beef price tracker

Hard Knocks

gerryirl wrote: »

went to the mart today at lunch from work. Store cattle have taken a hammering. only right when you see the way factory prices are going. Ive been buying weanlings for a good few years in the back end but if they are not cheaper this year Im gonna call it off. A store would make more sense. Even wintering cattle is getting hard to justify.

Store & weanling producers have bills too.
Appears cost of living goes up & farm produce prices come down

kk.man

gerryirl wrote: »

restive wrote: »

Just got quoted 3.85 base underage Angus Bullock's. Kepak athleague.

went to the mart today at lunch from work. Store cattle have taken a hammering. only right when you see the way factory prices are going. Ive been buying weanlings for a good few years in the back end but if they are not cheaper this year Im gonna call it off. A store would make more sense. Even wintering cattle is getting hard to justify.

Wintering cattle simply does not pay and let everthing be right. You want to buy very cheap stores to justify it.

gerryirl

kk.man wrote: »

Wintering cattle simply does not pay and let everthing be right. You want to buy very cheap stores to justify it.

Very True. Could be as far on becoming a summer farmer. Buy to keep the SFP. I hear there looking at that too though

Pidae.m

If you can get to 4 or 5 sales a week in the spring , wintering is brainless

Danzy

Pidae.m wrote: »

If you can get to 4 or 5 sales a week in the spring , wintering is brainless

What about rolling over the money.

restive

Danzy wrote: »

What about rolling over the money.

Talk to your accountant, It does not necessarily follow that if you sell all your stock in December that you wind up with a big tax bill the following November.

Willfarman

I got it wrong. 3.85 for next week.

Cavanjack

Willfarman wrote: »

I got it wrong. 3.85 for next week.

I hope lads remember this is the price they should be budgeting for when they start bidding on cattle this coming autumn and next spring and not the 4.20 that does be available every may/june for two weeks.

Willfarman

I worked off a budget of 3.80 last October November but didn’t account for a 7 month winter. And then after 12th may turnout and great initial thrive the land turned into a hairy cracked brick so feeding again from mid July.
Nothing made out of them.
Stores need to be very cheap or i won’t be bothering this autumn.

Hershall

Willfarman wrote: »

I worked off a budget of 3.80 last October November but didn’t account for a 7 month winter. And then after 12th may turnout and great initial thrive the land turned into a hairy cracked brick so feeding again from mid July.
Nothing made out of them.
Stores need to be very cheap or i won’t be bothering this autumn.

Finished killing here now first batch at 4.10 and last batch at 3.90. €80 blew in a couple of weeks. Plain stores are cheap in the marts but the good store is a good trade. Always finished some over the winter but changing this year will tick them over and let them out next spring.
The nut im buying has gone up €40 a tonne and rising....... Grass still the cheapest option or should i say the lesser of two evils........

Willfarman

Hershall wrote: »

Finished killing here now first batch at 4.10 and last batch at 3.90. €80 blew in a couple of weeks. Plain stores are cheap in the marts but the good store is a good trade. Always finished some over the winter but changing this year will tick them over and let them out next spring.
The nut im buying has gone up €40 a tonne and rising....... Grass still the cheapest option or should i say the lesser of two evils........

Did they leave any money?

Bass Reeves

Hershall wrote: »

Finished killing here now first batch at 4.10 and last batch at 3.90. €80 blew in a couple of weeks. Plain stores are cheap in the marts but the good store is a good trade. Always finished some over the winter but changing this year will tick them over and let them out next spring.
The nut im buying has gone up €40 a tonne and rising....... Grass still the cheapest option or should i say the lesser of two evils........

I am not finishing cattle this winter either. Silage is tight and I am putting in 4 acres of rape. Normally I have about 75-80 cattle for the winter. This year I will be back to 45-50. No weanling being bought this year and will not have full complement of stores either normally I have about 55 stores. Wintering cattle has become too expensive and ration/nuts in particular. Like you said rations gone up 40/ton and may rise (or quality drop) by another 20-30/ton before Christmas.

