The true cost of beef

Indoor beef finishing is expensive, and a high rate of gain is required to cover feed and other costs.

Since feed is the major cost, the relationship between feed cost and the rate of carcase gain is a key factor in determining profit margin. Since most of the animal’s feed intake goes towards body maintenance, you only start to recover the cost of feed when the animal begins to gain weight.

A high rate of carcase gain is needed to minimise the proportion of feed going towards maintenance, and maximise the amount available for carcase gain. The daily feed cost of a 650 kg steer on high quality silage plus 5 kg of concentrates is estimated at €2.12, (silage at €144/tonne of dry matter; meal at €235 / tonne, fresh weight).