Dairy Calves- By product?

AP2014

Opened in new thread as comments in the other were of no use to OP.

Kovu.

welton john wrote: »

He could do organic jerseys, wouldn't have to spend a penny then

The clowns that breed these should pay to have them destroyed at birth. Drive ya mad when you see all this talk about quality, best genetics and grants for it and in a few years the country will be over run with these runts. Nothing but a by product of the dairy system!

Greengrass1

AP2014 wrote: »

The clowns that breed these should pay to have them destroyed at birth. Drive ya mad when you see all this talk about quality, best genetics and grants for it and in a few years the country will be over run with these runts. Nothing but a by product of the dairy system!

Every calf in the dairy system is s byproduct. Its the cow that matters. Plenty ppl able to make money out of the calves

mahoney_j

AP2014 wrote: »

The clowns that breed these should pay to have them destroyed at birth. Drive ya mad when you see all this talk about quality, best genetics and grants for it and in a few years the country will be over run with these runts. Nothing but a by product of the dairy system!

Oghh Christ ww18 has just kicked off and for a change I didn't start it!!!!.there will be no Runts over running the country from my yard ,lots of fr Bulls,bb Bulls and heifers and Herefords

AP2014

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Every calf in the dairy system is s byproduct. Its the cow that matters. Plenty ppl able to make money out of the calves

I am sure they can. The A.I man would be the only one I see making money out of runts of jerseys. Oh and this guy on donedeal.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Every calf in the dairy system is s byproduct. Its the cow that matters. Plenty ppl able to make money out of the calves

No bull calf here is a bi product be it a fr bull or a Hereford or a bb ,ditto culls.at scale and x breds a bull may be just that

Greengrass1

AP2014 wrote: »

I am sure they can. The A.I man would be the only one I see making money out of runts of jerseys. Oh and this guy on donedeal.

And plenty of ppl can't make money out if "proper" beef cattle either.
Typical narrow minded reply 'runts' its not the calf I want its the cow

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

No bull calf here is a bi product be it a fr bull or a Hereford or a bb ,ditto culls.at scale and x breds a bull may be just that

Yes it is. You don't farm for a calf or a cull.
I'm yet to come across a farmer to put in his 5 yr plan calf sales or cull sales.

AP2014

Greengrass1 wrote: »

And plenty of ppl can't make money out if "proper" beef cattle either.
Typical narrow minded reply 'runts' its not the calf I want its the cow

Of course its the bloody cow you want and not the calf. That's why you are breeding jersey runts. I don't have anything against you for it. You are looking after your own pocket and rightly so. Don't go insulting lads intelligence and claim their is money to be made out of them though.

Jesus ya should call it straight and people will respect ya more!

Greengrass1

There is money in them though. Although its not as much as an equivalent fr calf would make but you get them for alot lot less. Lad that buys fr off me took 2 last year. Both made 80e less at kill out but left him same because he got them for sweet feck all

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

And plenty of ppl can't make money out if "proper" beef cattle either.
Typical narrow minded reply 'runts' its not the calf I want its the cow

We all want the cow gg but doubt any of us here have the scale of say frazzld where a bull calf and a cull may be just that an inconvenience .ignore ur calf and cull at your pearl at a scale line yours and mine.it has to be a black and white fr,her,aa,limo or Bb though .jex Bulls call a spade a spAde not worth putting beatings Into and keeping for a week or 2 to get 10/20 euro in mart or from dealer

kowtow

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Yes it is. You don't farm for a calf or a cull.
I'm yet to come across a farmer to put in his 5 yr plan calf sales or cull sales.

Always thought the cull price should be offset against the cost of rearing replacements myself. Doesn't make sense otherwise to me at least.

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

We all want the cow gg but doubt any of us here have the scale of say frazzld where a bull calf and a cull may be just that an inconvenience .ignore ur calf and cull at your pearl at a scale line yours and mine.it has to be a black and white fr,her,aa,limo or Bb though .jex Bulls call a spade a spAde not worth putting beatings Into and keeping for a week or 2 to get 10/20 euro in mart or from dealer

Same old same old argument Mj we are still well up with best farmers in our group on profit per litre and they have fr/ho and were no where near as effiecent as them yet.
Calf or cull doesn't matter ****e no matter what size you are

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Yes it is. You don't farm for a calf or a cull.
I'm yet to come across a farmer to put in his 5 yr plan calf sales or cull sales.

