By Gavin Hill,

Senior beef and sheep specialist, SAC Consulting

Optimism may be a key ingredient for beef producers looking ahead to a bright future, but they also need to be realists.

One of the most recent changes affecting the industry is a further tightening of weight limits for cattle sold deadweight. Adapting is not about changing your breed, but it does means looking hard at your management systems.

The beef industry is more a cruise liner than a speedboat when it comes to altering course quickly, but the earlier the warning of future changes, the earlier producers can respond and adapt. Remember, it was not raining when Noah built the Ark!

Putting cattle away at 400-420kg deadweight will drive more efficiency, but it has not been easy to adjust overnight, although many beef farmers are now they are fully aware of it and are adapting accordingly.

The most significant change will see many larger, continental type cattle not having extended store periods. Previously, many would be put to spring or summer grass where they would grow on further and then be housed at relatively heavy weights before intensive feeding.

Now, this is no longer required. They will be intensively fed, giving high growth rates earlier which, in turn, will lead them to finish within the desired weights and at a relatively young age.

This system is not for all breeds and many will still suit the grass systems. However, monitoring those at grass is essential as while the first few summer months on most farms will give good growth rates from mid-summer till autumn growth can be noticeably reduced.

There must be thought about when they should be housed or given supplementary feeding while grazing.

Store producers are also becoming more aware they should be looking at selling stores at the optimum time (which for many will be earlier) for finishers to finish at the right stage.

The majority of finishers want cattle that are approximately 12 to 14 months at 400 kg plus. This policy is certainly true with Continental types, but many of the maternal type cattle will continue to be kept longer to maximise weight and return to the producer. Weaned cattle trades at seven to nine months remain an option for many

Remember, there has been rapid progress in our understanding of genetics in recent years, especially those affecting mature weight and live weight gain. It has produced cattle from the Continental breeds that can be taken to heavy weights without laying down too much fat cover.

Recorded pedigree bulls were previously rewarded for lean-ness (less fat cover). When these bull types were then crossed to Continental type cows, they produced cattle with little if any fat cover. This resulted in finishing cattle being taken to very heavy weights and being fully paid for all weight.

However, other production, mainly from the maternal/traditional breeds, is still producing carcases (mainly heifers) with too much cover on them. On many farms, the best heifers are kept for breeding so those destined for finishing will be more medium, smaller types.

Many finishers want to put more weight on to heifers when more often they are not putting on weight in the final stages, but fat. This is expensive, as laying down a kg of fat takes four times as much energy as laying down lean tissue.

Heifers need to be on their own diet and stretched on more so keep starch down till later stages of finishing.

With our beef cruise liner we also need to know what way the future payments of finished cattle will be based on. VIA (video image analysis) is slowly replacing the visual grading – but is that to continue?

Will any future payment system move away from grading to a more detailed payment based on what yield that carcase can produce? This means maximising yield from the top cuts which means more loin – and that's about length and not back-end.

My point is that adaptation is not about complete change, it is often just about just seeing what small part can be taken on. No one can go back and have a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

We must not just look at how our individual livestock units operate but take a whole farm approach where other ventures alongside our animals could potentially help the business increase profitability.

Remember, beef produced in Scotland has a strong reputation and is reared in areas where little if any other activity could be adopted and which turns poor vegetation into protein that can be fed to the population.

'Events' can make the future unpredictable and so Brexit will be important, but so is the constant unrest throughout the world. Amidst so much uncertainty, we should remember that if we want fed, then there is no place like home to produce it.