Feed lot farming in ireland discussion

seany1994

Just want anybody thoughts on feedlots farming ? Of course cost can be high cost on feed but is the results of the animal be higher eg. Higher weight . Would be a easy conversion of a slatted shed by opening the back of the shed to enclosed corcerte yard . Silage wise you could cut the first cut and zero graze during the summer ? Viable?

_Brian

But during the summer are you not just making a cheap feed into an expensive feed ??

Miname

is grass really that cheap? if you were to set up a feedlot then you would need to ensure you had some form of by-product to make it work. The sheer no.s would be the main advantage on say a limited sized holding. Nitrates and planning for a large scale oporation could be an issue.

Damo810

seany1994 wrote: »

Just want anybody thoughts on feedlots farming ? Of course cost can be high cost on feed but is the results of the animal be higher eg. Higher weight . Would be a easy conversion of a slatted shed by opening the back of the shed to enclosed corcerte yard . Silage wise you could cut the first cut and zero graze during the summer ? Viable?

The advantage you listed there will soon, if not already, getting the chop with a dead weight limit of 400Kg or as low as 380Kg.

We already know winter finishing doesn't pay as things stand, so no, it's not viable in the current climate.

seany1994

Is it true larry goodman has a few feedlots operating for his meat factorys

_Brian

seany1994 wrote: »

Is it true larry goodman has a few feedlots operating for his meat factorys

I don't know and it wouldn't surprise me.
But that may well be as a buffer for numbers when supplies are tight rather than a profit making enterprise in itself.

Coonagh

Kepak has a feedlot, larry has feedlots, Liffey meats in ballyjamesduff has a feed lot too. It allows them to suppress price when there is a lack of farmer finished cattle.

In the uk large farmer operated feedlots are very common mainly because they have a plentiful supply of by products from the brewing and food manufacturing industry. In Ireland we just don't have the access to that type of feedstuff making it largely unviable unless you are tied up with a factory

micraX

Coonagh wrote: »

Kepak has a feedlot, larry has feedlots, Liffey meats in ballyjamesduff has a feed lot too. It allows them to suppress price when there is a lack of farmer finished cattle.

In the uk large farmer operated feedlots are very common mainly because they have a plentiful supply of by products from the brewing and food manufacturing industry. In Ireland we just don't have the access to that type of feedstuff making it largely unviable unless you are tied up with a factory

Plenty of vegetable waste here goes to cattle lads

Farmer Pudsey

micraX wrote: »

Plenty of vegetable waste here goes to cattle lads

But it is limited. The UK has a population of 63 million. Because od that you have access to rejected food in the form of vegetables, breads, breakfast cereals, cakes, etc, this provides a cheap energy source. As well you have a large brewing industry which farmers collect wet for virtually nothing to provide a cheap protein source. They use minimum cereals in diet. There costs can be as low as 1.5-1.8 euro/day for cattle gaining over 1.2kg/day. Comparable Irish costs last winter were 2.5/day.

This is why with the absence of bulls Irish winter finishing will be under real stress

caseman

No matter what system you run you need to be a good operator around the ring to make money.

Coonagh

caseman wrote: »

No matter what system you run you need to be a good operator around the ring to make money.

It's hard to buy cattle right when 95% of the bidders at the ring haven't a clue what it's costing them to bring an animal to slaughter. I used to spend a lot of time around mart rings up and down the country and most of the time it descended into a mickey measuring contest! I'm out of that game now and am not sorry to see the back of it.

On by products Pusey has hit the nail on the head there is just not a consistent enough supply of by product, we used to get spuds to take away but we could not guarantee supply so we had to give them up.

Cattlepen

Very few feedlots here have been established using profits from fattening cattle. Generally they are set up using monies gained from a windfall or profits from a different business. I would like to see the business plan you would have to show a bank to get funding for it

TossL1916

You,d have to be either mad in the head or have plenty money lying around to set up any sort of beef enterprise at the minute

blue5000

Does anyone else see a problem with Ireland's green 'bord bia' image and grain + by-product fed feedlot beef being marketed as grass fed?

_Brian

blue5000 wrote: »

Does anyone else see a problem with Ireland's green 'bord bia' image and grain + by-product fed feedlot beef being marketed as grass fed?

It's a pity but it won't last as there just couldn't be a living on it with the overheads being incurred.
Surely the way things are going maximising the output from grass will be a must. While providing good grass takes a bit of work it's still cheap quality feed if done right.

mf240

seany1994 wrote: »

Is it true larry goodman has a few feedlots operating for his meat factorys

An ex ifa leader feeds a lot of cattle for larry.

seany1994

Did anyone hear of the grant for growing protein crops . 100 euro a acre .Surely that would be advantage for beef farmers as it would help bringing the cost of feed