Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023 - Cattle Finishing Enterprise Factsheet

The Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department at Teagasc has recently released a Cattle Finishing Enterprise Factsheet for 2023, which analysed farm financial data, and variability in farm financial and technical performance as witnessed in the 2023 National Farm Survey.

Background

The 2023 Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) recorded data on 793 farms. The performance of the cattle finishing enterprise in 2023 is summarised here and is based on data for 80 farms. An enterprise is defined as cattle finishing if over 70% of the animals are sold for slaughter. Approximately 10,100 farms nationally are represented in this analysis. The data presented here are for enterprises with more than 10 livestock units (LU) in 2023.

Irish Cattle Finishing Enterprise 2023 average performance

• The number of Irish cattle slaughtered declined to 1.870 million, down 2.1%;
• The stocking rate of cattle finishing increased by 6.7% to 1.44LU/ha;
• Live exports increased by 12.7% to 322,684 head;
• Concentrate fed per LU increased to 701kg, up 12%;
• Irish suckler cow numbers declined to 0.82 million, down 5%;
• Average slaughter weighed reduced to 320.5kg/head, down 1.4%;
• Weanling purchase price increased to an average of €844/head, up 0.8%;
• The female store purchase price increased to an average of €1,001/head, up 5.4%;
• The female finished animal price increased to an average of €1,644/head, up 4.4%
• The male store purchase price decreased to an average of €1,127/head, down 1.5%;
• The male finished animal price decreased to an average of €1,748/head, down 4.2%;
• Total production costs on cattle finishing farms increased 5.7% to €1,525/ha;
• Gross margin on cattle finishing farms averaged €663/ha, a decline of 11%.

Analysis of financial performance

The profit figures reported here exclude all decoupled payments and any costs relating to family labour. In 2023, gross output on cattle finishing farms increased by 4% with an average of €1,565 per hectare. Concentrate costs increased notably by 24% mainly due to higher feed purchases. Pasture and forage costs increased by 9%. The average gross margin was 11% lower in 2023, with an average of €663 per hectare. Total fixed costs decreased by 8% due partly to a 12% decrease in energy and fuel costs. Net margin per hectare on cattle finishing farms was €41 per hectare on average in 2023, a decline on the average negative net margin of €68 per hectare achieved in 2022.

Table 1: Average gross margin and average net margin per hectare 2022 and 2023

Source: Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023

Table 2 illustrates that on a per LU (livestock unit) basis, the average gross output decreased by 3% to €1,023 per LU in 2023. Average gross margin decreased 14% to €434 per LU. However, a 15% decrease in total fixed costs per LU means that the average net margin on a per LU basis was unchanged at €19 in 2023.

Table 2: Average gross margin and average net margin per livestock unit 2022 and 2023

Source: Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023

Table 3 presents the average purchase and sales prices recorded on cattle finishing farms for the various animal types in 2022 and 2023. Prices for finished animals changed on the levels observed in 2022, with a 4% decrease for male sales and a 4% increase for female sales. Prices for cattle purchases decreased by 1% for male stores and increased 5% for female stores on the levels observed in 2022. Weanling purchase prices increased by 1% between 2022 and 2023.

Table 3: Animal purchase and sale prices 2022 and 2023

Source: National Farm Survey 2023

Variation in financial performance

Table 4 summarises results for farms classified on the basis of gross margin per hectare; with cattle finishing farms broken into the best performing one-third of farms (Top), the middle one-third (Middle) and the poorest performing one-third (Bottom). The value of gross output per hectare varies considerably across the three groups, mostly due to differences in stocking rates (LU/hectare). Gross margin for the Top farms in 2023 was more than 8 times higher than for the Bottom group of farms. In 2023, total direct costs per hectare on the more intensively stocked Top performing farms were more than double the total direct costs per hectare of the less intensively stocked Bottom group.

Table 4: Costs and profit by Top, Middle and Bottom Cohorts in 2023

Source: Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023

The average sale and purchase prices recorded for the various animal types traded by the Top, Middle and Bottom cattle finishing farms are presented in Table 5. The bottom performing group achieved higher average sales prices for finished male cattle relative to the top and middle performing groups. However, the farms in the bottom performing group paid significantly more for purchased cattle (weanlings and stores) relative to the top and middle performing groups. Finished female sales prices are higher for the Top and Middle performing groups relative to the Bottom performing group.

Table 5: Average purchase and sale prices for Top, Middle and Bottom in 2023

Source: Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023

Variation in technical performance

Table 6 presents selected technical performance indicators for cattle finishing enterprises in 2022 and 2023. Concentrate feed usage (per livestock unit) in 2023 increased 12% year-on-year and labour efficiency (LU per labour unit) increased by 10%. Stocking rate (LU per hectare) increased 7% year-on-year.

Table 6: Technical performance indicators 2022 and 2023

Source: Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023

Table 7 shows that there was a decrease in the proportion of cattle finishing farms earning a gross margin per hectare of €500 or more, with the share declining from 61% to 58%. There was a decrease in the proportion of farms earning a gross margin between €300 and €500 per hectare with the percentage of farms in this category decreasing from 16% to 13%. There was an increase year-on-year in the proportion of farms earning a gross margin of between €150 and €300 per hectare, where the percentage of farms increased from 5% to 17%. There was a 1 percentage point decrease in the share of cattle finishing farms earning negative gross margins (i.e. where output value was less than the direct costs of production) with the share of farms falling to 5%.

Table 7: Distribution of gross margin per hectare 2022 and 2023

Source: Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023

More information

The 2023 Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) recorded data on 793 farms representative of around 85,000 farms nationally. These factsheets summarise the results from six enterprises.

The 2023 National Farm Survey Enterprise Factsheets on Dairy Beef, Single Suckling, Cattle Finishing, Sheep, Cereals and Dairy give a range of information including:

• Analysis of Financial Performance
• Average gross and net margin
• Profit per hectare for Top, Middle and Bottom one-thirds of farms
• Variation in Technical Performance
• Percentage of farms achieving Teagasc 2027 Road Map Targets

View the full suite of factsheets here.