I have killed cattle twice this year similar to yourself while the price has dropped faster than previous years there are other losses. For the first kill the cattle killed 10-15kgs lighter because of the spring. Last cattle killed 30kgDW lighter than last year. The other issue is because cattle kill lighter they are grading poorer. My FS are 3-/3= with the odd 2+'. Previous years FS were 3=to 4- with a few 3-. As well have fed nearly 150kg/head more ration than other years. Wintering costs were another 25-40/head dearer.

Adding it all up less weight is 75-100/head and 12-15 for lower grading, extra ration is 35/head and extar cost of ration is 8/headadd in extra wintering cost @25-40 and between costs and less output I am looking at 165-190/head.

I will not recover much of that through buying in as I have 32 in hand for next year in weanling bought early last year. Margins are well back and unlikly to recover much because of my system and not being unable to buy in weanling because of fodder. Mind you even if you had the fodder you might be as well of selling it

Willfarman

Mother Nature bollocked the south east. We go the brunt of the snow. Then the rain like everyone but we got the brunt of the drought and even the Macamores is still in bother. Silage is scarce straw is scarcer but enthusiasm and hope is the scarcest!

Hershall

Willfarman wrote: »

Hershall wrote: »

Finished killing here now first batch at 4.10 and last batch at 3.90. €80 blew in a couple of weeks. Plain stores are cheap in the marts but the good store is a good trade. Always finished some over the winter but changing this year will tick them over and let them out next spring.
The nut im buying has gone up €40 a tonne and rising....... Grass still the cheapest option or should i say the lesser of two evils........

Did they leave any money?

The first batch at 4.10 were lucky. After that it was a getting out job only saving grace was these ones were bought in Feb so not much cost against them. I worked part time for years until 2015 went full time then best move I ever made...........

Willfarman

I often heard my folks talking of old George Warren an auctioneer in Gorey saying when things weren’t going well in farming “farming land at the minute is like holding a fart.. you’d be better to let it”

I have been half assured that 3.85 is going to hold.

charolais0153

Willfarman wrote: »

Mother Nature bollocked the south east. We go the brunt of the snow. Then the rain like everyone but we got the brunt of the drought and even the Macamores is still in bother. Silage is scarce straw is scarcer but enthusiasm and hope is the scarcest!

For the first time ever. I was down in athy and tullow last week...spring barley is at least 2-3 weeks ahead of around here and grass grows for conservatively 4-5 weeks longer.

Cavanjack

Willfarman wrote: »

I often heard my folks talking of old George Warren an auctioneer in Gorey saying when things weren’t going well in farming “farming land at the minute is like holding a fart.. you’d be better to let it”

I have been half assured that 3.85 is going to hold.

Things can change very quickly. We could get a nice Sup of rain now and grass will take off. Finished cattle could dry up for a while and the price could hold or strengthen. Second cuts will be made in September and we could have a good back end.

Bass Reeves

Cavanjack wrote: »

Things can change very quickly. We could get a nice Sup of rain now and grass will take off. Finished cattle could dry up for a while and the price could hold or strengthen. Second cuts will be made in September and we could have a good back end.

On good ground you are never going to make up the gap. Silage cut end of September will be low DM so every 2 bales mage has only the same or less feed value than early summer silage. No growth for 8 weeks on highly stocked farms is a disaster.

As I have psoted on other thred as I have only 50% of my normal silage made no paddocks and no second cut, there will be no excess grass until end of Auagust. It is a case of surviving it.

I think the real issue will be that not only will store prices be very low thsi autumn but there may be a real issue that cattle will not be able to be sold even at low prices.

Cannot see any significent prices rise for autumn as lads will still be offloading finished cattle as fast as possible to keep cattle in hand as out as long as possible to shorten winter. Lads with lower stocking levels d not realize the issues facing lads that are heavily stocked. Silage will be the limiting issue.