I do cause I don't have scale And fragmented land base..whAt farmer u talking about the one with big milk block and 150/200 plus cows if so fair enough.would u turn up your nose at 250300 euro for a bb/Hereford calf or even 100/120 for fr bull or 7/900 for cull cows dry for a month???????

Greengrass1

kowtow wrote: »

Always thought the cull price should be offset against the cost of rearing replacements myself. Doesn't make sense otherwise to me at least.

Cows go straight to factory here. 350/400 is what they kind of average.
No way would I change cow type just for a cull cow or a calf which is not the aim of the system we are in

welton john

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Same old same old argument Mj we are still well up with best farmers in our group on profit per litre and they have fr/ho and were no where near as effiecent as them yet.
Calf or cull doesn't matter ****e no matter what size you are

B******t, A guy milking 40 cows or less selling 30 beef bred calves at 350 this year matters a fair s***e to him.How much profit will milk leave him at next years prices?

Brown Podzol

kowtow wrote: »

Always thought the cull price should be offset against the cost of rearing replacements myself. Doesn't make sense otherwise to me at least.

For the most part when ever I did the figures the calf and cull sales payed for the replacements. I'm always happy when the Fr bull calf will buy half a ton of feed for his mother, didn't happen last year but won't be far off this year.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Same old same old argument Mj we are still well up with best farmers in our group on profit per litre and they have fr/ho and were no where near as effiecent as them yet.
Calf or cull doesn't matter ****e no matter what size you are

Fair enough ur loss forget fr /hol debAte done to death boring .scale u go one way u don't u go another to make max profit.i could mKe money with x breds but a hell of a lot more with what I'm doing now with my cow,cAlf and cull

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

I do cause I don't have scale And fragmented land base..whAt farmer u talking about the one with big milk block and 150/200 plus cows if so fair enough.would u turn up your nose at 250300 euro for a bb/Hereford calf or even 100/120 for fr bull or 7/900 for cull cows dry for a month???????

The aim of the system shouldn't be to have cull cows it should be to sell surplus milking stock and have minimum empty cows.
Why would you right down that you aim to have cull cows.
5% empty rate should be the aim. Why the fcuk would you care about a cull cow if you were hitting that
AA will be as far as I go on cow.
So ye make 70/80e on 50 calves.
Would 2 more cows not give that to ye?

Farmer Pudsey

AP2014 wrote: »

Opened in new thread as comments in the other were of no use to OP.

Kovu.



The clowns that breed these should pay to have them destroyed at birth. Drive ya mad when you see all this talk about quality, best genetics and grants for it and in a few years the country will be over run with these runts. Nothing but a by product of the dairy system!

Only problem with dairy bred calves is too many lads pay too much for them. Friesian calves in general are worth no more than was paid last spring for them. Traditional breeds, (HE & AA crosses) are running 100/head more than they are worth and Cont crossbreeds up to 200 more/head.

But look lads are looking for a cheap way to get into cattle we have to let them at it. In truth AP you are buying cattle off a losing system as well. Most stores you buy left original breeder nothing. The same cannot be said about dairy crossbreeds. The problem is too many lads see the need to subsdise GG and Mahoney

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Fair enough ur loss forget fr /hol debAte done to death boring .scale u go one way u don't u go another to make max profit.i could mKe money with x breds but a hell of a lot more with what I'm doing now with my cow,cAlf and cull

So I'm to go breed a completly different type cow just for a cull and a calf?

AP2014

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Only problem with dairy bred calves is too many lads pay too much for them. Friesian calves in general are worth no more than was paid last spring for them. Traditional breeds, (HE & AA crosses) are running 100/head more than they are worth and Cont crossbreeds up to 200 more/head.

