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Beef: cost of production benchmarks - suckler herds
The following from the AHDB benchmarking programmes gives technical and financial results for various suckler herd production systems
The information shows top, average and bottom performing farms, with the farms in each percentile identified by ranking on full economic net margin.
Financial KPIs are the most important as they are linked to all other KPIs. The cost of producing a kg of beef or weaned calf is key to comparing any farm's ability to compete with another farm.
Techinical KPIs enable farms to look at the detail behind financial achievement.
Each farm must budget and plan for what is best for their own circumstances, resources and the market/s they are aiming for.
You can use AHDB's benchmarking tool - Farmbench. This can be found under the Tools section of the AHDB website.
AHDB Farmbench https://ahdb.org.uk/farmbench
Download Cost of production benchmarks: Beef Suckler Herds 2016 (XLS)
Non-SDA Suckler herds (Stocktake 2016)
(£ per cow to bull) | (£ per lwt kg calf output) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial Performance (£ per cow to bull) | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | |
Number of herds in sample | 31 | 95 | 31 | 31 | 95 | 31 | |
Average herd size (cows to bull) | 64 | 88 | 91 | 64 | 88 | 91 | |
Calf output | 517.80 | 537.98 | 591.06 | 2.01 | 2.06 | 2.13 | |
Other income | 3.91 | 5.02 | 8.81 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.03 | |
Gross Output | 521.71 | 542.99 | 599.87 | 2.03 | 2.07 | 2.16 | |
Replacement costs | 99.54 | 62.21 | 23.58 | 0.39 | 0.24 | 0.08 | |
Output less replacement costs | 422.17 | 480.78 | 576.29 | 1.64 | 1.84 | 2.07 | |
Variable Costs | |||||||
Purchased feed including minerals | 35.44 | 26.36 | 27.73 | 0.14 | 0.10 | 0.10 | |
Home-grown feed | 7.74 | 10.16 | 12.45 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.04 | |
Purchased forage | 5.15 | 4.54 | 5.17 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | |
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) | 44.71 | 39.21 | 36.50 | 0.17 | 0.15 | 0.13 | |
Total feed and forage | 93.04 | 80.27 | 81.85 | 0.36 | 0.31 | 0.29 | |
Vet and medicine | 38.70 | 34.96 | 37.25 | 0.15 | 0.13 | 0.13 | |
Bedding | 42.81 | 28.45 | 25.13 | 0.17 | 0.11 | 0.09 | |
Other livestock expenses | 25.51 | 21.63 | 19.56 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.07 | |
Total variable costs | 200.07 | 165.31 | 163.79 | 0.78 | 0.63 | 0.59 | |
Gross Margin | 222.10 | 315.47 | 412.50 | 0.86 | 1.21 | 1.48 | |
Fixed Costs | |||||||
Labour - paid | 75.88 | 61.25 | 28.80 | 0.30 | 0.23 | 0.10 | |
Machinery repairs and spares | 32.87 | 23.02 | 24.57 | 0.13 | 0.09 | 0.09 | |
Contracting | 55.56 | 40.02 | 34.38 | 0.22 | 0.15 | 0.12 | |
Electricity | 3.60 | 2.15 | 1.83 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | |
Fuel | 37.49 | 23.90 | 19.50 | 0.15 | 0.09 | 0.07 | |
Property maintenance and water | 28.69 | 20.25 | 15.82 | 0.11 | 0.08 | 0.06 | |
Land Rent (Actual) | 53.78 | 50.46 | 50.84 | 0.21 | 0.19 | 0.18 | |
Overheads | 25.43 | 19.29 | 18.91 | 0.10 | 0.07 | 0.07 | |
Cash Only fixed costs | 313.30 | 240.35 | 194.64 | 1.22 | 0.92 | 0.70 | |
Cash Only Cost of Production | 612.91 | 467.87 | 382.01 | 2.38 | 1.79 | 1.37 | |
Cash Only Net Margin | -91.20 | 75.12 | 217.86 | -0.35 | 0.29 | 0.78 | |
Depreciation | 127.07 | 74.30 | 50.27 | 0.49 | 0.28 | 0.18 | |
Finance costs (Imputed) | 37.07 | 33.62 | 32.24 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.12 | |
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) | 102.41 | 61.29 | 55.91 | 0.40 | 0.23 | 0.20 | |
Land Rent (Imputed) | 87.75 | 61.68 | 52.92 | 0.34 | 0.24 | 0.19 | |
Non-Cash fixed costs | 354.31 | 230.88 | 191.34 | 1.38 | 0.88 | 0.69 | |
Full Investment fixed costs | 667.61 | 471.23 | 385.98 | 2.60 | 1.80 | 1.39 | |
Full Investment Cost of Production | 967.22 | 698.75 | 573.34 | 3.76 | 2.67 | 2.06 | |
Full Investment Net Margin | -445.51 | -155.76 | 26.53 | -1.73 | -0.60 | 0.10 | |
Physical Performance | |||||||
Cow to bull ratio | 30 | 33 | 33 | ||||
Age at first calving | |||||||
Herds 2 year policy (%) | 29 | 46 | 55 | ||||
Herds 2.5 year policy (%) | 52 | 39 | 32 | ||||
Herds more than 2.5 year policy (%) | 19 | 15 | 13 | ||||
