Approximately 480,000 maiden heifers surplus to herd replacements are slaughtered annually for beef in Ireland. They comprise approximately 150,000 Hereford and Angus x Friesians, 150,000 continental x Friesians, 100,000 Hereford and Angus crosses from the suckler herd and 80,000 continental crosses from the suckier herd. At times of calf scarcity and high prices some of these heifers could be bred to produce a calf before slaughter. Provided that calved heifers are slaughtered before 30 months of age, there is little difference in meat quality between such animals and maiden heifers slaughtered at 18 to 24 months of age (Joseph, 1975). The objective of the present experiment was to quantify the productivity of once calved heifers finished indoors or at pasture.