Recently at the British Cattle Breeders' conference, Shorthorn cattle society student of the year Henry Scholefield told farmers that they “must improve the efficiency of their herds’ performance" if they are to make their businesses more profitable and resilient.

During his presentation entitled Suckler Beef Production – The Future, Scholefield said that Brexit “poses a challenge to beef farmers who are subjected to low profit margins and who are highly sensitive to market fluctuations".

He continued by saying: “Potential reductions in farm subsidy payments coupled with the danger of cheaper food imports flooding the market means beef producers must improve the profitability of their systems or face going out of business.”

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The figures for an average upland suckler system in the UK are shown in table 1.

Efficiencies

In his paper, Schofield highlighted four areas where farmers should look to make efficiency gains – fertility, longevity, feed efficiency and meat quality.

He gave a number of points on each area:

Fertility

  • A suckler cow costs £227 (€261) per year to keep (excluding fixed costs), therefore empty cows are the number one limiting factor in terms of profitability.
  • A compact calving period is required to make herd management easier as well as producing calves with higher and more consistent weaning weights.
  • Cull out later-calving cows and bring in replacements early in the calving pattern. Both calf weaning weight and subsequent cow fertility is lower in late-calving cows.
  • Aim for easy calving. Assisted calving elevates the risk of the cow suffering from subsequent uterine infections which will delay oestrus cycling thus increasing calving interval.

    • Longevity

  • Longevity is an essential trait of a functional suckler cow in order to minimise costs – a replacement heifer costs in the region of £1,000 (€1,150) to rear and buying in heifers also represents a significant cost as well as potentially compromising biosecurity.
  • Increasing herd life by one year can lead to a £22/cow (€25) gross margin improvement.

    • Feed efficiency

  • Feed can account for 75% of beef farmers’ variable costs, so savings here can substantially increase profitability.
  • Paddock grazing systems where cattle are grazed on a small area for a short time results in a 92% increase in useable dry matter yield per hectare compared to a set stocking grazing system.
  • This has the potential to lower the forage variable costs per cow substantially from the average figure of £75 (€86) in table 1.
  • Smaller cows are the most feed-efficient as their size means they require less energy to maintain themselves.

    • Meat Quality

  • The modern market demands lean, small cuts of meat. Heavy and fatty carcasses are financially penalised when sold.
  • Almost half (49%) of cattle do not meet ideal market requirements, therefore functional suckler cows must produce saleable calves which meet buyer specifications.
  • Closer co-operation with buyers is needed to help farmers better understand the quality of carcass required.