Calf-to-beef could earn up to €1,000/ha

Well managed dairy calf to beef systems at Teagasc Grange and Johnstown Castle were found to produce net profit margins per hectare of over €1,000, before direct payments.

A Teagasc course starting in December could be the gateway to earning €1,000 per hectare from your farm. However, about €500 per hectare is a more likely outcome. These are the possible earnings, before direct payments, from rearing dairy-bred calves to beef.

But there is a "health warning" from Teagasc, that there has been a high attrition rate in this business, in past years. In 2015, for every 10 farms that reared dairy beef calves, only four were left by 2019. Poor financial returns, problems with animal health, labour, and dissatisfaction with the beef genetics from calves coming from the dairy herd were a few of the reasons for dropping out of calf-to-beef production.