Every suckler herd will have cows to cull annually. For many farmers, the preferred option is selling after weaning. For others, finishing cull cows is the preferred option. But just like selling weanlings or store cattle, you can add value to cull cows by considering all market options available.

Admittedly, selling cows into multiple markets is not as straight-forward as a single marketing route. It will depend on cow type and condition, cow breed, the age of the animal and the numbers for sale.

The time of year must also be considered when selling cull cows. For instance, weaning spring-calving cows in late autumn and selling straight into the mart may not be the best option if there is plentiful supply of dairy cows coming on to the market. Sale price could be severely undermined by the additional numbers.

Pregnancy scanning of spring-calving suckler herds is under way across the country. Given how difficult ground conditions currently are after a wet summer and autumn, especially in the west, the sooner spring cows are scanned, the sooner cull cows can be removed from the herd. Silage supplies will be tight this winter. On many farms operating on heavy ground, cows have already been rehoused and are unlikely to get back out to grass. Therefore, silage stocks may have to be stretched over the next seven months on these farms.

Given that second-cut silage has yet to be completed on a number of farms, cows that are not in-calf should be sold off in the coming weeks rather than wintered and consuming valuable fodder.

Delayed harvesting of first-cut silage will have reduced feed quality. Therefore, storing cull cows may result in little liveweight gain or body condition gained without the aid of concentrate supplementation.

So, what are the options for culling spring-calving cows? The following five options outlined are just some market routes to be considered this winter.

1. Move to autumn-calving herd

For some suckler herd owners who operate a split calving pattern, there may be some merit in moving an empty spring-calving cow to the autumn herd.

But this option should not be the case for every empty cow in the herd. If the cow has shown poor fertility over the past two to three years, then she should be sold on.

This option should be limited solely to good-performing cows that have scanned empty as the direct result of a management issue, rather than the fault of the cow, for example, a sub-fertile stock bull or having to rehouse cows during the breeding season.

Consider the financial implications of this option first, as the cost of buying an in-calf animal to replace the empty cow may be covered by the sale value of the cull cow.

Moving a spring cow to the autumn herd means the cow will have a four- to six-month period where it is contributing nothing to farm output, but still incurring substantial feed costs over the winter period. These costs would be similar to those outlined in Table 2 for storing a cow over the winter.

Also, if you are tight for silage and housing space, then holding cows to join the autumn herd may not be the best option.

2. Sell in-calf

How many times after finishing calving in spring do you mark a cow for culling, only for the animal to go back in-calf again? Therefore, you end up keeping the cow for another year, regardless of how poor a calf she rears or whatever the reason for culling was.

This is the option that should be used for cows that are back in calf that you originally wanted to sell. Selling these animals now will remove the temptation to hold the cow and calve her down again.

However, if the cow is calving in March or April, then she may not be worth as much compared with selling the cow when she is springing next year.

As with option one, holding the cow over the winter depends on how much silage you have in reserve, as well as housing space. Also, consider the cost of feeding the cow for the winter before selling next spring. The sale value in spring must be worth more than winter feed cost and the current sale value of the cow combined.

3. Sell after weaning

This option is the most straight-forward and helps to keep the suckler system simple. Selling cows straight after weaning will reduce the winter feed requirement, stocking rate in sheds and ease the workload.

Despite difficult grazing conditions, cows will be in good body condition on most farms at present, making them highly saleable to specialised finishers.

Once you have scanned spring-calving cows, you should wean calves and offload empty cows that are in good body condition.

Prices for cows are relatively good at present and there is a steady supply of beef cows coming on to the market. The number of cull cows from the dairy herd is also low, but this situation will change over the next five or six weeks.

Good-quality R grade and U grade continental suckler cows are selling for €1.80/kg to €1.90/kg, depending on age and body condition. This would make good-quality cows weighing 650kg to 750kg worth €1,200 to €1,400, depending on the animal and the mart.

This would help to offset the cost of bringing in a replacement heifer. It also makes the economics of moving spring cows to the autumn herd, as in option one, questionable.

Plainer beef cows with some dairy breeding, or cows that require feeding, are selling from €1.50/kg to €1.70/kg or €1,000 to €1,200.

4. Intensive finishing

If you have the housing space and sufficient feed, finishing cull cows is a good option for well-bred continental suckler cows. Finishing costs will depend on liveweight and body condition at housing.

Intensive finishing will improve the conformation and fat class of the cow, which will help to increase its sale value.

Liveweight gain in cows will be much lower than in steers and heifers on high levels of meal feeding. Cows will be gaining between 0.5kg/day to 0.75kg/day and, depending on body condition, cows should be finishing over a 40- to 80-day period. The economics of feeding beyond this does not stack up.

Concentrate feeding should be 5kg/day on 70DMD silage and 6kg/day on 66DMD silage. This will bring total meal fed to just short of 0.5t/cow if fed 6kg/day over an 80-day period. Cows can be fed a diet of rolled barley and silage rather than a more expensive compound nut.

Silage fed will typically be 15kg to 20kg/ cow/day. Over an 80-day finishing period, total silage fed would be 1.6t.

Taking silage at €25/t and barley costing €190/t, total feed costs would be approximately €130/cow.

Table 1 outlines finishing costs for a 600kg and 700kg cow over an 80-day period. The cows were valued at €1.60/kg on 1 October.

Counting in some additional miscellaneous costs to cover finishing cull cows (ESB, water, diesel, haulage) and a fluke and worm dose, break-even beef price is in the region of €3.45/kg to €3.50/kg.

In reality, the heavier cow will probably have a better conformation grade than the lighter cow, which makes it a more viable option to finish such an animal. Cow prices in early spring 2016 were €3.50/kg to €3.60/kg.

5. Store in winter and sell in spring

Some farmers will look to store cows over winter and sell in spring. Their aim is to cash in on strong demand from larger specialised finishers looking to restock sheds.

The option will suit suckler farmers who calve cows in late spring and early summer. A May-calving cow will probably be weaned in November or December while indoors.

Maintaining body condition on these cows indoors is much more difficult compared with a March-calving cow weaned at grass. Storing the late spring-calving cow will give time for the cow to regain condition before selling in spring.

You will need to offer the cow good-quality silage on an ad-lib basis. Low-quality silage (60 to 66 DMD) will make it difficult to gain flesh in the cow. In most cases, you will need to offer meals.

The earlier you wean the cow, the less condition you have to try to regain. If the calf is eating meals and weighing 250kg or more, you would be better off weaning the calf. Once weaned, increasing meal levels offered directly to the calf will give a higher growth response than trying to supplement a spring-calving cow in late lactation. As outlined in Table 2, a cull cow fed solely on good-quality silage over a 150-day period will consume around 5.4t to 6.25t of silage.

Adding in a miscellaneous cost of €50 to cover diesel, ESB and haulage to the mart, as well as a vet cost to cover a worm dose, it would cost approximately €186 to store the cow from November to March.

The example assumes a liveweight gain of 50kg during the store period, which brings the break-even sale price to €1.78/kg. Prices this spring for good cows were €1.80/kg to €1.90/kg.