Farmers finishing two-year-old bullocks and heifers are losing upwards of €300 at current prices, according to David Argue, beef specialist with Teagasc, who spoke at the Irish Farmers Journal beef information meeting on Monday night.
Argue presented budgets for winter finishing forward continental bullocks and heifers on the night.
For a bullock born in spring 2024, a breakeven selling price of €7.93/kg is needed in the current market, according to Argue.
These figures are based on a 550kg steer purchased in mid-November for €2,580 at an assumed purchase price of €4.69/kg liveweight with average total costs of production of €529.
In the current market, when this animal is ready for slaughter at two years old weighing approximately 700kg it would receive a base price of about €6.90/kg with a 20c/kg quality assurance bonus and a 6c/kg QPS grid payment, resulting in a loss of €303, Argue explained.
He also said a heifer born in spring 2024, purchased in November 2025 for winter finishing and slaughtered mid-March 2026 would require a price of €8.29 to breakeven in the current market.
This calculation assumes the heifer is bought in November 2025 weighing 520kg at an assumed purchase price of €4.74/kg liveweight or €2,465.
Assuming the heifer was slaughtered a couple weeks ago at 630kg liveweight it would receive a base price of about €7.10 with a quality assurance bonus of 20c/lkg and a QPS grid payment of 6c/kg. This results in a loss of €324 for the finisher, according to Argue.
These budgets assumed high average daily gains, high-quality silage, meal costs of €340/t and transport and levies at €45/head, with half of the interest cost on feed and animals borrowed at 7%.
He also explained that the budgets were completed prior to the increase in fertiliser and diesel costs.
The Teagasc beef specialist advised farmers to run a budget before buying cattle in the present climate.
SHARING OPTIONS