Danzy

Bass Reeves wrote: »

On good ground you are never going to make up the gap. Silage cut end of September will be low DM so every 2 bales mage has only the same or less feed value than early summer silage. No growth for 8 weeks on highly stocked farms is a disaster.

As I have psoted on other thred as I have only 50% of my normal silage made no paddocks and no second cut, there will be no excess grass until end of Auagust. It is a case of surviving it.

I think the real issue will be that not only will store prices be very low thsi autumn but there may be a real issue that cattle will not be able to be sold even at low prices.

Cannot see any significent prices rise for autumn as lads will still be offloading finished cattle as fast as possible to keep cattle in hand as out as long as possible to shorten winter. Lads with lower stocking levels d not realize the issues facing lads that are heavily stocked. Silage will be the limiting issue.

I'm stocked at a light enough rate. Im in an area that gets higher than average rainfall and while the land is largely decent, has a lot of clay as well.

So I should be ok and to a degree I am but grass just isn't growing. If you had two goats to the acre at the moment you'd be overstocked in most of Munster.

Certainly agree that some aren't looking at the picture beyond their townland or own circumstances.

I was talking to a lad today whose land is a thousand feet above sea level, it tends towards the heavy side but it is grazed bare.

The dry spell may be going on only so long but rain was light since April in many places and downpours when it came, straight out the gap.

Ground battered the previous autumn as well is adding to it as well.

I have 2 fields that are a foot above loose pencil, they are dry fields on wet years, they are closed now and I can't see cattle in them this side of November.

Most farms couldn't survive the volatility of this year on a regular basis, in whatever country they are and they tend not to.

FarmerDougal

3.95 base bullocks

Cavanjack

FarmerDougal wrote: »

3.95 base bullocks

Good to see it, where is this or what part of the country?

FarmerDougal

Cavanjack wrote: »

Good to see it, where is this or what part of the country?

Midlands

Willfarman

Pm me the plant. I’ve a load fit and 3.85 is it here in south east.

Good loser

Danzy wrote: »

I'm stocked at a light enough rate. Im in an area that gets higher than average rainfall and while the land is largely decent, has a lot of clay as well.

So I should be ok and to a degree I am but grass just isn't growing. If you had two goats to the acre at the moment you'd be overstocked in most of Munster.

Certainly agree that some aren't looking at the picture beyond their townland or own circumstances.

I was talking to a lad today whose land is a thousand feet above sea level, it tends towards the heavy side but it is grazed bare.

The dry spell may be going on only so long but rain was light since April in many places and downpours when it came, straight out the gap.

Ground battered the previous autumn as well is adding to it as well.

I have 2 fields that are a foot above loose pencil, they are dry fields on wet years, they are closed now and I can't see cattle in them this side of November.

Most farms couldn't survive the volatility of this year on a regular basis, in whatever country they are and they tend not to.

Grass growing phenomenally last three days after Wednesdays rain.


Must be 80/90 kg DM daily.

Willfarman

Superb article by John Heney in the farming independent as usual.

Mooooo

Fr cows, locked up so can't sell, they have high scc. Prob get about 450 if sent straight to factory, would it be worth drying off and fattening to be gone before housing, oct/Nov? Would prices be down there due to normal activities pre housing.?

Willfarman

they won’t be fat before housing. It’l Be a month before they start to pick up after drying off.. and the joys of summer mastitis. if grass and fodder are scarce these are surely the animal to take a bit of a hit on?

Mooooo

Willfarman wrote: »

they won’t be fat before housing. It’l Be a month before they start to pick up after drying off.. and the joys of summer mastitis. if grass and fodder are scarce these are surely the animal to take a bit of a hit on?

Not too bad here fodder wise feeding two bulls currently anyway. Valid point tho, 're what they'd eat and get to by housing may as well just let them off

dryan

3.90 base for bullocks is the best I can get here in Midlands.

Willfarman

It’s to be had in south east for coming week. A little improvement but not really a rise in the sense the bastards dropped them by the same two weeks ago.