To Mart to To Factory

adne

Sold a few 25-27 Mths Bullocks yesterday in the mart. Chx and LMx, 605 - 620 Kgs. Average Price 960 - 980.
They got about €30 a head of meal last winter.


These animals would have needed about 6 weeks intensive meal feeding to finish them
On Analysis now I am wondering would I have been better introducing 6-8 week of intensive feeding and brought them to the Factory.

What are yer thoughts, what would the estimated dead weight be for a 30 Mth 650 KG Continental X Bullock

Tipp Man

adne wrote: »

Sold a few 25-27 Mths Bullocks yesterday in the mart. Chx and LMx, 605 - 620 Kgs. Average Price 960 - 980.
They got about €30 a head of meal last winter.


These animals would have needed about 6 weeks intensive meal feeding to finish them
On Analysis now I am wondering would I have been better introducing 6-8 week of intensive feeding and brought them to the Factory.

What are yer thoughts, what would the estimated dead weight be for a 30 Mth 650 KG Continental X Bullock

Well you would expect good bullocks who have been feed meal intensively to kill out in the 56-58% area, say 57% for a good continental

so thats 650kg x 57% = 370kg carcase x price = sale price

Don't forget the stoppages at the factory which are huge and the 6 weeks meal.

I suppose 1 question i would ask is do you feel the €30 a head spent on meal during the winter was money well spent? did you feel you got enough response from it?

What we have found is cattle feed meal during the winter can be very slow on grass in April/May when they should be putting on the cheapest weight possible. Would you be better saving the winter meal and spending that money at this time of the year??

Muckit

Good point Tippman

With the way prices are gone for beef, I feel you need to make the best silage possible and keep meal feeding over the winter to a minimum. Maybe I'm wrong, but does it pay?? As stated. cattle pampered on meal don't get that growth spurt when they hit grass in sping. Meal feeding, for the most part, should be should be left until the 6-8week finishing period at the end IMO.

Especially if your going to the mart, I've seen cattle this age thick fat and heavier than cattle we were selling making less money. Dealers and finishers don't seem to want them. FRAME is mre important than condition to these buyers. They are looking for an animal that will go into big weight without getting fat and go on to grade out well

As for whether the cattle mentioned should have been sold in factory or mart, well there's very little way of knowing. If you knew what the factory were going to pay you EXACTLY (net) for them you'd have some hope of comparing, but even then mart prices can vary depending on dealers present, time they come into ring etc etc. There are too many unknown factors to make a direct or accurate price comparsion at time of sale. You just have to go with your gut instinct and hope for the best:rolleyes:

adne

Tipp Man wrote: »

I suppose 1 question i would ask is do you feel the €30 a head spent on meal during the winter was money well spent? did you feel you got enough response from it?

What we have found is cattle feed meal during the winter can be very slow on grass in April/May when they should be putting on the cheapest weight possible. Would you be better saving the winter meal and spending that money at this time of the year??

cheers for that.

I gave them 2KG a head for roughly 8 weeks during the winter from Nov 1st to Jan 1st. They remained housed until Apr 1st so I feel they still got the gain from grass in Apr / May.

Having that said it was more of an experiment than any thing, what rate would people suggest feeding over the winter months knowing that the animal is going to be going to Grass from Apr to Sept and then sold

Muckit

adne wrote: »

cheers for that.

I gave them 2KG a head for roughly 8 weeks during the winter from Nov 1st to Jan 1st. They remained housed until Apr 1st so I feel they still got the gain from grass in Apr / May.

Having that said it was more of an experiment than any thing, what rate would people suggest feeding over the winter months knowing that the animal is going to be going to Grass from Apr to Sept and then sold

Hi adne

It would be interesting if you had weighed them to see roughly what extra weight they put on over the winter with/without meals. Also what type of shedding were they housed in? Straw bedded/ slats/ slats with mats, all will give different levels of thrive, not to mention the quality of the forage used or the mix of 'meal' you are feeding. Again alot of factors affect weight gain besides kg of 'meal' fed

cj maxx

Muckit wrote: »

Hi adne

It would be interesting if you had weighed them to see roughly what extra weight they put on over the winter with/without meals.

i know this is from a few years back but did anyone take note of how effective a meal well over winter programme was compared to a subsistance feed winter programme . how did weights/costs compare the following autum and was it worth while meal feeding over winter?

galway 4 sam

960 for a 600kg bullock was a poor price do ye not think?

blue5000

adne wrote: »

Sold a few 25-27 Mths Bullocks yesterday in the mart. Chx and LMx, 605 - 620 Kgs. Average Price 960 - 980.
They got about €30 a head of meal last winter.


These animals would have needed about 6 weeks intensive meal feeding to finish them
On Analysis now I am wondering would I have been better introducing 6-8 week of intensive feeding and brought them to the Factory.

What are yer thoughts, what would the estimated dead weight be for a 30 Mth 650 KG Continental X Bullock

It's impossible to say without seeing them. Were they out of fr/holstein cows. What grade do you think would they have been in the factory?

simx

galway 4 sam wrote: »

960 for a 600kg bullock was a poor price do ye not think?

thats what i was thinking i was in a mart today and seen chx lightish grey 1s growth potential about 19months 470/80kg making 1150

ellewood

galway 4 sam wrote: »

960 for a 600kg bullock was a poor price do ye not think?

c date!