But look lads are looking for a cheap way to get into cattle we have to let them at it. In truth AP you are buying cattle off a losing system as well. Most stores you buy left original breeder nothing. The same cannot be said about dairy crossbreeds. The problem is too many lads see the need to subsdise GG and Mahoney

To be honest I am not overly concerned who is making the loss as long as it is not myself. People can question my morals if they like. I don't feel any need to buy runts to subsidse these guys thank god.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Cows go straight to factory here. 350/400 is what they kind of average.
No way would I change cow type just for a cull cow or a calf which is not the aim of the system we are in

Why not go to mart gg??,you'd get more than that for them there.as for changing cow type no one asking u do that but u should accept that unless u have scale every ainmal on the farm is important for bottom end figure.id love to have scale and a herd of well bred x breds and not give 2 hoots about a cull or calf but I don't.

Greengrass1

welton john wrote: »

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B******t, A guy milking 40 cows or less selling 30 beef bred calves at 350 this year matters a fair s***e to him.How much profit will milk leave him at next years prices?

What sort of a calf leaves 350e out of a dairy animal?
And what sort of a lad pays it. .no wonder the beef industry is in such a bad state

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Why not go to mart gg??,you'd get more than that for them there.as for changing cow type no one asking u do that but u should accept that unless u have scale every ainmal on the farm is important for bottom end figure.id love to have scale and a herd of well bred x breds and not give 2 hoots about a cull or calf but I don't.

Not fond of sitting around for a morning waiting.
And sure dads fed up of laughed at too
Fair enough were working towards a 3/4 bred cow but dad has never ever in his entire career farming given a hoote about calf price or a cull price and he hasn't done to badly out of it
Mj the day of getting 100 plus euro forca calf is fading fast I'm afraid

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

The aim of the system shouldn't be to have cull cows it should be to sell surplus milking stock and have minimum empty cows.
Why would you right down that you aim to have cull cows.
5% empty rate should be the aim. Why the fcuk would you care about a cull cow if you were hitting that
AA will be as far as I go on cow.
So ye make 70/80e on 50 calves.
Would 2 more cows not give that to ye?

Of course the aim is to have no culls,and I Lready sell milking cows and Bulls but 5% empty in say 10/11 weeks would be exceptional .o had 7% in 11 week breeding season this year..I give a fook about a cull and bull calf even at that cause I'm a hungry fooker for money

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

So I'm to go breed a completly different type cow just for a cull and a calf?

Ohh I fookin give up,for the last time don't change if u don't want to .gg open ur mind.i accept the fact a cull and calf are a complete bi product for a scale farmer but for vast majority's the rest of us it is not.if your happy stick as u are but on a bad milk price year like 09 here you could be very happy to get good money for ur cull or calves

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Of course the aim is to have no culls,and I Lready sell milking cows and Bulls but 5% empty in say 10/11 weeks would be exceptional .o had 7% in 11 week breeding season this year..I give a fook about a cull and bull calf even at that cause I'm a hungry fooker for money

I'm happy with the money that gets dropped to me for the calves .beer money that's all I see it as. And dad doesnt seem to miss it at all

We sold 40 as yearlings and stores the yr we moved in mart finist of stock. Remember them being sold. And they were given away and couldn't do anything about it because we needed them gone.
Ever since then I don't care about beef animals or calves or culls

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Not fond of sitting around for a morning waiting.
And sure dads fed up of laughed at too
Fair enough were working towards a 3/4 bred cow but dad has never ever in his entire career farming given a hoote about calf price or a cull price and he hasn't done to badly out of it
Mj the day of getting 100 plus euro forca calf is fading fast I'm afraid

It mAy be but I'd be happy to take 80 for a fr bull at 5/6 days old.as for what sort of calf makes 350 from a dairy cow.2 bb calves born last March ,both heifers small pull made that here at 10 days old

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

It mAy be but I'd be happy to take 80 for a fr bull at 5/6 days old.as for what sort of calf makes 350 from a dairy cow.2 bb calves born last March ,both heifers small pull made that here at 10 days old

Okay fair enough that's a nice price for a calf but after the bad luck a few DG members had with bb I won't be trying them.
These lads would have been using them for yrs and know well how to look after a cow carrying a bb but one man had 3 sections and a different man 1. That's the value if calf gone and likely hood of cow gone too.
Not saying it will happen to anyone but there is a higher chance if it with bb
Am my April calvers are holding aa.
They'll make a nice bit but I'm still not banking on that money for anything

welton john

Greengrass1 wrote: »

What sort of a calf leaves 350e out of a dairy animal?
And what sort of a lad pays it. .no wonder the beef industry is in such a bad state

most half decent continentals make that.Last year good aa and he made it.Place here will never carry more than 50 cows so calf and cull will always play a part.

mahoney_j

welton john wrote: »

most half decent continentals make that.Last year good aa and he made it.Place here will never carry more than 50 cows so calf and cull will always play a part.

