are we too obsessed with beef suckler farming?

Dickie10

i was down at the local mart a few weeks ago buying some store cattle (heifers) when a guy asked was i going to bull them, i told him no i would be finshing them as i like very particular cows for suckling, he seemed very surprised at me finishing them and i got to thinking that there seems to be a great love for having suckler cows. just wonndering why do lads seem so fond of sucklers? surely there are easier beef sytems, labour wise than calving cows, at the minute im trying to find out myself the beef sytem that fits best. i have 16 suckler cows and sell the bull calves at around 10 months and replace with weanling heifers i bring all these to finsh around 27-30 months mostly off grass. im finding the system of producing my own calves and finshing moreprofitable than buying weanlings, my cows take very little feeding in winter and hopefully if weather is any way dry i will have cows and calves out 1st april. im also buying a few stores and finshing them but find it risky. if i hadnt as much time on my hands i dint think id calve cows though, i dont know how lads hold down full time jobs and calve cows.

a neighbour calves around 100 suckler cows each spring and maintians they are mush more profitable than if he bought in cattle. he finishs all his cattle, so would the suckler to beef sytem leave most money on good land?

blue5000

The most profitable farms in our (suckler) discussion group are the ones finishing everything+ buying in a few to finish as well.

Sam Kade

The cow drains a lot of profit from sucklers I'd imagine a lot of the profit is made up of single farm payment. A neighbour of mine went fully organic with sucklers and sheep to retain more of her sfp.

Toplink

blue5000 wrote: »

The most profitable farms in our (suckler) discussion group are the ones finishing everything+ buying in a few to finish as well.

Sorry, novice question here...

When you say finish, what age do you consider them finished? and who woud be the buyer typically for the finished animal?

Dickie10

yes but what are the alternatives to a cow? i get rid of my bulls, limosuin x at 10 months. i try to have them at around 370-410 kg so i can get around 820-990 with this cash flow i use to replace these weanlings with good quality ch x hifers around 8 months in november. i finish all these heifers. i definitly find i can keep my cows for less than i buy in decent weanlings. i supppose i really need to up the numbers of cattle i finish every year.

IH784man

I'd say it comes from the times when everyone had a couple of cows calving on their farms,then son uses same farming methods as their father and it keeps recurring.Just what some farmers are used to.

Sam Kade

IH784man wrote: »

I'd say it comes from the times when everyone had a couple of cows calving on their farms,then son uses same farming methods as their father and it keeps recurring.Just what some farmers are used to.

Single suckling was practically unheard of in Ireland in the early 80's unless you had mountain land and stocked it with hardy cows on a low cost system. It took off when they gave a premium for every cow after milk quotas came in to keep up stock numbers.

Miname

There's something with suckers that I get a great kick out of. I don't get the same enjoyment out of bought in cattle and to be honest about it I do end up stretching both time and finances by having them. I definitely wouldn't be putting the same effort into the farm if I wasn't enjoying it. I'm calving around fifty and finish a small few every now and then as a part time farmer its plenty to keep me busy. There's plenty of more profitable options but then again it would just be another job.

Dickie10

would it be possible to throw a few angus calves out of dairy herds out with my suckler cows in may? let them graze with the suckler cows and pull a bit of milk out of the cows , their very quite cows, two years ago one lim x frisan reared two calves handy. or would the suck calves keep pulling out of the same cow/cows. should i keep the two or three real pets and put an extra calf on them for the summer?

Bullocks

Dickie10 wrote: »

would it be possible to throw a few angus calves out of dairy herds out with my suckler cows in may? let them graze with the suckler cows and pull a bit of milk out of the cows , their very quite cows, two years ago one lim x frisan reared two calves handy. or would the suck calves keep pulling out of the same cow/cows. should i keep the two or three real pets and put an extra calf on them for the summer?

The price of calves now is a bit high to just leave them to chance sucking out the field and unless you have good milky cows they might leave their own calves lacking a bit .