Percentage of cows/heifers scanned in-calf (%) | 93 | 91 | 93 | ||||
Calves born alive per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 88 | 88 | 90 | ||||
Calves born dead per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
Calves died from birth to weaning per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 4 | 3 | 3 | ||||
Calves weaned per 100 cows/heifers to bull* | 87 | 85 | 86 | ||||
Calf losses from birth to weaning (% of born alive) | 4 | 4 | 3 | ||||
Calving period (first to last calf - weeks) | 16.0 | 15.2 | 14.6 | ||||
Cows and heifers calving in first 3 weeks (%) | 32.0 | 35.1 | 39.3 | ||||
Empty cows/heifers (%) | 9.0 | 9.7 | 7.3 | ||||
Cow mortality (%) | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.3 | ||||
Herd replacement rate (%) | 14.6 | 16.7 | 16.4 | ||||
Average age at weaning (days) | 238 | 234 | 235 | ||||
Average weight at weaning (kg per head) | 296 | 306 | 322 | ||||
Daily liveweight gain to weaning (kg per day) | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | ||||
Weaned calf weight produced per forage hectare (kg at 200 days) | 204 | 292 | 353 | ||||
Return per calf (£ per head) | 608 | 636 | 690 | ||||
Calf price (£ per kg lwt) | 2.07 | 2.09 | 2.15 | ||||
Weaned calves sold at weaning (%) | 22 | 9 | 12 | ||||
Weaned calves retained at weaning (%) | 78 | 91 | 88 | ||||
Total FW cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 168 | 135 | 102 | ||||
Total DM cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 119 | 84 | 80 | ||||
Average concentrate cost (£ per tonne) | 175 | 139 | 155 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per cow) | 4240 | 3660 | 3627 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per cow) | 1655 | 1390 | 1251 | ||||
Creep feed fed (kg per calf weaned) | 46 | 57 | 79 | ||||
Number of grazing weeks | 32 | 32 | 32 | ||||
Stocking rate (LU per ha) | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.7 | ||||
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) | 35 | 35 | 34 | ||||
Labour use - paid hours per cow | 6.8 | 5.4 | 3.2 | ||||
Labour use - unpaid hours per cow | 10.5 | 6.1 | 5.6 | ||||
*includes calves purchased to put on cows |
SDA Suckler herds (Stocktake 2016)
(£ per cow to bull) | (£ per lwt kg calf output) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial Performance (£ per cow to bull) | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | |
Number of herds in sample | 8 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 26 | 8 | |
Average herd size (cows to bull) | 65 | 80 | 80 | 65 | 80 | 80 | |
Calf output | 510.23 | 641.02 | 703.95 | 2.09 | 2.35 | 2.45 | |
Other income | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Gross Output | 510.23 | 641.02 | 703.95 | 2.09 | 2.35 | 2.45 | |
Replacement costs | 39.48 | 38.28 | 20.00 | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.07 | |
Output less replacement costs | 470.75 | 602.74 | 683.95 | 1.93 | 2.21 | 2.38 | |
Variable Costs | |||||||
Purchased feed including minerals | 17.95 | 31.11 | 15.39 | 0.07 | 0.11 | 0.05 | |
Home-grown feed | 8.32 | 5.41 | 0.00 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.00 | |
Purchased forage | 20.59 | 9.42 | 6.15 | 0.08 | 0.03 | 0.02 | |
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) | 34.82 | 42.32 | 38.07 | 0.14 | 0.16 | 0.13 | |
Total feed and forage | 81.68 | 88.27 | 59.61 | 0.33 | 0.32 | 0.21 | |
Vet and medicine | 35.16 | 34.20 | 20.84 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.07 | |
Bedding | 10.76 | 28.51 | 32.70 | 0.04 | 0.10 | 0.11 | |
Other livestock expenses | 10.49 | 14.28 | 17.18 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.06 | |
Total variable costs | 138.10 | 165.26 | 130.33 | 0.57 | 0.61 | 0.45 | |
Gross Margin | 332.66 | 437.48 | 553.62 | 1.36 | 1.60 | 1.93 | |
Fixed Costs | |||||||
Labour - paid | 13.09 | 44.09 | 43.13 | 0.05 | 0.16 | 0.15 | |
Machinery repairs and spares | 32.20 | 25.78 | 24.27 | 0.13 | 0.09 | 0.08 | |
Contracting | 28.64 | 31.79 | 26.86 | 0.12 | 0.12 | 0.09 | |
Electricity | 1.75 | 2.25 | 2.71 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | |
Fuel | 27.34 | 24.29 | 21.68 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.08 | |
Property maintenance and water | 10.27 | 13.71 | 9.55 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.03 | |
