Euro Star rating changing how beef cattle are bought at market
BEEF finishers purchasing store cattle on the open market may be concentrating more on the ‘star-rating ’ of the animals than on t heir physical appearance when they are giving the nod to the auctioneer in the future.
This is the obvious conclusion from recent analysis of the returns recorded on cattle purchased by two beef finishers in the midlands.
The analysis was carried out by Teagasc drystock advisor, Christy Watson and outlined in the latest edition of Today’s Farm.
On a summer grazing farm in Co Laois, the performance of progeny from one-star and fivestar bulls – categorised under the ICBF Beef Euro Star system – that were bought in marts were compared.
The five-star animals were 17kg heavier at purchase and cost €5 more than the one-star stock, therefore costing 6c/kg less.
The five-star animals were slaughtered at 26 months, compared to 30 months for the onestar and weighed 50kg more.
The five-star animals sold for €1,478/hd compared to €1,241 for the one-s tar comrades, increasing profit margins by €237/hd.
“Over their lifetime, the daily carcase gain of the five-star cattle was 30pc higher than that of the one-star cattle. The fivestar cattle had carcases which graded U on average, as opposed to R for the one-star stock, which also helped to boost return for the farmer,” said Mr Watson.
On a second farm operating a high input bull beef system, the superior performance of the five-star animals was worth an additional €413/hd on average at slaughter.
The comparison was based on 350 weanling store bulls on grass for 100 days before being housed for 100 days on a high concentrate finishing diet.
WEIGHT
The five-star animals were 46kg heavier at purchase and cost €77/hd more than the one-star bulls. On average they were two months younger and carcase weight at slaughter was 87kg higher.
Average liveweight daily gain for the five-star stock was 1.3kg compared to 0.92kg for the onestar animals.
This made the daily carcase gain of the five-star animals 41pc better than the one-star animals.
“Carcase weight accounts for 83pc of the difference in value, with grade accounting for 17pc. The five-star cattle were U’s on average, with the one-star cattle grading R,” Mr Watson explained.
The five-star animals showed a daily increase in value of €3. 91/day compared to €2.44/day for the one-s tar animals.
None the less, all of the animals were purchased on visual appearance and all looked to be good well-shaped animals from the suckler herd.
Writing on the results in Teagasc’s Today’s Farm, Christy Watson maintained that the beef Euro Stars have a lot to offer farmers who finish cattle.
“Having been in operation for seven years, the system has a level of predictability that is robust when applied at commercial farm level,” he pointed out.
“At present, farmers purchasing cattle for finishing do not have ready access to the star rating of the cattle they are purchasing.
“From the data, it is clear that without t hi s information, farmers end up, despite their best efforts, buying some cattle that lose them money, alongside cattle which have the genetic merit to make a profit,” he explained.
The Beef Euro Star system was launched in 2007. The scheme was introduced by ICBF, and was aided by the 2008 Animal Welfare Recording and Breeding Scheme f or Suckler Herds.
Euro Star ratings of 1 to 5 are awarded to each calf, based on the genetic merit of the sire for beef production.
Christy Watson’s analysis shows that animals with a higher star rating have higher average daily weight gain, earl i er fi nishing at hi gher carcase weights and deliver