Like u I'm accepting my fate,(my milk block will only carry x nos and with quotas gone I'll. E there in 2016)but always on the look out for ways to milk more cows which is my primary aim.until then I will stock this place with milking cows ,bull calves and hopefully fook all culls to make me as much money as I can

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Okay fair enough that's a nice price for a calf but after the bad luck a few DG members had with bb I won't be trying them.
These lads would have been using them for yrs and know well how to look after a cow carrying a bb but one man had 3 sections and a different man 1. That's the value if calf gone and likely hood of cow gone too.
Not saying it will happen to anyone but there is a higher chance if it with bb
Am my April calvers are holding aa.
They'll make a nice bit but I'm still not banking on that money for anything

Heard horror stories with some bb Bulls butvtouch wood never had any serious issues with them here ,never any more than 5/6 in a year anyway

welton john

mahoney_j wrote: »

Like u I'm accepting my fate,(my milk block will only carry x nos and with quotas gone I'll. E there in 2016)but always on the look out for ways to milk more cows which is my primary aim.until then I will stock this place with milking cows ,bull calves and hopefully fook all culls to make me as much money as I can

We've increased numbers last few years but done it with a smaller cow as ground is heavy.Brought in alot of shorthorn last few years and hope to keep increasing them.

holestin cowboy24

i must be in the minority of farmers so that is delighted come this time of the year to have a few culls to sell... I wonder why.... o ye xmas bills to be paid, loans to be paid I musty admit they come in handy

as for my bull calves til the 1st milk cheque arrives in march dey put food on my table, now call me a miserable b****x but I like the few euro I get from my bulls and Hereford calves

I agree with Mahoney unless scale you have nothing, bulls and culls are very worth while with a limited land base and if I get 50 or 100 euro for a bull it always very welcome and it all needed to buy put food on table and pampers on daughter

gg if u don't want ur cull or calve money send it my way I will put it to use

whelan2

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Same old same old argument Mj we are still well up with best farmers in our group on profit per litre and they have fr/ho and were no where near as effiecent as them yet.
Calf or cull doesn't matter ****e no matter what size you are

when milk price is crap, calf and cull price do matter, you have often said on here that a bullock or a few culls are like a rainy day fund handy to cash in when needed

Dawggone

Greengrass1 wrote: »

I'm happy with the money that gets dropped to me for the calves .beer money that's all I see it as. And dad doesnt seem to miss it at all




Cull cows and bull calves grossed just under €70k in 2014 here.
You must have very expensive taste in wine Greengrass!


I DO agree that calves are only a byproduct though.
That thinking is going to change here as all calves in 9 months time will be holxlim.

Timmaay

22 euros for a big strong 5 week old HO bull calf last year, leggy HOs calves ain't any better than xbreds. We were sickened, but shouldn't have been, as FP said, we were still winning over the lads who bought him and probably is going to lose money, that cow milked very well all year, and put wayyy more money in our pocket than say an extra 80 quid for what we're were expecting for the calf. Calf prices are real headline grabbing, which I can never understand, only a small item in the overall business.

On years like 2009, yep culls will help ya, but what will help more is having a business that is robust enough to weather all milk prices, a low cost system with a cow type which will give you a much higher solids and hence a better milk price will deliver you more profit per litre, yes you might have less of them litres than if you had a higher yielding cow, but at least you should always be making money. However if you got a high solids HO then fire on ahead, it's on of the reasons I always question why we are religiously sticking to c/l, euro/kgsMS a much much more useful measure now that we are paid by solids.