Land Rent (Actual) | 84.51 | 61.86 | 42.68 | 0.35 | 0.23 | 0.15 | |
Overheads | 19.53 | 22.62 | 21.61 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.08 | |
Cash Only fixed costs | 217.31 | 226.38 | 192.48 | 0.89 | 0.83 | 0.67 | |
Cash Only Cost of Production | 394.89 | 429.92 | 342.81 | 1.62 | 1.58 | 1.20 | |
Cash Only Net Margin | 115.34 | 211.09 | 361.14 | 0.47 | 0.77 | 1.26 | |
Depreciation | 99.63 | 72.21 | 68.79 | 0.41 | 0.26 | 0.24 | |
Finance costs (Imputed) | 36.30 | 33.62 | 32.91 | 0.15 | 0.12 | 0.11 | |
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) | 103.85 | 66.12 | 66.14 | 0.43 | 0.24 | 0.23 | |
Land Rent (Imputed) | 43.53 | 36.33 | 58.94 | 0.18 | 0.13 | 0.21 | |
Non-Cash fixed costs | 283.31 | 208.27 | 226.78 | 1.16 | 0.76 | 0.79 | |
Full Investment fixed costs | 500.63 | 434.66 | 419.26 | 2.05 | 1.59 | 1.46 | |
Full Investment Cost of Production | 678.20 | 638.19 | 569.59 | 2.78 | 2.34 | 1.99 | |
Full Investment Net Margin | -167.97 | 2.82 | 134.36 | -0.69 | 0.01 | 0.47 | |
Physical Performance | |||||||
Cow to bull ratio | 36 | 32 | 27 | ||||
Age at first calving | |||||||
Herds 2 year policy (%) | 25 | 35 | 50 | ||||
Herds 2.5 year policy (%) | 25 | 42 | 38 | ||||
Herds more than 2.5 year policy (%) | 50 | 23 | 13 | ||||
Percentage of cows/heifers scanned in-calf (%) | n.a. | 94 | 95 | ||||
Calves born alive per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 86 | 90 | 94 | ||||
Calves born dead per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 5 | 3 | 3 | ||||
Calves died from birth to weaning per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
Calves weaned per 100 cows/heifers to bull* | 85 | 91 | 92 | ||||
Calf losses from birth to weaning (% of born alive) | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
Calving period (first to last calf - weeks) | 12.4 | 14.1 | 17.0 | ||||
Cows and heifers calving in first 3 weeks (%) | 30.9 | 32.1 | 29.9 | ||||
Empty cows/heifers (%) | 10.6 | 7.8 | 5.5 | ||||
Cow mortality (%) | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.8 | ||||
Herd replacement rate (%) | 12.3 | 14.2 | 13.7 | ||||
Average age at weaning (days) | 236 | 239 | 249 | ||||
Average weight at weaning (kg per head) | 286 | 301 | 310 | ||||
Daily liveweight gain to weaning (kg per day) | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | ||||
Weaned calf weight produced per forage hectare (kg at 200 days) | 203 | 235 | 217 | ||||
Return per calf (£ per head) | 602 | 715 | 767 | ||||
Calf price (£ per kg lwt) | 2.08 | 2.36 | 2.47 | ||||
Weaned calves sold at weaning (%) | 14 | 18 | 15 | ||||
Weaned calves retained at weaning (%) | 86 | 82 | 85 | ||||
Total FW cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 85 | 77 | 49 | ||||
Total DM cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 73 | 57 | 42 | ||||
Average concentrate cost (£ per tonne) | 202 | 181 | 229 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per cow) | 4100 | 5508 | 5254 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per cow) | 1270 | 1648 | 1554 | ||||
Creep feed fed (kg per calf weaned) | 6 | 81 | 4 | ||||
Number of grazing weeks | 34 | 32 | 33 | ||||
Stocking rate (LU per ha) | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | ||||
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) | 33 | 37 | 22 | ||||
Labour use - paid hours per cow | 1.5 | 4.4 | 4.7 | ||||
Labour use - unpaid hours per cow | 10.3 | 6.7 | 6.8 | ||||
*includes calves purchased to put on cows |
Spring calving suckler herds (Stocktake 2016)
(£ per cow to bull) | (£ per lwt kg calf output) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial Performance (£ per cow to bull) | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | |
Number of herds in sample | 22 | 68 | 22 | 22 | 68 | 22 | |
Average herd size (cows to bull) | 54 | 90 | 101 | 54 | 90 | 101 | |
Calf output | 495.38 | 535.91 | 587.77 | 2.06 | 2.10 | 2.21 | |
Other income | 2.23 | 4.67 | 8.25 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.03 | |
Gross Output | 497.61 | 540.59 | 596.01 | 2.07 | 2.12 | 2.25 | |
Replacement costs | 82.66 | 55.64 | 24.54 | 0.34 | 0.22 | 0.09 | |
Output less replacement costs | 414.96 | 484.95 | 571.47 | 1.72 | 1.90 | 2.15 | |
Variable Costs | |||||||
