78/kg. This comes when beef price has hit €3.75/kg this week.
This was the challenging winter finishing budget presented by Teagasc beef specialist Aidan Murray to over 300 farmers attending Tuesday night’s Teagasc winter finishing event held in Cillín Hill mart, Kilkenny.
ADVERTISEMENT
Murray’s budget for steers is based on purchasing a good quality €5.30/kg R/U grade continental store bullock at a price of €2.36/kg liveweight and finishing in a traditional system on a diet of silage and concentrate supplementation.
Steers gain 1kg liveweight on average over a 140-day finishing period, giving a carcase weight of 375kg. Fixed costs and interest are factored into the budget at €85 per head.
The budget for heifers is calculated on an R/U- grading animal purchased at 430kg for €2.37/kg liveweight, gaining 0.9kg per head over a 140-day finishing period and returning a carcase of 295kg. Fixed costs and interest are included at €75 per head.
A price of €4.32/kg is required to breakeven on Teagasc’s finishing budget for a 420kg bull purchased at €2.36/kg and brought through to finish 180 days later, following an intensive finishing period gaining 1.5kg liveweight per day and killing at 385kg carcase weight.
Lighter bulls weighing 320kg brought through a longer finishing period of 230 days have greater scope to make a margin, with a beef price of €4.05/kg required to breakeven on a carcase of 346kg, rising to €4.19/kg to return a €50 margin.
The IFA held a protest on Wednesday at the Aldi outlet in Tullamore over struggling beef prices.
“Retailers are guilty of using farmer profiles to market our top-quality beef to consumers, pretending they are returning a fair price to the farmer,” IFA president Joe Healy said.
The protest also heard strong criticism of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
Healy has called on Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to immediately intervene with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to insist that they seek the referral of the ABP/Slaney case from DG Competition in Brussels back to Ireland for investigation, so that serious issues around competition in the sale of cattle are fully investigated.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
Winter finishers will require a farmgate price in the region of €4.44/kg next spring, while those finishing heifers will require a higher breakeven price of €4.61/kg. The required returns increase to €4.57/kg and €4.78/kg. This comes when beef price has hit €3.75/kg this week.
This was the challenging winter finishing budget presented by Teagasc beef specialist Aidan Murray to over 300 farmers attending Tuesday night’s Teagasc winter finishing event held in Cillín Hill mart, Kilkenny.
Murray’s budget for steers is based on purchasing a good quality €5.30/kg R/U grade continental store bullock at a price of €2.36/kg liveweight and finishing in a traditional system on a diet of silage and concentrate supplementation.
Steers gain 1kg liveweight on average over a 140-day finishing period, giving a carcase weight of 375kg. Fixed costs and interest are factored into the budget at €85 per head.
The budget for heifers is calculated on an R/U- grading animal purchased at 430kg for €2.37/kg liveweight, gaining 0.9kg per head over a 140-day finishing period and returning a carcase of 295kg. Fixed costs and interest are included at €75 per head.
A price of €4.32/kg is required to breakeven on Teagasc’s finishing budget for a 420kg bull purchased at €2.36/kg and brought through to finish 180 days later, following an intensive finishing period gaining 1.5kg liveweight per day and killing at 385kg carcase weight.
Lighter bulls weighing 320kg brought through a longer finishing period of 230 days have greater scope to make a margin, with a beef price of €4.05/kg required to breakeven on a carcase of 346kg, rising to €4.19/kg to return a €50 margin.
The IFA held a protest on Wednesday at the Aldi outlet in Tullamore over struggling beef prices.
“Retailers are guilty of using farmer profiles to market our top-quality beef to consumers, pretending they are returning a fair price to the farmer,” IFA president Joe Healy said.
The protest also heard strong criticism of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
Healy has called on Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to immediately intervene with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to insist that they seek the referral of the ABP/Slaney case from DG Competition in Brussels back to Ireland for investigation, so that serious issues around competition in the sale of cattle are fully investigated.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS