Our 2015 spring-born steers were slaughtered on 7 December. We sent 20 animals to the factory and we have the final eight steers going to the factory this week.

The steers were housed in early September and fed a finishing diet of high-quality baled silage (70 D-value) and an average of 5kg/day of concentrates over an 80-day period.

Average carcase weight was 352kg across all animals at just over 19 months of age. The target was to hit 360kg carcase weight for these animals and we are happy with the performance.

There was a big variation in carcase weight between the three cattle breeds we have on farm. The Simmental steers performed best.

There were 14 Simmental cattle with an average 364kg carcase weight. Eight of them achieved R grades and the remainder were U grades.

Three Limousin steers averaged 339kg carcase weight and three Angus steers averaged 308kg. They were all R grading cattle, with fat class ranging from 3= to 4=.

The Angus cattle graded fat class 4, so there was little benefit in holding these animals to try to achieve heavier carcase weights.

At this stage, the value of daily carcase gain would not cover their feed cost. Plus, these animals would run the risk of becoming over-fat and therefore penalised when slaughtered.

Housing space is at a premium on the farm at present, so having these 20 steers finished in early December freed up space for other cattle that were grazing through November.

In the past, we used to hold our spring-born steers throughout winter and sell live in March at 600kg liveweight.

We are now killing these cattle four months earlier at a similar weight, which is a much more profitable option for our farm.

Year-on-year comparison

Table 1 outlines the average carcase weight for our spring-born steers that we have finished over the past three years.

Average carcase weight is on a par with last year, albeit at a slightly younger age.

Average carcase weight is down 8kg on 2014, but cattle are finished 35 days earlier. While we want to increase carcase weight, we want to do it as economically as possible.

Taking current beef prices of £3.50/kg, the extra 8kg of carcase weight is worth an additional £28 per head.

However, in the final weeks before cattle are slaughtered, steers are eating 7kg/day of meal and approximately 20kg of silage.

At a cost of £180/t for a beef ration and £25/t for silage, daily feed cost is £1.76 per head. By reducing slaughter age by 35 days, there is a saving in feed cost of £61 per head on our farm.

Focusing on daily carcase gain and daily feed costs has changed our outlook on finishing cattle. We also weigh cattle regularly and assess fat cover to avoid cattle becoming over-fat and less efficient.

Cattle slaughtered in 2016 had a daily carcase gain of 0.59kg for every day they were on farm. Cattle in 2014 had a heavier carcase weight, but a carcase gain of 0.55kg/day.

Therefore 2014 cattle were generating less income on a daily basis to cover feed cost.

Trying a different approach with bull beef

For next year, we have decided to try a different approach to finishing our 2016 spring-born steers. Rather than kill them all as steers next December, we are going to kill a group of 12 as bulls in April at 13 months of age. We usually finish our autumn-born males as young bulls, so we have experience in feeding this type of cattle.

The remaining 15 steers will go back to grass and be killed as steers as normal. These contain some Angus steers which will be killed through the scheme. If successful, we will try more spring-born bulls the following year.

Performance

There is a good mix of Simmental bulls in the group, along with some Charolais-cross-Limousin cattle born from a halfbred Charolais bull we tried on a few cows last year.

So far, we are pleased with this group. They were weighed on 14 December and averaged 407kg liveweight. They were last weighed on 27 October and averaged 345kg, so they have gained 1.3kg/day.

We are happy with this as they are only starting to be pushed now, having settled after weaning and housing.

They are eating 5kg/day of a 16% ration mixed with a blend of barley and maize. Feed levels will be increased in the coming weeks and we hope to see a response in weight gain. Bulls will be weighed regularly to monitor performance.

The bulls were treated for worms, fluke and lice, as well as clipped so they are covered for parasites. They were also vaccinated for IBR and pneumonia well in advance of weaning and housing.

Benefits

Finishing the spring-born males as bulls will reduce slaughter age and hopefully increase carcase weight. It will also improve the conformation of the animal.

Bulls will not need a second grazing or housing period, which will therefore ease housing pressure, and we will be able to carry a few more bought-in dairy-bred cattle to graze instead.

The dairy-bred cattle perform well on this farm as they kill off grass in the autumn. They are bought as calves to double suckle a few cows with dairy breeding.

As we usually buy Angus calves, they are slaughtered through the Angus scheme and collect the price premium. This is a great way to increase farm output annually without having to increase breeding cow numbers.

Breeding draws to a close in autumn herd

Our autumn-calving herd saw all 16 cows calved inside 30 days from 31 July to 30 August. So far, we still have 16 calves at foot. We did lose one calf at birth, but a set of twins has evened things out.

Calving outside in August helps to ease management. Cows are generally fitter and there is less disease risk compared with calving indoors in winter or early spring.

Cows also get the benefit of moving on to good-quality grass after calving, helping to boost milk production and bringing cows back into heat much quicker.

The autumn cows are now housed and settled on to ad-lib silage plus 2kg/day of meal. Calves are getting 2.5kg/day of meal and being restricted to suckling their dam twice daily.

Breeding began on 28 October and is finishing this week. Cows were being observed closely for signs of repeat breeding. Only one cow and one heifer repeated, so calving should be very tight again next August.

The 15 cows are running with our Simmental bull and we have 10 heifers served to a new Angus bull, Slievecroob King.

With breeding now complete, meal will be cut from mature cows. Some first-calved heifers will still get 1kg/day to help hold body condition, but this will be reviewed in early January again.

Spring herd

Our spring cows will calve from April onwards. We have 50 cows and 14 heifers to calve this coming spring, with cows calving to Simmental, Angus and a half-bred Charolais-cross-Limousin bull bred on farm.

The cows are on silage only at present, with most cows being restricted as they are in good body condition.

Cows have been treated for fluke, worms and lice and we will give them a mineral bolus in February to cover pre-calving minerals. The bolus should give six months of mineral cover.

Bolusing cows in early February gives two to three months of cover ahead of calving, as well as three months post-calving which we feel helps improve cow fertility.