Purchased feed including minerals | 30.13 | 25.30 | 24.25 | 0.13 | 0.10 | 0.09 | |
Home-grown feed | 3.40 | 11.07 | 15.23 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.06 | |
Purchased forage | 8.29 | 5.12 | 6.83 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.03 | |
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) | 45.02 | 36.70 | 31.61 | 0.19 | 0.14 | 0.12 | |
Total feed and forage | 86.85 | 78.19 | 77.91 | 0.36 | 0.31 | 0.29 | |
Vet and medicine | 35.04 | 34.13 | 36.19 | 0.15 | 0.13 | 0.14 | |
Bedding | 31.94 | 26.46 | 28.39 | 0.13 | 0.10 | 0.11 | |
Other livestock expenses | 20.76 | 18.46 | 15.50 | 0.09 | 0.07 | 0.06 | |
Total variable costs | 174.59 | 157.24 | 157.99 | 0.73 | 0.62 | 0.60 | |
Gross Margin | 240.37 | 327.71 | 413.48 | 1.00 | 1.28 | 1.56 | |
Fixed Costs | |||||||
Labour - paid | 81.38 | 70.81 | 46.19 | 0.34 | 0.28 | 0.17 | |
Machinery repairs and spares | 37.06 | 22.63 | 23.48 | 0.15 | 0.09 | 0.09 | |
Contracting | 63.64 | 37.00 | 26.57 | 0.26 | 0.15 | 0.10 | |
Electricity | 5.06 | 2.69 | 2.68 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | |
Fuel | 32.44 | 22.21 | 20.69 | 0.13 | 0.09 | 0.08 | |
Property maintenance and water | 29.17 | 18.81 | 13.93 | 0.12 | 0.07 | 0.05 | |
Land Rent (Actual) | 66.37 | 53.16 | 53.60 | 0.28 | 0.21 | 0.20 | |
Overheads | 30.85 | 18.68 | 16.89 | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.06 | |
Cash Only fixed costs | 345.96 | 246.00 | 204.04 | 1.44 | 0.96 | 0.77 | |
Cash Only Cost of Production | 603.20 | 458.88 | 386.57 | 2.51 | 1.80 | 1.46 | |
Cash Only Net Margin | -105.59 | 81.70 | 209.44 | -0.44 | 0.32 | 0.79 | |
Depreciation | 112.98 | 63.49 | 47.63 | 0.47 | 0.25 | 0.18 | |
Finance costs (Imputed) | 30.85 | 32.27 | 31.79 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.12 | |
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) | 85.02 | 45.37 | 40.89 | 0.35 | 0.18 | 0.15 | |
Land Rent (Imputed) | 81.11 | 55.33 | 43.85 | 0.34 | 0.22 | 0.17 | |
Non-Cash fixed costs | 309.96 | 196.46 | 164.17 | 1.29 | 0.77 | 0.62 | |
Full Investment fixed costs | 655.92 | 442.47 | 368.21 | 2.73 | 1.73 | 1.39 | |
Full Investment Cost of Production | 913.16 | 655.35 | 550.74 | 3.80 | 2.57 | 2.08 | |
Full Investment Net Margin | -415.55 | -114.76 | 45.27 | -1.73 | -0.45 | 0.17 | |
Physical Performance | |||||||
Cow to bull ratio | 30 | 32 | 31 | ||||
Age at first calving | |||||||
Herds 2 year policy (%) | 45 | 53 | 59 | ||||
Herds 2.5 year policy (%) | 27 | 28 | 27 | ||||
Herds more than 2.5 year policy (%) | 27 | 19 | 14 | ||||
Percentage of cows/heifers scanned in-calf (%) | 92 | 91 | 94 | ||||
Calves born alive per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 86 | 88 | 91 | ||||
Calves born dead per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
Calves died from birth to weaning per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
Calves weaned per 100 cows/heifers to bull* | 83 | 85 | 88 | ||||
Calf losses from birth to weaning (% of born alive) | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||
Calving period (first to last calf - weeks) | 16.4 | 15.3 | 13.5 | ||||
Cows and heifers calving in first 3 weeks (%) | 35.5 | 36.6 | 40.5 | ||||
Empty cows/heifers (%) | 12.0 | 10.4 | 6.9 | ||||
Cow mortality (%) | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.6 | ||||
Herd replacement rate (%) | 16.3 | 17.1 | 14.5 | ||||
Average age at weaning (days) | 233 | 224 | 216 | ||||
Average weight at weaning (kg per head) | 291 | 300 | 300 | ||||
Daily liveweight gain to weaning (kg per day) | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | ||||
Weaned calf weight produced per forage hectare (kg at 200 days) | 177 | 289 | 337 | ||||
Return per calf (£ per head) | 599 | 636 | 666 | ||||
Calf price (£ per kg lwt) | 2.07 | 2.12 | 2.23 | ||||
Weaned calves sold at weaning (%) | 11 | 6 | 4 | ||||
Weaned calves retained at weaning (%) | 89 | 94 | 96 | ||||
Total FW cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 124 | 136 | 115 | ||||
Total DM cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 75 | 75 | 88 | ||||
Average concentrate cost (£ per tonne) | 155 | 126 | 153 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per cow) | 4032 | 3382 | 3555 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per cow) | 1640 | 1338 | 1292 | ||||
