It is now apparent that trends in suckler beef financial performance and carbon efficiency closely mirror each other.
This was a key conclusion arrived by staff at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) following their analysis of the most recent benchmarking and carbon footprinting available in Northern Ireland.
The issue was discussed in depth at a recent webinar, jointly hosted by CAFRE and the Ulster Farmers’ Union.
Courtesy of his presentation, CAFRE technologist, Michael Calvert confirmed that overall sustainability within a farm has financial, environmental and social dimensions.
Financial benchmarking data has been available for all of Northern Ireland’s farming sectors. Where suckler beef enterprises are concerned, a number of clear themes are clearly apparent.
Specifically, they confirm that farmers in the top 25% benchmarking cohort generate a gross margin/ha that is 1.5 times higher than the average figure.
Financial performance
In addition, those farms within the lowest benchmarking cohort ate generating gross margins that are 2.5 times lower than those in the top cohort.
Significantly, the average daily liveweight gain of calves and finishing stock maintained on all benchmarked suckler beef businesses is pretty much the same – in the region of 0.9kg/day.
What makes the difference though, are the range of management systems put in place and the costs of production then achieved across the various farms.
Livestock management factors that make the difference include age at slaughter, mortaility rates, herd fertility levels and the overall animal health standards achieved.
Making best use of inputs is another key area where significant improvements in financial performance can be achieved on suckler beef farms.
Issues here include the optimal use of slurry farm yard manures, improving soil health and making best use of bought-in fertilisers.
Driving improvements in grassland management, from both a grazing and silage making perspectives, are other factors that have a direct impact on the financial bottom line achieved by suckler beef enterprises.
The carbon data analysed by CAFRE technologists was secured on the back of a recent farm survey.
A total of 1,400 farmers took part in the exercise, which provided data on 2,000 different enterprises.
The work provided CAFRE staff with a unique opportunity to get valuable information on those metrics that directly contribute to the carbon footprint generated by a farming business: enteric fermentation, manure management, fertiliser management and feed utilisation.
It very quickly became obvious that the financial gross margins generated on suckler beef farms closely mirror the carbon efficiency of these businesses.
In other words, the more efficient farms had a lower carbon footprint.