Anyways I'm certainly not letting myself get sucked into this debate again, pick your side and go with it, a good farmer will make a decent run of either HOs or xbreds once he runs the best business he can, I got both here, I'm at a small enough scale (80cows), other than the 8kl HOs with fertility problems (which I'm breeding out) I don't see any clear different between either.

Milked out

Cows are the bread and butter We all know that but calves sold under six weeks bring in a few bob also it all counts. Take 100 cow herd, keeps 30 heifer calves has 50 fr bulls and 20 he bulls and heifers. 50 fr sold at 100 is 5k, 20 he calves at 200 is 4k that's 9k or enough for over 32 tonne of ration at 275 a ton, not to be sniffed at. As for culls we all have them be it due to injuries, fert, feet, or simply old age so being able to get a few euro extra on the the ones fit for it helps.

rangler1

A neighbouring dairy farmer who does 16mth bull really well claims that his Hol. Friesian bulls are gaining 1.1kg/day, whereas in the same pens and on the same ration, his charolais cross bulls are gaining 2kg/day.......intakes are probably different but still

whelan2

Timmaay wrote: »

22 euros for a big strong 5 week old HO bull calf last year, leggy HOs calves ain't any better than xbreds. We were sickened, but shouldn't have been, as FP said, we were still winning over the lads who bought him and probably is going to lose money, that cow milked very well all year, and put wayyy more money in our pocket than say an extra 80 quid for what we're were expecting for the calf. Calf prices are real headline grabbing, which I can never understand, only a small item in the overall business.

On years like 2009, yep culls will help ya, but what will help more is having a business that is robust enough to weather all milk prices, a low cost system with a cow type which will give you a much higher solids and hence a better milk price will deliver you more profit per litre, yes you might have less of them litres than if you had a higher yielding cow, but at least you should always be making money. However if you got a high solids HO then fire on ahead, it's on of the reasons I always question why we are religiously sticking to c/l, euro/kgsMS a much much more useful measure now that we are paid by solids.

Anyways I'm certainly not letting myself get sucked into this debate again, pick your side and go with it, a good farmer will make a decent run of either HOs or xbreds once he runs the best business he can, I got both here, I'm at a small enough scale (80cows), other than the 8kl HOs with fertility problems (which I'm breeding out) I don't see any clear different between either.

i dont see it as a je/fr debate, i see it as a rainy day fund, calf price pays for groceries here etc during lean months of jan/february / march. Grand if the money isnt needed but its great to have the odd bb calf etc to boost the finances at lean times. Yes i breed for fr replacements but also have aa to clean up

Willfarman

When milk prices fall it will soften the cough of the so called progressive "it's all about the cow" guys.

It will all about cash flow.

The Guy with middle of the road holstein that visually have some british friesian blood in them, and puts a beef bull on them and averages even 200 quid for them has a few bob coming in to keep the wolf from the door.

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

i dont see it as a je/fr debate, i see it as a rainy day fund, calf price pays for groceries here etc during lean months of jan/february / march. Grand if the money isnt needed but its great to have the odd bb calf etc to boost the finances at lean times. Yes i breed for fr replacements but also have aa to clean up

That's fair enough, my rainy day fund is keep outside of farming ha, I just try run the farm as best as possible to generate the most profit for the least work, my jury still totally out as to if that's an xbred with poor cull/calf value or a higher maintenance bigger B&W cow.

Greengrass1

whelan2 wrote: »

when milk price is crap, calf and cull price do matter, you have often said on here that a bullock or a few culls are like a rainy day fund handy to cash in when needed

Never said culls we tried over the yrs to put a bit if flesh in them but a complete waste of time and good silage
The bullocks will be gone after this spring they gave us a ball of money alright but never made us much they costbus in cows and milk and calves.
88% of the cows incalf this yrs. Every cow that was milked last yrs had a calf and this yrs will be the same.
Looking like I'll be selling autumn calved heifers next yrs as well.
I'll have made a lot more money this way than worrying about a cull cow or a bull calf

mahoney_j

holestin cowboy24 wrote: »

i must be in the minority of farmers so that is delighted come this time of the year to have a few culls to sell... I wonder why.... o ye xmas bills to be paid, loans to be paid I musty admit they come in handy

as for my bull calves til the 1st milk cheque arrives in march dey put food on my table, now call me a miserable b****x but I like the few euro I get from my bulls and Hereford calves