Creep feed fed (kg per calf weaned) | 51 | 60 | 53 | ||||
Number of grazing weeks | 33 | 33 | 31 | ||||
Stocking rate (LU per ha) | 0.9 | 1.4 | 1.5 | ||||
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) | 29 | 30 | 18 | ||||
Labour use - paid hours per cow | 7.0 | 6.2 | 5.0 | ||||
Labour use - unpaid hours per cow | 9.6 | 4.7 | 4.2 | ||||
*includes calves purchased to put on cows |
Autumn calving suckler herds (Stocktake 2016)
(£ per cow to bull) | (£ per lwt kg calf output) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial Performance (£ per cow to bull) | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | |
Number of herds in sample | 4 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 4 | |
Average herd size (cows to bull) | 43 | 67 | 103 | 43 | 67 | 103 | |
Calf output | 432.87 | 589.74 | 649.45 | 1.90 | 1.95 | 1.94 | |
Other income | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Gross Output | 432.87 | 589.74 | 649.45 | 1.90 | 1.95 | 1.94 | |
Replacement costs | 122.44 | 48.20 | 10.44 | 0.54 | 0.16 | 0.03 | |
Output less replacement costs | 310.42 | 541.54 | 639.00 | 1.36 | 1.79 | 1.91 | |
Variable Costs | |||||||
Purchased feed including minerals | 27.37 | 22.64 | 7.71 | 0.12 | 0.07 | 0.02 | |
Home-grown feed | 0.00 | 3.51 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 | |
Purchased forage | 57.80 | 11.28 | 0.00 | 0.25 | 0.04 | 0.00 | |
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) | 24.13 | 44.60 | 49.46 | 0.11 | 0.15 | 0.15 | |
Total feed and forage | 109.29 | 82.03 | 57.17 | 0.48 | 0.27 | 0.17 | |
Vet and medicine | 18.11 | 26.42 | 25.63 | 0.08 | 0.09 | 0.08 | |
Bedding | 16.88 | 25.25 | 24.85 | 0.07 | 0.08 | 0.07 | |
Other livestock expenses | 21.37 | 25.10 | 28.02 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.08 | |
Total variable costs | 165.65 | 158.80 | 135.68 | 0.73 | 0.52 | 0.41 | |
Gross Margin | 144.77 | 382.74 | 503.32 | 0.63 | 1.26 | 1.51 | |
Fixed Costs | |||||||
Labour - paid | 35.39 | 30.74 | 25.31 | 0.16 | 0.10 | 0.08 | |
Machinery repairs and spares | 24.05 | 21.92 | 25.03 | 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.07 | |
Contracting | 7.25 | 38.14 | 50.37 | 0.03 | 0.13 | 0.15 | |
Electricity | 1.93 | 1.34 | 0.86 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Fuel | 16.83 | 19.40 | 22.54 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.07 | |
Property maintenance and water | 24.93 | 15.29 | 9.68 | 0.11 | 0.05 | 0.03 | |
Land Rent (actual) | 33.33 | 54.31 | 81.68 | 0.15 | 0.18 | 0.24 | |
Overheads | 18.42 | 18.93 | 16.88 | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.05 | |
Cash Only fixed costs | 162.12 | 200.08 | 232.35 | 0.71 | 0.66 | 0.70 | |
Cash Only Cost of Production | 450.21 | 407.08 | 378.48 | 1.97 | 1.34 | 1.13 | |
Cash Only Net Margin | -17.35 | 182.66 | 270.97 | -0.08 | 0.60 | 0.81 | |
Depreciation | 55.99 | 72.84 | 63.46 | 0.25 | 0.24 | 0.19 | |
Finance costs (Imputed) | 23.54 | 30.52 | 36.58 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.11 | |
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) | 65.44 | 59.27 | 48.72 | 0.29 | 0.20 | 0.15 | |
Land Rent (Imputed) | 52.13 | 37.74 | 27.23 | 0.23 | 0.12 | 0.08 | |
Non-Cash fixed costs | 197.11 | 200.37 | 175.99 | 0.86 | 0.66 | 0.53 | |
Full Investment fixed costs | 359.22 | 400.45 | 408.34 | 1.57 | 1.32 | 1.22 | |
Full Investment Cost of Production | 647.32 | 607.45 | 554.47 | 2.84 | 2.01 | 1.66 | |
Full Investment Net Margin | -214.46 | -17.71 | 94.98 | -0.94 | -0.06 | 0.28 | |
Physical Performance | |||||||
Cow to bull ratio | 28 | 36 | 41 | ||||
Age at first calving | |||||||
Herds 2 year policy (%) | 50 | 54 | 100 | ||||
Herds 2.5 year policy (%) | 25 | 31 | 0 | ||||
Herds more than 2.5 year policy (%) | 25 | 15 | 0 | ||||
Percentage of cows/heifers scanned in-calf (%) | 83 | 90 | 93 | ||||
Calves born alive per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 84 | 89 | 90 | ||||
Calves born dead per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 2 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Calves died from birth to weaning per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
Calves weaned per 100 cows/heifers to bull* | 82 | 87 | 89 | ||||
Calf losses from birth to weaning (% of born alive) | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
