The beef KPIs that move your margin.
Most of the gains in a beef business don’t come from big overhauls. They come from small, measurable adjustments made year after year: a bit less mature cow weight, a few more calves weaned, another 100 g of daily gain. These are the benchmarks that find them.
Body condition score
The fat reserves of each breeding female, scored from 1 to 5 by palpation.
Cow mortality
Breeding cows that die on farm each year, as a percentage of the herd.
Herd replacement rate
The percentage of the breeding herd replaced each year by new females entering it.
Conception rate
The percentage of joined females that are pregnant at preg-testing.
Conception spread
The percentage of joined females that conceive per 21 day cycle.
Calving rate
The number of calves marked as a percentage of females joined.
Weaning rate
The number of calves weaned as a percentage of females joined.
Weaning weight
The average weight of the calves on the day they are weaned.
First-calf reconception
The share of first-calf heifers that get back in calf while still raising their first calf.
Age at first calving
The average age, in months, at which heifers calve for the first time.
Herd efficiency
Total weaned-calf weight as a percentage of the total weight of the cows joined to produce it.
Average daily gain
Kilograms of liveweight gained per head per day, measured between weighings.
Feed conversion ratio
Kilograms of feed dry matter it takes to put on one kilogram of liveweight.
Days to target weight
The number of days stock take to grow from weaning weight to target sale weight.
Age at slaughter
The average age, in months, of stock at turnoff.
Red meat yield
The share of liveweight that becomes carcase, and the share of the carcase that becomes saleable meat.
Carcase compliance
The percentage of carcases in a consignment that meet MSA specification.
Stocking rate
The number of stock carried per hectare of grazing area, expressed in standard units (DSE or AE).
Dry matter production
The rate of pasture growth, in kilograms of dry matter per hectare per day.
Pasture utilisation
The percentage of the pasture grown that stock actually eat.
Net production
Total kilograms of liveweight the herd actually produced over the year.
Production efficiency
Net production spread across the country that grew it, for every 100 mm of rain that fell.
Cost of production
Total operating expenses, including an owner wage, divided by kilograms of liveweight produced.
Price received
The average price earned per kilogram of liveweight, across every sale for the year.
Gross margin per hectare
Gross revenue minus variable costs, divided by effective grazing hectares.
Net profit
Gross profit minus all operating expenses, including depreciation and an owner wage, per hectare per 100 mm of rainfall.
Return on assets managed
Net profit before interest and lease costs, as a percentage of the total value of land, stock and plant managed.
Operating expense ratio
Total operating expenses as a percentage of gross farm income.
Labour efficiency
The stock carried, in DSE, per full-time-equivalent unit of labour.
Emissions intensity
Total greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of liveweight produced.
Farm with the full picture.
Connect your herd records, weigh sessions, processor statements and accounts, and Silo keeps every benchmark on this page current, automatically, and answers plain-English questions about any of them.