Ideal factory Weight for Cattle

galway 4 sam

Just wondering what weight do ye usually aim for when sending cattle to the factory. I could easily get an animal up to 700 kg (approx 30 months old) but some people say that factory dont want them this heavy yet if they are sent to the factory any lighter i often think they are unfinished.

Do ye aim for a target weight or do ye send them off when they look finished?

blue5000

Depends on the breed, angus / whitehead bullocks could be finished at 600kg. I heard they want to kill bulls younger at lighter weights, around 300kg carcase, min 280kg, at max 16 months.

MfMan

Kepak in Athleague can be fussy on carcase weights, depending on time of year / plentiness of supply, e.g. 380 - 400kg. Dawn, Ballyhaunis, would generally let you up to 420kg. Anything over that and they could cut you 5 - 10c per kg. ABP in Roscrea or Liffey in B'sloe didn't seem to be too fussy.

I generally tend to kill if they're near the 30 months and reasonably well finished, to take the bonus, but if it's earlier in the year, i.e. later spring / early summer it could pay better to let them go overage as they put on 'cheap' quick weight then. The extra kg could pay more than taking the c. €25 underage bonus.

Killout % and grading is another factor. The best of continentals should kill out at 55+ % of liveweight, as compared to FR / AAX / HEX. Charlaois generally tend to carry heavier weights than limousins but the latter would generally grade better.

Good loser

I've found Friesians kill out around 50%. That's for O and P's.