Calving period (first to last calf - weeks) | 13.0 | 11.9 | 12.7 | ||||
Cows and heifers calving in first 3 weeks (%) | 33.5 | 33.2 | 35.0 | ||||
Empty cows/heifers (%) | 15.2 | 9.1 | 7.5 | ||||
Cow mortality (%) | 5.8 | 2.2 | 0.7 | ||||
Herd replacement rate (%) | 23.4 | 14.2 | 10.2 | ||||
Average age at weaning (days) | 282 | 280 | 283 | ||||
Average weight at weaning (kg per head) | 279 | 346 | 377 | ||||
Daily liveweight gain to weaning (kg per day) | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.2 | ||||
Weaned calf weight produced per forage hectare (kg at 200 days) | 186 | 328 | 338 | ||||
Return per calf (£ per head) | 529 | 674 | 733 | ||||
Calf price (£ per kg lwt) | 1.88 | 1.94 | 1.94 | ||||
Weaned calves sold at weaning (%) | 33 | 9 | 6 | ||||
Weaned calves retained at weaning (%) | 67 | 91 | 94 | ||||
Total FW cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 149 | 113 | 14 | ||||
Total DM cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 87 | 74 | 13 | ||||
Average concentrate cost (£ per tonne) | 151 | 142 | 288 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per cow) | 3532 | 5217 | 6509 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per cow) | 1228 | 1543 | 1580 | ||||
Creep feed fed (kg per calf weaned) | 45 | 40 | 0 | ||||
Number of grazing weeks | 40 | 34 | 31 | ||||
Stocking rate (LU per ha) | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1.7 | ||||
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) | 23 | 50 | 50 | ||||
Labour use - paid hours per cow | 3.2 | 3.0 | 2.4 | ||||
Labour use - unpaid hours per cow | 6.2 | 5.8 | 4.7 | ||||
*includes calves purchased to put on cows | |||||||
Combined breeding herd/beef finishing (Stocktake 2016)
(£ per cow to bull) | (£ per dwt kg output) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial Performance (£ per cow to bull) | Bottom third | Average | Top third | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | |
Number of herds in sample | 9 | 29 | 9 | 9 | 29 | 9 | |
Average herd size (cows to bull) | 51 | 90 | 91 | 51 | 90 | 91 | |
Calf output | 1031.16 | 1076.45 | 1131.21 | 3.48 | 3.68 | 3.99 | |
Other income | 8.34 | 17.96 | 18.62 | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.07 | |
Gross Output | 1039.50 | 1094.41 | 1149.84 | 3.51 | 3.74 | 4.06 | |
Replacement costs | 69.91 | 49.35 | 34.84 | 0.24 | 0.17 | 0.12 | |
Output less replacement costs | 969.58 | 1045.06 | 1115.00 | 3.28 | 3.57 | 3.94 | |
Variable Costs | |||||||
Purchased feed including minerals | 126.67 | 117.00 | 61.99 | 0.43 | 0.40 | 0.22 | |
Home-grown feed | 79.81 | 76.98 | 84.49 | 0.27 | 0.26 | 0.30 | |
Purchased forage | 7.43 | 12.10 | 14.96 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.05 | |
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) | 54.99 | 65.15 | 65.66 | 0.19 | 0.22 | 0.23 | |
Total feed and forage | 268.91 | 271.24 | 227.09 | 0.91 | 0.93 | 0.80 | |
Vet and medicine | 42.31 | 51.92 | 58.31 | 0.14 | 0.18 | 0.21 | |
Bedding | 86.49 | 65.32 | 62.56 | 0.29 | 0.22 | 0.22 | |
Other livestock expenses | 44.90 | 40.12 | 34.69 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.12 | |
Total variable costs | 442.60 | 428.60 | 382.65 | 1.50 | 1.46 | 1.35 | |
Gross Margin | 526.98 | 616.46 | 732.35 | 1.78 | 2.11 | 2.59 | |
Fixed Costs | |||||||
Labour - paid | 177.26 | 123.62 | 31.36 | 0.60 | 0.42 | 0.11 | |
Machinery repairs and spares | 39.48 | 35.70 | 43.02 | 0.13 | 0.12 | 0.15 | |
Contracting | 68.15 | 67.77 | 74.87 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.26 | |
Electricity | 6.19 | 4.21 | 2.71 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | |
Fuel | 67.84 | 40.04 | 28.32 | 0.23 | 0.14 | 0.10 | |
Property maintenance and water | 62.52 | 43.64 | 37.01 | 0.21 | 0.15 | 0.13 | |
Land Rent (Actual) | 60.13 | 85.12 | 115.74 | 0.20 | 0.29 | 0.41 | |
Overheads | 75.37 | 51.50 | 41.38 | 0.25 | 0.18 | 0.15 | |
Cash Only fixed costs | 556.93 | 451.59 | 374.41 | 1.88 | 1.54 | 1.32 | |
Cash Only Cost of Production | 1069.44 | 929.54 | 791.90 | 3.61 | 3.18 | 2.80 | |
Cash Only Net Margin | -29.95 | 164.87 | 357.93 | -0.10 | 0.56 | 1.26 | |
Depreciation | 238.98 | 133.00 | 101.51 | 0.81 | 0.45 | 0.36 | |
Finance costs (Imputed) | 78.81 | 64.56 | 62.64 | 0.27 | 0.22 | 0.22 | |