Bullocks

I think alot of lads are a bit obsessed with sucklers , I'm not taking away from them , they breed brilliant stock and have great facilities, sheds and machinery but I wouldn't imagine they can trouser much profit .
I know one fulltime suckler farmer (he keeps a few hundred ewes aswell ) and you wouldn't know what he could sell from one week to the next so long as there's profit in it , there is no sentimentality, or any passengers carried and he will sell whatever is up in price when household bills need paying and if he has to hold onto stock when prices are bad he will use merchant credit and the overdraft hopefully until a lift comes . The sheep are handy if cattle prices are down hopefully sheep will be up or vice versa.
He ain't rolling in money but in fairness he is living ok

Cavanjack

Dickie10 wrote: »

yes but what are the alternatives to a cow? i get rid of my bulls, limosuin x at 10 months. i try to have them at around 370-410 kg so i can get around 820-990 with this cash flow i use to replace these weanlings with good quality ch x hifers around 8 months in november. i finish all these heifers. i definitly find i can keep my cows for less than i buy in decent weanlings. i supppose i really need to up the numbers of cattle i finish every year.

Why sell the Bulls and buy in heifers?
I would have thought the Bulls would leave more money than heifers.

Grueller

Cavanjack wrote: »

Why sell the Bulls and buy in heifers?
I would have thought the Bulls would leave more money than heifers.

Heifers easier handled I would imagine.

Cavanjack

Grueller wrote: »

Heifers easier handled I would imagine.

I'd keep a squeezed bullock of my own any day over a bought in heifer. Better weight gain, no chance of him being bought in calf, he won't come a bulling and no risk of disease being brought into herd. Maybe not?

Grueller

Cavanjack wrote: »

I'd keep a squeezed bullock of my own any day over a bought in heifer. Better weight gain, no chance of him being bought in calf, he won't come a bulling and no risk of disease being brought into herd. Maybe not?

Me too, but a lot of lads see heifers as easier handled.

blue5000

Toplink wrote: »

Sorry, novice question here...

When you say finish, what age do you consider them finished? and who woud be the buyer typically for the finished animal?

Bulls finished (on the hook) at anywhere between 14 and 24 months, heifers usually by 24 months, sold to meat factory.

Dickie10

i tried out keeping the bulls as bullocks one year, in 2013 they were good weanlings but when they were squeezed they seemed to stop putting on weight for a while, i sold them in september off grass at 30 months and got 1400 for two of the best and 1300 fro another the rest were around 1200. i believe if i drove them on, on 2-3kg a day/head i would have got in or around 1000 in january 2014. so having kept them for an extra 18 months i only got 350-400 euro more. i wont keep bulls as its another division of cattle and just dosent suit me, i find heifers come fat off grass if there managed well. this spring/summer i intend to use a few 5-6 acre paddocks and keep 20 heifers moving onto fresh ground instead of set stocking with the sheep as i used to, doing this with the sucklers last few years and its unreal how much value you get off the land

Bleating Lamb

Miname wrote: »

There's something with suckers that I get a great kick out of. I don't get the same enjoyment out of bought in cattle and to be honest about it I do end up stretching both time and finances by having them. I definitely wouldn't be putting the same effort into the farm if I wasn't enjoying it. I'm calving around fifty and finish a small few every now and then as a part time farmer its plenty to keep me busy. There's plenty of more profitable options but then again it would just be another job.

Would be of same thinking as yourself,working full time here and carrying a scatter of sucklers and sheep.....land quality wouldn't be hectic so unfortunately have at least a 5 month winter in,but have quality stock that calve in March and sell the weanlings in October.Watching the calves individual cows/bloodlines produce keeps the interest up,not the fortune made overall financially:)

memorystick

Grueller wrote: »

Me too, but a lot of lads see heifers as easier handled.

Heifers do better on my land. You could never finish a big continental bullocks on grass alone where I'm from.

