SHARING OPTIONS:
The target is to have bullocks at 353kg and heifers at 338 kg on 11 March at turnout.
With beef finishing margins extremely tight, there is no room for error or poor performance in any beef system.
This is particularly true in a dairy-calf-to-beef system.
A prolonged period of poor performance or what is often referred to as a store period will have a severe impact on animals’ ability to hit weight targets and will significantly increase the costs to get that animal finished at the other end.
This is especially true for farmers in a 19- to 20-month finishing system. The idea in this system is that most animals are slaughtered off grass at the end of the second grazing season. If target weights are not met along the way, this will mean housing, which will increase costs significantly. Many of the Thrive programme farmers have gone down this road as housing space is limited on farms and they don’t have the option of housing animals for a second winter. This means that on these farms, it’s even more important to hit targets along the way.