doing cattle for worms

max12

is anyone recommending doing cattle for worms at this stage of the year.

I have 25 bullocks which i intend fattening and selling in aug/sept time . i will be putting them on aftergrass in 2 weeks and wondering if i shoujld worm them now before they go on the fresh grass. is it worth the hasstle or shoudl i do them now.

whelan1

i would do them now - have ours done weeks ago:D

max12

should i do my (suckler) cows too............ and the (springborn) calves or is it a bit early for doing the calves as they are only march and april calves?

whelan1

wouldnt bother with the cows we normally just do them after housing , would do the calves in a few weeks but would get the bigger ones done now

Sam Kade

I am fattening bullocks for finishing in Sept as well. My adviser rang me this week and said that I would be better off selling them at the mart now as the factory price will drop in Sept. He reckons that the cost of putting the extra condition on them for a lower factory price when finished will mean no extra profit. What do the rest of you think?

reilig

Sam Kade wrote: »

I am fattening bullocks for finishing in Sept as well. My adviser rang me this week and said that I would be better off selling them at the mart now as the factory price will drop in Sept. He reckons that the cost of putting the extra condition on them for a lower factory price when finished will mean no extra profit. What do the rest of you think?

I was at a farm walk a few weeks back and my advisor was advising that he believes that the factory prices will rise in September/October. He believes that all the signs are pointing to a good year for beef. The most important thing in his mind is the level of live exports which are leaving cattle for Irish Factories scarce and forcing factories to increase prices. He recons that in the back end of 2010, there will be a 20% decrease in cattle for sale (including weinlings, cows and beef cattle). He has access to some statistics which show that many farmers have destocked. Couple this with the amount of farmers that have changed their breeding policies to try to produce weinlings that are suitable for export at 10 to 12 months old - he believes that there will be a lot less cattle in the country for factories to slaughter which will in turn force them to pay higher prices in order to meet their kill quota.

That's his opinion. Is your advisor a teagasc or independent?

Tipp Man

max12 wrote: »

is anyone recommending doing cattle for worms at this stage of the year.

I have 25 bullocks which i intend fattening and selling in aug/sept time . i will be putting them on aftergrass in 2 weeks and wondering if i shoujld worm them now before they go on the fresh grass. is it worth the hasstle or shoudl i do them now.

If you do them make sure that they are NOT killed before the recommended date as per the box. You will be in big trouble if you kill cattle that have traces of a wormer in their system (usually only 4-6 weeks so you should be ok)

It would have been better to do them a month ago I'd say. You can do pour ons now which are very little hassle, alot easier then trying to wrestle with a dosing gun like you are the crocodile hunter or something

Sam Kade

reilig wrote: »

I was at a farm walk a few weeks back and my advisor was advising that he believes that the factory prices will rise in September/October. He believes that all the signs are pointing to a good year for beef. The most important thing in his mind is the level of live exports which are leaving cattle for Irish Factories scarce and forcing factories to increase prices. He recons that in the back end of 2010, there will be a 20% decrease in cattle for sale (including weinlings, cows and beef cattle). He has access to some statistics which show that many farmers have destocked. Couple this with the amount of farmers that have changed their breeding policies to try to produce weinlings that are suitable for export at 10 to 12 months old - he believes that there will be a lot less cattle in the country for factories to slaughter which will in turn force them to pay higher prices in order to meet their kill quota.

That's his opinion. Is your advisor a teagasc or independent?

He is a private consultant. I went to the mart to see how cattle prices were going to get an idea how much my cattle were worth. The average price is around €1.50/kg going from €1/kg up to €1.85/kg for the breeds of cattle I have fr,aa,sim. Roughly my cattle should make 700 average in the mart. Some of them will finish off grass and more of them will need feeding on grass to finish. Using €2.70/kg (not sure what factory price is at the moment) as factory price they should make €800+ at the factory. Even if your advisor isn't correct and the price falls a bit I think I would be better off fattening them.

