Selecting factory fit cattle

Now is the time of year when many farmers will be starting to draft factory fit cattle from the shed. Judging, selecting and drafting animals is a crucial part of the process to ensure that animals are at the desired weight and fat score, writes Stephen Collins, B&T Drystock Advisor in the Teagasc Laois/Kildare/Offaly Advisory Region.

Drafting animals too early, when they do not have adequate fat cover, or too late, when they are too fat, results in a price reduction. Market specifications require animals between 2+ and 4= for carcass fat score. A price reduction occurs when animals do not meet market specifications and penalties will be applied with bonuses lost on the Quality Payment Scheme (QPS) or through breed-specific schemes.

It is common for a high percentage of animals to be marketed at excessively high fat scores, resulting in additional feed days and associated costs. Once cattle reach the desired fat score of a 3+, the carcass weight potential of the animal is maximised and putting animals into any higher levels of a fat cover reduces their efficiency significantly in terms of average daily gain.

A general rule of thumb is that it will take approximately 90 days to fatten steers and heifers to the desired finish with the correct nutrition, and up to 120 days for bulls. Keeping and feeding animals longer than required will provide little in return, as average daily gain per head per day will slow down and reduce as the number of days feeding increases.

Key points include:

• Monitor and assess animals regularly.
• Weigh animals every 4 weeks throughout the finishing period to monitor performance and determine any health or nutrition changes needed to reach the target daily live weight gains.
• Different breeds will finish at various stages i.e. early maturing breeds such as Hereford and Angus will fatten quicker than continentals.
• Handle, select and draft animals every 10-14 days near the end of the fattening period to ensure animals do not become over fat.
• It’s particularly important when selecting factory fit cattle to handle them individually and safely in a crush to assess cover rather than just judging by eye.
• Keep a record of your judging i.e. your estimate of the animal’s conformation and fat score and then compare this to what results are on the factory kill sheet. This is a great way to improve your judging going forward.

Weight and visuals are a general guide to an animal’s readiness for market, but to ensure accurate selection, handling the live animal is essential. By knowing and understanding the key handling points, you will be able to assess the potential carcass classification, to help you consistently meet your market specification.

There are five key handling points that give the best indication of level of finish and fat class: the round or hindquarter; the loin; the shoulder; the pin bones at either side of the tail head; and the ribs.

When it comes to assessing the fatness of steers and heifers, the primary areas to focus on handling are the shoulders, loin, ribs and the tail head. For bull beef producers, fat cover can be slightly more difficult to determine. The areas mentioned above are key areas to monitor for fat cover.

However, other areas that give a good indication of fat cover in bulls are the cod – the area above the scrotum – and the brisket, the area between the front legs of the animal. Once fat starts to be laid down in these areas, bulls are ready for slaughter.

Grid payment system

Farmers marketing cattle through the grid system receive a base price per kg of cold carcass. The current base price on offer for steers and heifers is in the region of €7.10/kg.

If we take an example of an under-30 month, in-spec animal from a quality assured herd with a conformation of U= and a fat score of 3, they will receive an extra 18 cent/kg on top of base price and also a 20 cent/kg quality assurance bonus. The total payment that would be received by the farmer in this case would be €7.48/kg.

If we now take that same animal, however this time they have become over fat so now grade U=4+, they will receive an extra 12 cent/kg on top of base price on the grid structure and they will only receive a quality assurance payment of 12 cent/kg coming to a total of €7.34 per kg.

In this case of two cattle grading the same but one being over fat, there is a price difference of 14 cent/kg. On a 350kg carcass, this would equate to a reduction in payment of €49 due to the animal being over fat, not to mention the extra feed costs that were entailed by over feeding the animal. This is a substantial price difference and one that is very fixable by proper monitoring, handling and selection of cattle for slaughter.

Follow on support
Teagasc will continue to support clients by:

• Providing advice for your farm on cattle finishing systems.
• Conducting farm visits when requested – advice on cattle near fit for slaughter.
• Sharing additional resources.
• Offering on-going farm walks and events on a range of topics.

To view a video on drafting cattle, visit here.

For more on the Teagasc Laois/Kildare/Offaly Advisory Region, visit here.