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) | 140.11 | 94.91 | 146.65 | 0.47 | 0.32 | 0.52 | |
Land Rent (Imputed) | 140.30 | 75.48 | 62.32 | 0.47 | 0.26 | 0.22 | |
Non-Cash fixed costs | 598.20 | 367.94 | 373.12 | 2.02 | 1.26 | 1.32 | |
Full Investment fixed costs | 1155.13 | 819.53 | 747.53 | 3.90 | 2.80 | 2.64 | |
Full Investment Cost of Production | 1667.64 | 1297.48 | 1165.02 | 5.63 | 4.43 | 4.11 | |
Full Investment Net Margin | -628.15 | -203.07 | -15.19 | -2.12 | -0.69 | -0.05 | |
Physical Performance | |||||||
Cow to bull ratio | 28 | 31 | 31 | ||||
Age at first calving | |||||||
Herds 2 year policy (%) | 33 | 44 | 11 | ||||
Herds 2.5 year policy (%) | 56 | 40 | 78 | ||||
Herds more than 2.5 year policy (%) | 11 | 17 | 11 | ||||
Percentage of cows/heifers scanned in-calf (%) | 96 | 92 | 95 | ||||
Calves born alive per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 91 | 90 | 90 | ||||
Calves born dead per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
Calves died after birth per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||
Calves weaned per 100 cows/heifers to bull* | 89 | 88 | 89 | ||||
Calf losses from birth to sale (% of born alive) | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||
Calving period (first to last calf - weeks) | 22.9 | 15.6 | 12.6 | ||||
Cows and heifers calving in first 3 weeks (%) | 28.2 | 33.3 | 29.2 | ||||
Empty cows/heifers (%) | 8.1 | 8.5 | 7.6 | ||||
Cow mortality (%) | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.6 | ||||
Herd replacement rate (%) | 14.5 | 15.0 | 12.3 | ||||
Average age at weaning (days) | 243 | 234 | 225 | ||||
Average age at sale (days) | 622 | 576 | 634 | ||||
Average weight at weaning (kg per head) | 293 | 315 | 292 | ||||
Average liveweight at sale (kg per head) | 610 | 595 | 571 | ||||
Average carcase weight (kg) | 332 | 334 | 320 | ||||
Daily liveweight gain birth to sale (kg per day) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | ||||
Calf return per head finished (£) | 1149 | 1255 | 1332 | ||||
Calf return per head store (£) | 1400 | 970 | 899 | ||||
Liveweight sale price all animals (£ per kg lwt) | 1.90 | 2.07 | 2.24 | ||||
Liveweight sale price: finished cattle (£ per kg lwt) | 1.86 | 2.06 | 2.27 | ||||
Deadweight sale price: finished cattle (£ per kg dwt) | 3.46 | 3.79 | 4.19 | ||||
Calves sold finished (%) | 96 | 90 | 88 | ||||
Calves sold store (%) | 4 | 10 | 12 | ||||
Total FW cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 224 | 152 | 171 | ||||
Average concentrate cost (£ per tonne) | 119 | 153 | 146 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per cow) | 4097 | 3001 | 3285 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per cow) | 1373 | 1223 | 1310 | ||||
Total FW calf concentrate use (kg per calf) | 1829 | 1107 | 702 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per calf) | 4433 | 4222 | 4595 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per calf) | 1351 | 1334 | 1435 | ||||
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) | 50 | 58 | 29 |
Combined breeding herd/stores (Stocktake 2016)
(£ per cow to bull) | (£ per lwt kg calf output) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial Performance (£ per cow to bull) | Bottom third | Average | Top third | Bottom Third | Average | Top Third | |
Number of herds in sample | 5 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 5 | |
Average herd size (cows to bull) | 64 | 74 | 79 | 64 | 74 | 79 | |
Calf output | 653.54 | 713.43 | 914.31 | 1.74 | 1.89 | 2.02 | |
Other income | 4.40 | 1.11 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Gross Output | 657.95 | 714.54 | 914.31 | 1.75 | 1.90 | 2.02 | |
Replacement costs | 62.64 | 80.53 | 70.36 | 0.17 | 0.21 | 0.16 | |
Output less replacement costs | 595.31 | 634.01 | 843.95 | 1.58 | 1.68 | 1.86 | |
Variable Costs | |||||||
Purchased feed including minerals | 48.02 | 80.59 | 72.86 | 0.13 | 0.21 | 0.16 | |
Home-grown feed | 37.14 | 5.92 | 3.69 | 0.10 | 0.02 | 0.01 | |
Purchased forage | 14.56 | 10.24 | 23.31 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.05 | |
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) | 19.25 | 42.51 | 48.49 | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.11 | |
Total feed and forage | 118.97 | 139.26 | 148.35 | 0.32 | 0.37 | 0.33 | |
Vet and medicine | 26.41 | 37.18 | 32.43 | 0.07 | 0.10 | 0.07 | |
