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There were 16 more cattle drafted for slaughter in Newford Farm on Friday. The batch were a mixture of the final nine 2018-born Newford heifers, the final two dairy-beef heifers and five 2018-born steers.
The Newford heifers were the lightest and poorest quality heifers remaining. The average carcase weight of 279kg was significantly below the average of 303kg for the 43 heifers previously slaughtered. The carcase grade remained unchanged at R= for conformation and a fat cover of 3. The average price was €1,032.37 or €3.70/kg.
The average heifer kill-out of 52% from a liveweight of 537kg was 1% lower than the average kill-out of heifers previously slaughtered. Looking at cumulative figures, the average carcase weight of 299kg has dipped just below the 300kg mark.
Further analysis looking at slaughter performance and concentrate input during the finishing phase will take place in the coming days.
The final two dairy-beef heifers achieved a carcase weight of 258.7kg and 241.3kg, with a carcase grade of O=3+ and O=3=. The average kill-out of 47.4% was similar to the kill-out of 48% for the previous eight heifers, with the carcase weight of 250kg also comparable. The price of these heifers was €858.95 (€3.32/kg) and €801.05 (€3.32/kg) and again further cumulative analysis will take place on the 10 heifers in the coming days.
There were five more steers drafted bringing, the total number drafted to 16. The average carcase weight of the six was 349.9kg, on par with the 10 drafted previously. The kill-out of 52.5% was also unchanged, while grade averaged R=3=. The remaining 36 steers were weighed on 13 November and analysis by Michael Fagan of Teagasc shows an average liveweight of 605kg.
Farm manager Iarlaith Collins says drafting will continue to take place as cattle come fit for slaughter, with another draft likely in the next 10 days to a fortnight. A batch of 16 cull cows are also being finished on a diet of ad-lib good-quality silage and 5kg concentrates.
Grazing season concludes
The grazing season concluded on Thursday, with the final batch of 35 weanlings grazing on the Newford block housed. Weanlings have been housed on ad-lib good-quality silage and are also receiving 2kg of a high-energy 18% crude protein concentrate.
Performance dropped below target last winter, so concentrate supplementation is being front-loaded to ensure an average daily gain in the region of 0.6kg is achieved. Concentrate supplementation levels may be eased back in spring as animals get closer to turnout.
Faecal samples have also been collected in recent weeks and the results of these will be used to determine a dosing protocol for worms and liver fluke, while samples will also be analysed for rumen fluke.
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