Dickie10

lost a decent calf last night to a twisted gut, was wtithing around on the ground kicking vet came out thought it was that or bloat from too much milk on the cow but dead cold this morning. il stick the cow on slats now and dry her off and factory her in summer, she was a bit mad anyway. definitly pushing me away from sucklers at this stage, il leave the bull in place for now but cant see myself rooting at cows much longer.

buying in weanling and store heifers is no comparison and leaving just as much profit too be honest

Dickie10

no comparison labour wise i mean

jfh

Think this thread ties in with the farming in 10 years time, a lot of part time suckler guys will exit, I'm working full time & only for having my father around would never manage, it's the same with a lot of younger lads around me, some lads are trying to get a part time job to revolve around the bit of farming, these jobs are scarier than ever & most jobs require additional hours.
Back on thread, I think yes we are too crazy on sucklers, maybe the genomic scheme will change things, first year I'm going to let off a bunch of heifers & let the fertility dictate which I hold & not the showest heifer

Dickie10

i know lads on marginal ground or average ground have to do suckling because there limited to it and selling weanlings, theres no need for me to be at that. a neighbour buys 12-18 monnthe old heiefers and finshes off grass, he only has 35 acres and says he makes a nice profit. i can see myself buying weanlings or these type and also some hereford and angus x heifers from dairy herds at 12 months and finishing all aloong with the sheep.

I am willing to put in the hours with the sheep or even up the numbers because it will actually pay to employ someone if i had to for a fortnight when im at the busiest lambing, after that any job withem will only be a day at most like shearing or dipping , thats only 2 days out of the year. my set up is pretty much complete now for a one man operattion for 150 ewes at my ease

freedominacup

Dickie10 wrote: »

i know lads on marginal ground or average ground have to do suckling because there limited to it and selling weanlings, theres no need for me to be at that. a neighbour buys 12-18 monnthe old heiefers and finshes off grass, he only has 35 acres and says he makes a nice profit. i can see myself buying weanlings or these type and also some hereford and angus x heifers from dairy herds at 12 months and finishing all aloong with the sheep.

I am willing to put in the hours with the sheep or even up the numbers because it will actually pay to employ someone if i had to for a fortnight when im at the busiest lambing, after that any job withem will only be a day at most like shearing or dipping , thats only 2 days out of the year. my set up is pretty much complete now for a one man operattion for 150 ewes at my ease

Twenty years ago they reckoned it took 300 ewes to provide a wage what are you going to do for the other half of your wages?

Alibaba

Dickie10 wrote: »

lost a decent calf last night to a twisted gut, was wtithing around on the ground kicking vet came out thought it was that or bloat from too much milk on the cow but dead cold this morning. il stick the cow on slats now and dry her off and factory her in summer, she was a bit mad anyway. definitly pushing me away from sucklers at this stage, il leave the bull in place for now but cant see myself rooting at cows much longer.

buying in weanling and store heifers is no comparison and leaving just as much profit too be honest

Sorry to hear that.

We've all been through it.

I've be thinking along the same lines as you , suckling ain't easy

rangler1

freedominacup wrote: »

Twenty years ago they reckoned it took 300 ewes to provide a wage what are you going to do for the other half of your wages?

50 years ago my father was selling cull ewes for 6 pounds, our workman told me after that was his wage for two weeks :mad:

freedominacup

rangler1 wrote: »

50 years ago my father was selling cull ewes for 6 pounds, our workman told me after that was his wage for two weeks :mad:

Old diaries are some eyeopener. You'd wonder how they spent all the cash.

_Brian

Calf to beef would be a fair substitute to suckler farming. The problem is that the supply of suitable reasonably priced calves remains poor.
Perhaps as sexed semen becomes more reliable the numbers and types of calves available will lead to a levelling of prices.

Lads paying €350+ for hex and aax, €500+ for chx month old calves are overpaying, I understand it's supply and demand but hopefully this will level off.

Suckler cows on marginal land are a huge expense with 5-6 month wintering of cows not unusual. This is driving cow costs to €700+ for the year. The knock on is smaller weanlings selling for €700-800. All the risk associated with sucklers and little to no profit, madness.

patsy_mccabe

If milk prices stay on the low side for the years to come, the sale of beef dairy calves will come more into play. Maybe its time the Dept had a serious look at how to maximise the genetics of these calves. Dairy guys selecting bulls solely on the calving and gestation figures is an awful waste. If there was some scheme to encourage dairy guys to use better beef genetics, it would benefit all. Plenty of good bulls out there that are easy calving.

