What drove profitability and performance on the BETTER beef farms last year? Using simple regression equations and correlations, we can disseminate the following.

There was a strong correlation (0.74) between liveweight output (kg/ha) produced and net margin (€/ha). Every 1kg increase in output increased net margin by €1/ha. When looking at correlations, a figure of 1.0 equates to a perfect positive linear relationship.

Stocking rate

The same can be said for stocking rate (LU/ha). Increasing this by 0.5LU/ha led to a €316/ha increase in net margin. Correlation between the two here was 0.68.

Farm size and net profit showed a poor relationship – a correlation of just 0.17. Expectedly, there was a strong link between farm size and hours worked (0.73 correlation).

The link between cow numbers and net margin was weak – 0.19.

Every 1kg increase in output increased net margin by €1/ha.

Previous Teagasc research showed grass production and utilisation to be a significant driver of profitability on beef farms. Every extra tonne of grass dry matter utilised increases net margin by €105/ha.

Grass measurements

There was a strong relationship between the number of grass walks carried out and grass growth on the BETTER beef farms in 2017. Every extra walk increased cumulative grass production by 320kg DM/ha. The correlation between the two figures was 0.73.

In this week’s Irish Farmers Journal, we analyse two profit monitors from the BETTER beef programme. Both farms put in huge work in 2017, though on 1 January 2018 the difference in gross margin between the two farms was over €2,000.

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ePM breakdown from BETTER beef programme 2017

Is the fertiliser working on our BETTER farms?

All BETTER farm articles