Castration of bulls at average 13 months of age reaps the rewards for Suckler farmers

During the autumn of 2019 bull beef was not the flavour of the month. Farmers were faced with a situation where they could not get bulls slaughtered. An enterprising farmer in Co Clare informed that had 22 angus crossbred beef bulls averaging 13 months of age, faced with a situation that he couldn’t not get them slaughtered in the foreseeable future.

He got his vet to cut these bulls at €12 per animal, he kept them at grass last September feeding them immediately after the operation and continued to feed them 3-4 kg of finishing ration daily. This avoided any setbacks associated with surgery. Only one animal had a setback. These animals killed out at 362 kg.

He was happy at the fact he could get these animals slaughtered when needed relative to the same animals as beef bulls. He also got a better premium for them as steers in the quality assurance scheme and availed of the Angus scheme which required maximum of 380 kg slaughtered carcass weight at slaughter.

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