Tipp Man

Sam Kade wrote: »

I am fattening bullocks for finishing in Sept as well. My adviser rang me this week and said that I would be better off selling them at the mart now as the factory price will drop in Sept. He reckons that the cost of putting the extra condition on them for a lower factory price when finished will mean no extra profit. What do the rest of you think?

Ah the million dollar beef question in Ireland every year. Well traditionally September has seen a glut of finished cattle going to the factory which has seen the price fall- demand supply and all that malarky. The question is will there be a reason for this to change this September? I have no idea but what you could do is bring your cattle to the mart with a set price in mind and if they don't meet it keep em, if they do get rid - sometimes you can't beat certainty, bird in the hand, 2 in the bush etc

How are you for grass? This could have a big effect on prices and may change the normal pattern of cattle prices, so if the drought continues, fellas short of grass, get rid of the cattle nearest to being finished, maybe a little earlier than usual which may mean that the big glut of cattle is not there in september

So many variables its impossible to know for certain, usually its down to luck

Sam Kade

Tipp Man wrote: »

Ah the million dollar beef question in Ireland every year. Well traditionally September has seen a glut of finished cattle going to the factory which has seen the price fall- demand supply and all that malarky. The question is will there be a reason for this to change this September? I have no idea but what you could do is bring your cattle to the mart with a set price in mind and if they don't meet it keep em, if they do get rid - sometimes you can't beat certainty, bird in the hand, 2 in the bush etc

How are you for grass? This could have a big effect on prices and may change the normal pattern of cattle prices, so if the drought continues, fellas short of grass, get rid of the cattle nearest to being finished, maybe a little earlier than usual which may mean that the big glut of cattle is not there in september

So many variables its impossible to know for certain, usually its down to luck

I have plenty grass. If I was selling them in the mart I was going to put out fertilizer for bale silage to sell during the winter as I have my own baler and wrapper.

blue5000

reilig wrote: »

I was at a farm walk a few weeks back and my advisor was advising that he believes that the factory prices will rise in September/October. He believes that all the signs are pointing to a good year for beef. The most important thing in his mind is the level of live exports which are leaving cattle for Irish Factories scarce and forcing factories to increase prices. He recons that in the back end of 2010, there will be a 20% decrease in cattle for sale (including weinlings, cows and beef cattle). He has access to some statistics which show that many farmers have destocked. Couple this with the amount of farmers that have changed their breeding policies to try to produce weinlings that are suitable for export at 10 to 12 months old - he believes that there will be a lot less cattle in the country for factories to slaughter which will in turn force them to pay higher prices in order to meet their kill quota.

That's his opinion. Is your advisor a teagasc or independent?

I hope hes right, there are so many variables in factory cattle pricing, sterling, weather, if supplies are tight will factories compete for the cattle that are there?

snowman707

ok

to answer original query . i presume the cattle are 2 to 3 year olds maybe on grass since march/april, can't really see the need of dosing such stock at this stage, any how i adapt a dose when needed policy other doing it by the calendar,


on the beef price issue reckon it is going to see saw a bit but the one thing i would be afraid of if south american beef got flowing into europe, reckon it would do a lot of damage

MfMan

snowman707 wrote: »

ok

to answer original query . i presume the cattle are 2 to 3 year olds maybe on grass since march/april, can't really see the need of dosing such stock at this stage, any how i adapt a dose when needed policy other doing it by the calendar,


on the beef price issue reckon it is going to see saw a bit but the one thing i would be afraid of if south american beef got flowing into europe, reckon it would do a lot of damage

+1 Older cattle should have developed immunity to worms at this stage and should in the main not require a drench. Unlikely given the dry year that fluke would yet be a factor yet either.

Was at a factory the other day, place was full of old cows, not too many cattle. I'd say the b**tards were holding back on accepting cattle, creating a solid supply for later weeks and keeping the price where they want it.