I agree with Mahoney unless scale you have nothing, bulls and culls are very worth while with a limited land base and if I get 50 or 100 euro for a bull it always very welcome and it all needed to buy put food on table and pampers on daughter

gg if u don't want ur cull or calve money send it my way I will put it to use

+1 on that.ive a few culls off to mart next Tuesday,dry a month next Monday ,fully dried up and all 600 kg plus .ill be very happy with the bi product cheque that arrives for me this day next week.
Look I think all these iga events and positive farmers conferences are getting too geared towards the big scale farmer who can milk a couple of hundred cows and giving younger guys coming through an unrealistic expectation of dairying,ie that a typical irishvdairy farmer milking 30/100 cows can farm the same as the big lads with low volume cows,and treating bull calves and culls as bi products.its misleading and giving unrealastic expectations.the take home messages are good ,max profit,grow and make full use of grass and keep things simple but we all have a quota(milk block)to work with as well as fragmented land so we need to maximise profit from every acre we have and if that means stocking ur land with a praticular type of cow so be it to maximise your profit potential.ill make no appologies for not regarding a bull calf or a cull as a bi product,for me and a lot of us it's very far from it

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Never said culls we tried over the yrs to put a bit if flesh in them but a complete waste of time and good silage
The bullocks will be gone after this spring they gave us a ball of money alright but never made us much they costbus in cows and milk and calves.
88% of the cows incalf this yrs. Every cow that was milked last yrs had a calf and this yrs will be the same.
Looking like I'll be selling autumn calved heifers next yrs as well.
I'll have made a lot more money this way than worrying about a cull cow or a bull calf

Gg no offence ,you really need to open ur mind up.you have the basics bang on ,grass,solids ,keep costs tight etc but u I think don't have a huge block to milk off (120/130cows ).there is a value in a cull and a bull calf for the likes of us .

joejobrien

mahoney_j wrote: »

+1 on that.ive a few culls off to mart next Tuesday,dry a month next Monday ,fully dried up and all 600 kg plus .ill be very happy with the bi product cheque that arrives for me this day next week.
Look I think all these iga events and positive farmers conferences are getting too geared towards the big scale farmer who can milk a couple of hundred cows and giving younger guys coming through an unrealistic expectation of dairying,ie that a typical irishvdairy farmer milking 30/100 cows can farm the same as the big lads with low volume cows,and treating bull calves and culls as bi products.its misleading and giving unrealastic expectations.the take home messages are good ,max profit,grow and make full use of grass and keep things simple but we all have a quota(milk block)to work with as well as fragmented land so we need to maximise profit from every acre we have and if that means stocking ur land with a praticular type of cow so be it to maximise your profit potential.ill make no appologies for not regarding a bull calf or a cull as a bi product,for me and a lot of us it's very far from it

Well said.
Unfortunately the lads with land constraints are been dropped into the same place as the lads who are either/or both lightly stock /large milking platform, with no consideration for the landlock producer. It is more popular for the power of been to ignore culls and calves and drive on with milkers, thus reason for those to agrue culls and calves worthless......the current mantra from few in authority:mad:
But are the other side meaning landlocked , meant to just hang on until the researchers get around to us and define our best route, that is if they wake up to our plight????
Therefore put yourself in our shoes, of course your going to maximise calf sales.
As the old saying goes ...look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves

onyerbikepat

I came across this add last night. British Fresian bred bulls for sale in Tipp. It reminds me of the old days when we used to finish Friesian cattle.
Now please tell me, why can't other Dairy guys breed cattle like these? How far will milk prices have to fall before it makes sense?

http://www.donedeal.ie/dairycattle-for-sale/british-fresian-bulls/8380774

Farmer Pudsey

I think that over the next 5 years as dairy cow numbers increase and with calves being more plentiful that calf prices will drop. The extreme HO and JEX will more than likly be either be a bobby type calf or slaughtered at birth. Good HO/FR calves will trade below 100/head at 2-3 weeks of age.

