The time has come to decide on what cattle you plan to finish off grass this autumn and which animals will be housed for intensive finishing.

For some farmers working on heavier land, the downturn in weather means that finishing cattle at grass is not an option this year.

In this, case cattle should be housed immediately and finished in November or December.

At current beef prices, the margins in finishing cattle are extremely tight, so do your sums. Remember that certain types of cattle will generate more money if sold live rather than finished inside the next six weeks.

The feed value of autumn grass is low, so meal is necessary to maintain high levels of daily liveweight gain and get animals to the correct fat cover. It will also improve carcase kill-out.

If you plan to kill cattle off grass this autumn, following some of the outlined steps will help you get the most from your animals.

Step 1 – Select the right cattle

Heifers and early maturing breeds are best suited to grass finishing. Select cattle that are no more than 40kg to 50kg away from finishing weight.

At a daily gain of 1kg/day, this means you want cattle that will be finished in the next six to seven weeks.

Cattle that are more than 50kg from finishing would be better off housed now and finished over 60 to 90 days.

Step 2 – Limit feed period to six weeks

Meal feeding should have already started. But if not, cattle need to be offered concentrates immediately.

The energy value in grass is falling rapidly, so start cattle at 3kg/day. Limit the feeding period to six weeks at this point of the year.

Step 3 – Keep the ration simple

Keep the finishing ration simple. A simple mix of barley, maize and sugar beet pulp, or soya hulls, will suffice. A simple finishing ration will also help to keep the price down.

Step 4 – Feed high energy and low protein

Finishing cattle need energy. There will be sufficient protein in grass. Therefore, you do not need a ration with protein levels greater than 14%.

Step 5 – Feed rates

Start off by feeding 3kg/day to steers and 2kg/day to heifers. Increase to 4kg/day for steers after one week and to 5kg/day after two weeks.

Monitor body condition and increase to 6kg/day for later-maturing continental steers during the last three to four weeks before slaughter.

For heifers, feed 3kg to 4kg/day and monitor condition. You can increase to 5kg/day for late-maturing breeds if necessary. At feed rates over 3kg/day, split into two feeds.

Finishing lighter cattle

Cattle that are too light to kill off grass are better off housed in the coming week for finishing. Introduce meal at 2kg/day on grass to prepare cattle for the finishing diet.

Housing cattle in early September reduces the transition period from a grass diet to a silage diet. This avoids the short-term loss in weight gain normally associated with housing cattle in late October.

In many cases, cattle housed in early September for intensive finishing can experience a short period of compensatory growth. Limit the intensive finishing period to 70 days for heifers and 90 days for steers.