31 March 2025
How to build the best dairy calf to beef system for your farm
A father-and-son farming partnership in Cavan are using two complementary beef systems to optimise the use of their farm’s buildings, DairyBeef 500 Advisor, Fergal Maguire tells us more.
Over 60% of the beef produced in Ireland starts off as calves from the national dairy herd. Existing calf-to-beef producers or farmers planning to add a dairy calf-to-beef enterprise to their farms have a variety of dairy calf-to-beef systems to choose from. Each has its own financial and practical considerations.
Some farmers specialise in a single system. Others will operate several to spread sales and cashflow throughout the year and make best use of their resources including buildings etc. A combination of a 20-month early-maturing heifer system and a 23-month early-maturing steer system can balance housing needs, grazing demand, and silage requirements.
Charlie Smyth and his father Charles have operated a dairy calf-to-beef system on their farm near Virginia, Co Cavan since 2019.
“Prior to then we were purchasing store cattle and bringing them all to finish,” Charlie said. “When we first got into calf-to-beef production, we specialised in finishing Friesian bull calves as steers at between 23 and 27 months of age. I focused on a Friesian steer system to begin with as the bull calves were relatively cheap. They were born early in the spring and I could get them away after the second winter without going to a third grazing season.”
Over the years, the number of calves purchased increased. However, the higher numbers placed extra pressure on winter housing.
“The problem with housing on this farm, is that I have no standalone calf shed. I have to rely on rearing the calves in the weanling shed. This was not a problem at the beginning, but as the number of calves reared on the farm increased, I had to free up pens for weanlings by having finishing cattle gone to the factory by the end of January. This was to allow me to bring new calves onto the farm by mid-February.”
Early maturing bulls
“I couldn’t achieve this with Friesian steers, so I came up with a plan to buy in half of my calves as early maturing bull calves. The majority of these beef-bred animals are finished on this farm by the end of January allowing me to free up space to move the weanlings into their pens.”
As Charlie improved grassland management on the farm by building up soil fertility, drainage, reseeding and improving the grazing infrastructure, he could see that the farm could easily accommodate a higher stocking rate.
“The pinch point to increasing numbers was still winter housing,” Charlie said. “However, it was at housing in early November where we were caught tight for space rather than when the calves came in February.
“After talking to my DB500 advisor, we decided to bring in a small number of early maturing heifers that would be finished by mid-November. This would allow me to increase numbers as some of the weanlings would be still out grazing until the heifers were finished.
“While I did get some of the heifers away by mid-November, most of them were not gone until just before Christmas. In 2023 and 2024 weather had a big impact on performance, which meant that these heifers took longer to finish.”
Housing pressures
“Being on the farm an extra month meant housing was extremely tight during November and December. On our farm, where the soil type is heavy, I do not think relying on a 20-month heifer system is a good strategy to reduce housing requirements as if cattle have to be housed early, you could be under pressure to accommodate everything.
“In autumn 2024, I put up a new double four-bay slatted shed to ensure that I could house everything comfortably if the weather deteriorated in the backend. However, going forward, I will still operate the three different systems on the farm. It spreads the money coming onto the farm over a six-month period rather than having all the money coming in over two months.
“I also like that for both the early-maturing heifer and steer system, a lot less meal has to go into finishing the animal, but I still like to have a proportion of my cattle as Friesian steers as they are still relatively cheap to buy and perform very well on this farm,” Charlie added.
How it works: the Smyths’ calf-to-beef system in action
20-month Early Maturing Heifer Beef
This system is designed for early-maturing dairy beef crossbred heifers, such as Angus and Hereford crosses, which have a natural ability to lay down fat at a young age. Finishing heifers before their second winter reduces winter housing and feed costs, but this depends on several factors.
Key Management Practices
- First Grazing Season: Heifers are turned out to pasture in spring and managed carefully to ensure an average daily gain (ADG) of 0.8 kg.
- Winter Housing: From November, they are housed and fed grass silage ad-lib, supplemented with 1.5-2.0 kg of concentrates per day, depending on silage quality.
- Final Grazing and Finishing: In early spring, they return to pasture and are finished off grass by late October/Early November, with a final 60-day concentrate supplementation (2.5 kg/day) to improve carcass quality.
Target Performance
- Slaughter Age: 20 months
- Carcass Weight: 250kg
- Carcass Conformation & Fat Score O= with fat score 3-
- Profitability Factors: This system benefits from a short production cycle, reduced feed costs, and high efficiency in grass utilisation.
23-month Early Maturing Steer Beef
This system focuses on early-maturing breed steers that can achieve good carcass weights within 23 months. This approach balances pasture use and moderate winter feeding costs.
Key Management Practices
- First Grazing Season: Steers graze from spring to autumn with a target ADG of 0.8kg.
- First Winter Housing: They are housed in November and fed high-quality grass silage ad-libitum with 1.5-2.0 kg of concentrate per day.
- Second Grazing Season: Steers return to pasture in early spring and continue gaining weight naturally, maintaining an ADG of 1.0 kg.
- Final Finishing Phase: Steers are housed in autumn for an 80-day finishing period with 5-6 kg of concentrate per day to improve carcass conformation and fat scores.
Target Performance
- Slaughter Age: 23 months
- Carcass Weight: 300kg
- Carcass Conformation & Fat Score: O+ with fat score 3=
- Profitability Factors: The extended grazing period maximises weight gain from grass, reducing reliance on expensive concentrates while ensuring a good final carcass.
24-month Friesian steer beef
Holstein Friesian steers typically take longer to finish but can be managed efficiently within a 24-month system. This approach ensures a heavier carcass weight while leveraging grass-based production.
Key Management Practices
- First Grazing Season: Steers graze from spring to autumn, targeting an ADG of 0.7-0.8 kg.
- First Winter Housing: Housed in November, they receive high-quality grass silage ad-libitum with 1.5-2.0 kg of concentrate per day.
- Second Grazing Season: Turned out to pasture in early spring, gaining 1.0 kg ADG.
- Second Winter Housing: Steers are housed in November and fed high-quality silage with 5 kg of concentrate per day to ensure proper finishing.
Target performance
- Slaughter Age: 24 months
- Carcass Weight: 310kg
- Carcass Conformation & Fat Score: O- with fat score 3+
- Profitability Factors: This system produces heavier carcasses and is well suited for farmers who have adequate housing while maintaining good grass growth.
Analysis
Each of these calf-to-beef systems offers unique advantages depending on a farmer’s land availability, housing capacity, and market preferences.
On Charlie’s farm, a combination of different calf-to-beef systems has worked well to maximise the utilisation of the extra grass grown on the farm as grassland management improved while at the same time increasing beef output per hectare.
However, some farms will choose to specialise on one particular system and in some cases this specialisation will improve labour efficiency as there will be fewer groups of livestock on the farm.
No matter what system/systems that you incorporate onto your farm, the most profitable systems are those that maximise performance from grazed pasture while controlling concentrate input costs.
It is also essential that you start with a healthy calf with good beef genetics to ensure that performance targets are met throughout the animal’s life.
For more tips on dairy calf to beef production, visit the Teagasc DairyBeef 500 page here.
More from Teagasc Daily: Careful planning pays off with new finishing shed