The real question relates to beef/dairy crosses which as dairy expansion slows and dairy farmers put more cows to beef bulls how the different prices equate. Lads equating a jex calf to a beef cross bred is not look at like for like. Most cross breds are 50% FR mainly HO Swedish reds and Kiwi cows thrown into the mix. However the main argument is the crossbred V HO V HO/FR. What will the calf price differencial.

The question is first is which bull to mop up with a BB, other contenintal, AA or HE. BB can be hard calving and going easy calving bulls may down the line create a situtation like AA where growth rates are brutal. It is likly that the HE is the most viable mop up bull.

The question that then arise is what is the different values of the calves from different cows. I think the gap will not be as large as some lads think. A lot will depend on the quality of the bull the average farmers uses.I cannot see a there being much more than 50 euro of a difference at most 70.

The cull cow is a different issue. It is generally accepted that crossbreds have longer lifespans. The question that then arises is will the higher cull prices of other cull compensate for that. For instance on a farm which is best maybe stock at 10% higher cow number using crossbreds rather than FR/HO or HO cows. Lower cull rates but mabe higher calf number sales V slightly higher cull values in other system.

In reality it is the cow that suits your system that is most important. Land type will decide a lot of things. Finally lads equating cash flow as important it is profitability that is important. In any mature business it is the end of year Margin that is important not whether toy sell 10 cull cows to fund Christmass and the meal bill. The lad with the crossbreds may not have that meal bill to contend with.

joejobrien

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

I think that over the next 5 years as dairy cow numbers increase and with calves being more plentiful that calf prices will drop. The extreme HO and JEX will more than likly be either be a bobby type calf or slaughtered at birth. Good HO/FR calves will trade below 100/head at 2-3 weeks of age.

The real question relates to beef/dairy crosses which as dairy expansion slows and dairy farmers put more cows to beef bulls how the different prices equate. Lads equating a jex calf to a beef cross bred is not look at like for like. Most cross breds are 50% FR mainly HO Swedish reds and Kiwi cows thrown into the mix. However the main argument is the crossbred V HO V HO/FR. What will the calf price differencial.

The question is first is which bull to mop up with a BB, other contenintal, AA or HE. BB can be hard calving and going easy calving bulls may down the line create a situtation like AA where growth rates are brutal. It is likly that the HE is the most viable mop up bull.

The question that then arise is what is the different values of the calves from different cows. I think the gap will not be as large as some lads think. A lot will depend on the quality of the bull the average farmers uses.I cannot see a there being much more than 50 euro of a difference at most 70.

The cull cow is a different issue. It is generally accepted that crossbreds have longer lifespans. The question that then arises is will the higher cull prices of other cull compensate for that. For instance on a farm which is best maybe stock at 10% higher cow number using crossbreds rather than FR/HO or HO cows. Lower cull rates but mabe higher calf number sales V slightly higher cull values in other system.

In reality it is the cow that suits your system that is most important. Land type will decide a lot of things. Finally lads equating cash flow as important it is profitability that is important. In any mature business it is the end of year Margin that is important not whether toy sell 10 cull cows to fund Christmass and the meal bill. The lad with the crossbreds may not have that meal bill to contend with.

Profit is what is all about. But the Fr animal ,can also have low cull rates and can be carried at high .SR but can clip into 900 euro plus with 2 months on grass , alot higher than 350/400 with very little cost to the above
Calf value is low on HO/FR. but is a cost on je crossbreds.
there was someone on here, moaning that some of their JEX been empty......and they werent happy:mad:

farmerjj

[QUOTE=Greengrass1;93754227]I'm happy with the money that gets dropped to me for the calves .beer money that's all I see it as. And dad doesnt seem to miss it at all

We sold 40 as yearlings and stores the yr we moved in mart finist of stock. Remember them being sold. And they were given away and couldn't do anything about it because we needed them gone.
Ever since then I don't care about beef animals or calves or culls[/QUOTE]
Beer money!! what type calves do you have,or how much you drinking ever week:eek:

Timmaay

Jex bull calves. All he can afford is Dutch gold ha