Bull beef systems are generally specialist operations and farmers are usually advised to liaise with their processing outlet before embarking on a bull beef finishing system.

At a recent farm walk in Co. Laois, Teagasc's David Argue highlighted the guideline performance targets for a 20-month suckler bull beef system to ensure the animal meets the 720kg liveweight or 420kg carcass-weight target.

In a spring calving system where calving takes place in February or March, the calf should achieve 1.2-1.3kg/head/day over the course of the first summer.

Argue said: "That is only going to be achievable if we have the right genetics in the calf, if we have the right level of milk in the cow, if the calf is healthy, and if the cow and calf is grazing the right quality of grass."

He said that 1,300-1,400kg dry matter (DM)/ha is the ideal grass cover for suckler herds to be grazing.

Once weaning time arrives in the autumn, the target weaning weight is 315kg. Calves generally spend another 4-6 weeks at grass and 2-3kg of meal before housing for the first winter.

The Teagasc adviser highlighted that the first winter "tends to be a place where farmers fall back on in terms of achieving the targets over the course of the winter or the daily liveweight gain targets for these animals".

He said that the target for the first winter should be 0.6kg/day, adding that good-quality silage and feeding concentrates where silage quality is lower are the key practices to achieve this.

He advised farmers to weigh cattle at housing, Christmas, and the following spring to make sure performance is on target.

What to do if performance is not on target?

Where farmers identify cattle performance is not on target, action should be taken.

Argue said some of the options farmers should consider are to change the silage being fed, increase the level of meal being fed, or take dung samples to ensure animals are parasite-free.

On dry ground conditions where weather proves favourable, these bulls can go back out to grass as yearlings at 390kg in late February or early March.

The cattle then spend four months (120-130 days) at grass with the intention of putting 150kg liveweight on these animals before they are housed at 540kg for finishing.

Bull beef finishing period

These cattle are housed at approximately 16 months-of-age before going on to a 120-140 day finishing period.

"The target is 540kg at housing and out the gate [to the factory] at 720kg, so that is putting 1.5kg/day over 120 days."

The target is for a 58% kill-out with a 418kg carcass-weight.