Volume 12: Livestock Farming
4. Cattle production and movement
Sources of beef production

4.7 Figures 4.1 and 4.2 highlight the significance of the dairy herd as the main source of UK beef production in 1986 and 1995. In 1986, 66 per cent of beef produced in the UK came from the dairy herd in the form of surplus calves (ie, those not required for herd replacements) and unproductive and/or aged cows. By 1995 this contribution had declined to 56 per cent. Unproductive or aged dairy cows could typically be culled at 6-7 years old as a source of beef, but could be as old as 11 or 12 years. ¹

4.8 Specialist beef production and finishing systems usually involve the slaughter of cattle at between 15 and 24 months of age, depending on the feed system in use (see paragraphs 6.12-6.25 below on beef cattle diets). Cattle can also be slaughtered at an earlier age under some specialist systems, such as the barley beef system whereby calves are fed high levels of concentrates up to slaughter at around 11 months of age. 'Bobby' calves, which can be slaughtered within a few days of birth, and old cull bulls are other sources of beef. ²

Figure 4.1: Sources of home-produced beef, 1986

Figure 4.2: Sources of home-produced beef, 1995

Source: MLC Yearbooks

<<Previous | Next>>

¹ See for example S134 Hoskin p.1. Since the introduction of the Over Thirty Months Scheme in April 1996, cull cows from the dairy and beef herd no longer provide a source of beef for human consumption

² M43A tab 13 pp. 5-8