Positive returns from beef in 2024
Economists at Teagasc have released a suite of factsheets examining the financial performance of suckler, finishing and dairy beef systems. Driven primarily by increases in gross output and reductions in production costs, the net margins recorded on all three cohorts increased in 2024 as opposed to 2023.
Cattle finishing
Representative of 11,600 farms nationally, the recently published Teagasc National Farm Survey 2024 Cattle Finishing Enterprise Factsheet points to increased returns on cattle finishing farms – with net margins moving from an average of €42/ha in 2023 to €276/ha in 2024.
Multiple factors are responsible for this increase. Gross output on cattle finishing farms increased from €1,596/ha in 2023 to €1,607/ha in 2024. And despite cattle finishers having to contend with higher weanling and store prices in the marketplace, finished cattle prices increased by 3-4%, albeit from lighter carcass weights.
From a cost perspective, the NFS factsheet highlights, changes in variable and fixed costs were recorded. Concentrate costs decreased by 15% while pasture and forage costs decreased by 6%. Additionally, total fixed costs declined by 21% when compared to the 2023 period. All-in-all, this resulted in the total costs of production on finishing farms falling 14% from the 2023 to 2024 period.
Along with presenting a snapshot of the financial performance of cattle finishing farms, the NFS factsheet also highlights considerable variability in the gross margin per hectare recorded on top and bottom performing farms. Mostly due to differences in stocking rate, gross margin for the top farms in 2024 was more than six times higher than for the bottom group of farms.
Suckling
Economists at the Teagasc Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department have also analysed the performance of suckler enterprises in 2024. As published in the Teagasc National Farm Survey 2024 Single Suckling Enterprise Factsheet, and representative of 22,000 farms carrying single suckling enterprises carrying more than 10 cows, net margins were reported to have moved from a negative to positive position from 2023 to 2024.
On average, net margins of €108/ha were recorded on single suckling enterprises in 2024 – up from -€20/ha in 2023. These figures exclude all decoupled payments and costs relating to family labour but include coupled direct payments.
Responsible for this increase in net margin was higher levels of gross output – stemming from higher cattle prices – and lower direct (-3%) and fixed (-7%) costs. Overall gross output on single suckling farms increased by 6% to 1,246/ha in 2024, while total costs fell by 5%.
Also examined on a per cow basis, the NFS factsheet shows that the net margin per cow increased to €116 in 2024, mainly occurring from a 7% increase in gross output and a 4% reduction in fixed costs, while total direct costs remained unchanged.
Dairy Beef
A relatively new addition to the National Farm Survey suite of factsheets, economists at Teagasc have also examined the financial performance of dairy beef enterprises. Defined as farms where two-thirds of the animals purchased are sold are of dairy origin and excluding dairy farms, the Teagasc National Farm Survey 2024 Dairy Beef Enterprise Factsheet points to average net margins of €402/ha on dairy beef farms – up 90% from €212/ha in 2023.
Like the finishing and suckler beef enterprises outlined above, dairy-beef producers recorded both decreases in the cost of production (total costs declined by 7%) and increases in gross output (increased by 2% over 2023 levels).
However, akin to the other enterprises, significant levels of variation were recorded between the top and bottom performing dairy beef farms. Farms in the top third in terms of performance recorded net margins of €811/ha, whereas those in the bottom third produced net margins of €66/ha – mostly occurring due to differences in stocking rates.