Protocol for finishing heifers

ABP requirements:

To produce a 275 –300 kg carcase at 16 months of age grading E, U or R and fat score 3/4L with a white fat cover. (Bonus £20 for U3 & U4L and £15 for R3 and R4L)

Benefit of fast finishing heifer system:

Cow type

A minimum of a ¾ Continental cow with good mothering abilities, in particular milk production. For example, a Simm. X Lim, ¾ Simmental, ¾ Limousin, or Simm x Lim x South Devon.

Sire

Select either Charolais or Blonde D’Aquitaine bulls that have performance figures in the top 25 percent of the breed for growth and leanness and without serious risk of calving difficulty.

Management of March born heifers within the suckler herd:

Minimise the scour risk	Clean accommodation, adequate colostrum into calf and consider cow vaccination if E.coli/Rotavirus is a problem
Cow/calf grazing	Productive intermediate/late heading perennial swards
Stocking rate	April - June 3.5 cows /ha July – August 3.0 cows/ha Sept. – Oct 2.0 cows/ha
Grass cover	2500 kg DM/ha over whole area Apr – July 3000 kg DM/ha " " " Aug – mid Sept 2500 kg DM/ha mid Sept – Oct
Creep feeding heifers Timing, Quantity, Type	Early – mid Sept when grass cover < 2500 kg DM/ha Build up to 1 kg/head/day maximum Cereal/pulp mix plus minerals 16% CP (see rations section)
Pneumonia	Vaccinate 1 month before housing if pneumonia has been a problem in the past.
Worms	Dose 2-3 weeks before housing using an anthelmintic with a minimum residual period of 3-4 weeks
Weaning	Preferably at grass by taking a proportion of the cows away from the herd over 1 - 2 week period
Housing	Best done during a dry windy period
Diet	Grass silage 22-30% DM, ME 10.5+MJ and intake 75+ Cereal based 16% CP ration (excluding maize & maize gluten) fed to achieve 0.95 kg/head/day. Reduce CP to 14% when heifers are 11 months of age (380 kg) by introducing a cereal/pulp based ration until finish. (see rations and economics section)
Reduce cost by finishing at grass in second summer	Turnout when covers > 2000 kg DM/ha Stocking rate 7 x 420 kg heifers/ha Aim for average covers of 2500 kg DM/ha over the whole rotational grazing system. Alternatively graze on a set stocked system with buffer area, keeping grass covers @ 2300 kg DM/ha. Create a buffer area by using the above stocking rate and then reduce the grazing area by 1/3 leaving the ungrazed area as a buffer for grazing/cutting.
Concentrate feeding at grass	Reduce concentrate (cereal/pulp) to 1 kg/head/day in the last 14 days prior to turnout. Continue feeding 1 kg of concentrate at grass and step up to 2 kg from early June and then to 3 kg/head/day from mid June to finish

Target liveweight and liveweight gains for mid March born heifers

	Age (months)	Liveweight (kg)	Liveweight gain (kg/day)
Birth to wean in mid Oct	7	265	1.05
Wean to turnout in mid April	13	421	0.85
Turnout to finish in mid July	16	506	0.93
Wean to finish in mid July indoors	16	527	0.96

	kg/t
Sugar beet pulp (mol)	200
Soyabeen meal	200
Rolled barley	550
Molasses	25
Minerals	25

	kg/t
Sugar beet pulp (mol)	250
Soyabean meal	100
Rolled barley	600
Molasses	25
Minerals	25

The economics of indoor versus outdoor finishing.

The Gross Margin finishing indoors compared with finishing off grass.

	Housed	Group	Grazed	Group
	Quantity required	Cost of inputs (£)	Quantity required	Cost of inputs (£)
Silage (t) ME 10.7 MJ @ £12/t	5.11	61.32	3.13	37.56
Conc. indoors to 11 months 16%CP @ £125/t (t/head)	0.536	67.00	0.536	67.00
Conc. indoors 11 months 12% CP @ £100/t finish/turnout	0.809	80.90	0.175	17.50
Conc. at grass (t/head)	0	0	0.16	16.00
Veterinary & miscellaneous	0	20		24
2nd Summer grazing costs		0		13
Total variable costs		209.42		175.06
	Housed	Group	Grazed	Group
Value of weanling at housing (£)	265kg @ £1/kg	265	265kg @£1/kg	265
Value of carcase (£)	527kg live wt @ 55.6%KO = 293kg carcase @ 158p/kg	463	506 kg live wt @ 54.5% KO=276kg carcase at 158p/kg	436
Slaughter premium including heifer top up		86.87		86.87
Gross margin (£/head)**		75.45		82.81
Conacre land opportunity cost* (£/head)		25		36
Gross margin incl. caonacre (£/head)		50.45		46.81
Gross margin/month (£/head)		5.61		5.20

NOTE:

*Conacre valued at £250/ha included as a land opportunity cost. The housed heifers require 0.1 ha for silage and the grazed group require 0.06 ha for silage and 0.14ha for 60% of the grazing season.

** Excludes ABP bonus

Sensitivity analysis for the housed group showing the impact of changes in store and beef price

		Beef price p/kg
		1.70	1.64	1.58	1.52	1.46
Store price (p/kg)	120	32.6	14.8	-3	-20.8	-38.6
	110	59.1	41.3	23.5	5.7	-12.1
	100	85.6	67.8	50	32.2	14.4
	90	112.1	94.3	76.5	58.7	40.9
	80	138.6	120.8	103	85.2	67.4

Sensitivity analysis for the grazed group showing the impact of changes in store and beef price

		Beef price p/kg
		1.70	1.64	1.58	1.52	1.46
Store price (p/kg)	120	27.2	10.6	-6	-22.6	-39.2
	110	53.7	37.1	20.5	3.9	-12.7
	100	80.2	63.6	47	30.4	13.8
	90	106.7	90.1	73.5	56.9	40.3
	80	133.2	116.6	100	83.4	66.8

The above blue print should deliver the target carcase weight and quality by 16 months of age. At current beef prices the Gross Margin per month is similar on both systems.

Presently the margin per month, after allowing for conacre, is too low to attract the beef finisher to the system. To make the system attractive for the finisher would require heifer store prices to drop by £15-20/100kg. Alternatively the system may suit suckler producers in calf to beef system with sufficient quota to allow heifers to claim suckler cow premium prior to slaughter.

Acknowledgements

James O’Boyle and Norman Weatherup for providing assistance with the financial budget.