I killed another batch of cattle last week and, I have to say, I was absolutely delighted with how they performed and killed out.

I often have the debate with myself about whether I should be buying lesser quality dairy-cross cattle instead of the higher quality continental types, especially when store cattle are as expensive as they are now relative to finished beef prices.

The dairy cattle are obviously cheaper to buy, which means you can carry more stock for the same money invested, and, in many cases, the profit per head may not be all that different.

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But when I got a look at my kill sheet last Friday, I was more than content with what I am currently doing.

My bulls averaged 460kg deadweight under 16 months.

I know that is probably heavier than the factories ideally want, but the average was pulled up somewhat by one very heavy Charolais that was simply an outstanding performer from start to finish. Overall, the bulls averaged a 60% kill-out and every one of them graded either U= or U+.

Beef price

The heifers and bullocks also performed exceptionally well, averaging just under 420kg deadweight at 24 months, with over 80% grading U or better. Looking back on them now, it really proves the old saying that “when you think cattle are ready to kill, feed them for another month”. I could probably have killed some of these cattle a month ago, but I was holding out – perhaps optimistically, or maybe more accurately, foolishly – for a lift in the beef price.

The performance of all the cattle really kicked up a gear over the last month before slaughter. Bulls were achieving average liveweight gains of 2.3kg per day, while the heifers were still managing a very impressive 1.6kg per day.

All cattle were being fed a high-quality diet consisting of nice dry red clover silage along with Inisleigh’s Hi-Maize coarse beef mix, and they certainly responded to it. Good feeding, combined with strong genetics, really showed through in the final results.

Right system

The profitability debate between dairy-cross and continental cattle will probably continue for as long as people are finishing cattle.

There is no doubt that dairy-cross cattle can work very well in the right system and may leave a similar margin in some cases because of the lower purchase price.

However, when it comes to outright performance, average daily gain, carcase weight and kill-out percentage, I still think the continental cattle will win out most of the time. And if I am being honest, they are just that bit nicer to look at.