BEEF2026 was in full flow in Teagasc Grange on Wednesday with farmers from all over Ireland coming in the gates.

With a number of specialised villages for different parts of Ireland's beef sector, the suckler stands were extra busy due to the jump in beef prices in the last 24 months – with special interest in weanling systems.

On display was Teagasc's research from demonstration farms alongside data gathered from future beef farmers.

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One the most interesting figures was the cost of keeping a suckler cow; a suckler cow-calf pair is €1,000.

This figure didn't including land or labour with the breakdown of costs as follows: the estimated annual cost of keeping a cow-calf unit within the calf-to-weaning system was €1,000/cow-pair, which could be itemised into feed (€525), fixed costs (€219), depreciation (€135), vet and breeding (€116). This excluded labour and land charge.

As can be seen on the table, a 16-month bull beef system delivered the highest €1,509/ha.

Bull beef systems were the most exposed to changes in concentrate and beef price, meaning farmers need to have arrangements with beef processors if they intend to produce young bulls.

With keen interest on weanling systems given the sharp rise in demand from exports the last 18 months, weanling systems on display delivered a net margin of €1,344/ha, ahead of all the steer systems where they delivered net margins of between €1,141/ha to €1,152/ha.

Weanlings sold in the top 25% price wise. These systems had a net margin of €1,606/ha – this was €97/ha ahead of the 16-month bull beef system.

When systems were compared on a per cow basis, the 27-month steer system was at the opposite end of the table, with the highest new margin per cow of €902.

The key driver of the increase in net margin from a weanling system was driven by the live trade for weanlings. When compared to 2024, the top 25% of weanlings sold last year for an average of €5.08/kg; this was a rise of €1.70/kg from 2024 where they sold for an average of €3.38/kg.

This rise continued into the first half of 2026 where the top 25% of weanlings sold up to May, sold for €5.45/kg.