Watch: Creating a win-win for beef

Failing to achieve performance targets is a serious cause of inefficiency within Irish beef production systems, Dr Mark McGee, Research Officer at Teagasc, told those attending BEEF2024 in Teagasc Grange, today, June 26.

Achieving the desired levels of performance as set out in the Teagasc beef blueprints are dependent on three interrelated factors, he said. These are:

• Animal genetics, selecting the most appropriate animals for you system with the highest genetic merit for traits of important;
• Animal nutrition, achieving performance from grazed grass, optimising silage production and minimising concentrate input through its strategic use;
• Animal health, which encompasses calf health through adequate colostrum management and the implementation of appropriate health management strategies throughout the animal’s lifetime.

“Because these factors are interrelated, we must ensure that the three are managed accordingly such that we achieve our production targets. Failure in one of these three can have a negative impact on profitability and performance,” Dr McGee added.

The Teagasc researcher also looked at the implications of achieving key performance targets on profitability and greenhouse gas emissions for a suckler to beef system, a suckler weaning to beef system, and a dairy calf to beef system.

Focusing on the spring calving suckler to beef system first, Dr McGee illustrated how making improvements in terms of reducing age of first calving, increasing calving rate, shortening the calving interval, increasing grazing season length and increasing average daily gain “results in an increase in profitability and a corresponding simultaneous reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of carcass”.

“This inverse relationship is a win-win situation and it bodes well in terms of meeting our national greenhouse gas reduction targets,” he added.

For more detailed information on the above, watch a recording of Dr McGee’s presentation from BEEF2024 below, where he is joined by Aidan Murray, Teagasc Beef Specialist, who informs farmers of some of the underutilised tools to help achieve the key performance targets on farms in terms of animal performance, grassland management, animal genetics, and animal health.

Information from the day, including papers, videos and boards will be made available here