Bedding | 32.65 | 51.56 | 53.61 | 0.09 | 0.14 | 0.12 | |
Other livestock expenses | 28.33 | 38.90 | 44.01 | 0.08 | 0.10 | 0.10 | |
Total variable costs | 206.37 | 266.90 | 278.40 | 0.55 | 0.71 | 0.61 | |
Gross Margin | 388.94 | 367.11 | 565.55 | 1.03 | 0.97 | 1.25 | |
Fixed Costs | |||||||
Labour - paid | 94.99 | 63.84 | 56.29 | 0.25 | 0.17 | 0.12 | |
Machinery repairs and spares | 32.41 | 49.98 | 29.93 | 0.09 | 0.13 | 0.07 | |
Contracting | 34.79 | 42.04 | 19.17 | 0.09 | 0.11 | 0.04 | |
Electricity | 2.73 | 2.68 | 2.14 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.00 | |
Fuel | 26.06 | 33.42 | 28.72 | 0.07 | 0.09 | 0.06 | |
Property maintenance and water | 21.19 | 24.32 | 33.08 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.07 | |
Land Rent (Actual) | 155.83 | 107.59 | 27.08 | 0.41 | 0.29 | 0.06 | |
Overheads | 41.41 | 36.48 | 41.04 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.09 | |
Cash Only fixed costs | 409.42 | 360.35 | 237.45 | 1.09 | 0.96 | 0.52 | |
Cash Only Cost of Production | 678.43 | 707.78 | 586.21 | 1.80 | 1.88 | 1.29 | |
Cash Only Net Margin | -20.48 | 6.76 | 328.10 | -0.05 | 0.02 | 0.72 | |
Depreciation | 94.65 | 126.67 | 148.09 | 0.25 | 0.34 | 0.33 | |
Finance costs (Imputed) | 47.83 | 55.35 | 57.42 | 0.13 | 0.15 | 0.13 | |
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) | 120.20 | 122.40 | 117.78 | 0.32 | 0.32 | 0.26 | |
Land Rent (Imputed) | 70.01 | 50.63 | 73.23 | 0.19 | 0.13 | 0.16 | |
Non-Cash fixed costs | 332.70 | 355.05 | 396.52 | 0.88 | 0.94 | 0.87 | |
Full Investment fixed costs | 742.13 | 715.40 | 633.98 | 1.97 | 1.90 | 1.40 | |
Full Investment Cost of Production | 1011.13 | 1062.83 | 982.74 | 2.69 | 2.82 | 2.17 | |
Full Investment Net Margin | -353.19 | -348.29 | -68.42 | -0.94 | -0.92 | -0.15 | |
Physical Performance | |||||||
Cow to bull ratio | 43 | 38 | 43 | ||||
Age at first calving | |||||||
Herds 2 year policy (%) | 0 | 44 | 40 | ||||
Herds 2.5 year policy (%) | 40 | 40 | 60 | ||||
Herds more than 2.5 year policy (%) | 60 | 17 | 0 | ||||
Percentage of cows/heifers scanned in-calf (%) | 95 | 68 | n.a | ||||
Calves born alive per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 87 | 86 | 89 | ||||
Calves born dead per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||
Calves died after birth per 100 cows/heifers to bull | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||||
Calves weaned per 100 cows/heifers to bull* | 85 | 84 | 87 | ||||
Calf losses from birth to sale (% of born alive) | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
Calving period (first to last calf - weeks) | 9.5 | 11.2 | 13.3 | ||||
Cows and heifers calving in first 3 weeks (%) | 50.6 | 36.2 | 30.7 | ||||
Empty cows/heifers (%) | 10.7 | 11.2 | 10.4 | ||||
Cow mortality (%) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.8 | ||||
Herd replacement rate (%) | 12.3 | 16.7 | 16.5 | ||||
Average age at weaning (days) | 220 | 233 | 236 | ||||
Average age at sale (days) | 445 | 497 | 475 | ||||
Average weight at weaning (kg per head) | 270 | 293 | 309 | ||||
Average liveweight at sale (kg per head) | 445 | 447 | 524 | ||||
Average carcase weight (kg) | n.a | 190 | 336 | ||||
Daily liveweight gain birth to sale (kg per day) | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | ||||
Calf return per head finished (£) | n.a | 509 | 1208 | ||||
Calf return per head store (£) | 773 | 853 | 1000 | ||||
Liveweight sale price all animals (£ per kg lwt) | 1.75 | 1.93 | 2.02 | ||||
Liveweight sale price: finished cattle (£ per kg lwt) | n.a | 1.43 | 2 | ||||
Deadweight sale price: finished cattle (£ per kg dwt) | n.a | 2.68 | 4 | ||||
Calves sold finished (%) | 0 | 1 | 28 | ||||
Calves sold store (%) | 100 | 99 | 72 | ||||
Total FW cow concentrate use (kg per cow) | 38 | 31 | 9 | ||||
Average concentrate cost (£ per tonne) | 306 | 219 | 186 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per cow) | 3211 | 3432 | 3373 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per cow) | 1971 | 1608 | 1576 | ||||
Total FW calf concentrate use (kg per calf) | 202 | 371 | 435 | ||||
Total FW forage (kg per calf) | 2436 | 2664 | 3470 | ||||
Total DM forage (kg per calf) | 1058 | 1053 | 985 | ||||
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) | 3 | 19 | 35 |