Panch18

_Brian wrote: »

Calf to beef would be a fair substitute to suckler farming. The problem is that the supply of suitable reasonably priced calves remains poor.
Perhaps as sexed semen becomes more reliable the numbers and types of calves available will lead to a levelling of prices.

Lads paying €350+ for hex and aax, €500+ for chx month old calves are overpaying, I understand it's supply and demand but hopefully this will level off.

Suckler cows on marginal land are a huge expense with 5-6 month wintering of cows not unusual. This is driving cow costs to €700+ for the year. The knock on is smaller weanlings selling for €700-800. All the risk associated with sucklers and little to no profit, madness.

Personally I think calf to year and half would be an even better system on marginal land - many advantages, can sell cattle at any time if weather doesn't suit, no large cattle on the marginal land, housing requirements greatly reduced (Kale??) and much more animals to sell

But either system is better than sucklers imo

Dickie10

i work a full time job teaching, thats where the other half of the wages comes from. thats exactly why im thinking of pulling the pin on sucklers, if i was at home full time then i would prob stay at it but way too much labour goes in for such a small profit. id say the sucklers to beef do leave me some better profit than weanling or store to beef but thats in a year you have no losses or c sections, havent seen one of them yet, plus tagging, dehorning, runningg after scours, weaniing etc

Mac Taylor

The majority of suckler farmers around here are pension age with no obvious successor. After the last two winters to a man most are cutting back or packing it in. We're looking at cutting numbers back numbers and taking a more arm chair approach to farming. Maybe if we all cut back a bit we might slow down the race to the bottom.

rangler1

Mac Taylor wrote: »

The majority of suckler farmers around here are pension age with no obvious successor. After the last two winters to a man most are cutting back or packing it in. We're looking at cutting numbers back numbers and taking a more arm chair approach to farming. Maybe if we all cut back a bit we might slow down the race to the bottom.

Reduction in the BPS will give everyone a reality check as well.

Miname

It's all negativity here. I may be one of the few but I'm increasing numbers. There is a farmer on here who once gave me a share of advice that pretty much went against everything Teagasc tells you. He also stated when he sold weanlings he wanted a 1000 along with their weight, he wanted muscly cows and didn't mind if they lacked a bit of milk. He wanted them calving in July. He also wasn't scared of a calving jack. I've implemented a few of these and I'm turning a fair bit more money. If your suckler farming it's not just a case of throw a bull on anything and walk away, it takes a bit of work but it's enjoyable work so doesn't seem like work. It takes planning and effort. I haven't hit the 1000 with the weight yet but I'm breaking the 1000 at six to seven months of age. My cows are costing less than 600 a year to keep and if I've a lost calf the cow goes straight out the door and either a fancy bulling heifer or a mediocre springer can be bought in straight away for the same money. My aim is to have a weanling for every week and my sfp on top, if I'm selling e800 weanlings I'm making a bit along with 200 if I'm selling e1100 I'm a bit along with 500. I can't wait till I get to leg waxes prices, (before he turned .)

grassroot1

The suckler cow is a wealth creator. every system is profitable to an extent and yes labour issues are a problem as are inefficiencies in the system.
Everyone has to make there own decisions.
I have changed cow type and increased numbers in the hope I can keep the cows. Trading systems are very difficult to find a profit in.

TITANIUM.

Miname wrote: »

It's all negativity here. I may be one of the few but I'm increasing numbers. There is a farmer on here who once gave me a share of advice that pretty much went against everything Teagasc tells you. He also stated when he sold weanlings he wanted a 1000 along with their weight, he wanted muscly cows and didn't mind if they lacked a bit of milk. He wanted them calving in July. He also wasn't scared of a calving jack. I've implemented a few of these and I'm turning a fair bit more money. If your suckler farming it's not just a case of throw a bull on anything and walk away, it takes a bit of work but it's enjoyable work so doesn't seem like work. It takes planning and effort. I haven't hit the 1000 with the weight yet but I'm breaking the 1000 at six to seven months of age. My cows are costing less than 600 a year to keep and if I've a lost calf the cow goes straight out the door and either a fancy bulling heifer or a mediocre springer can be bought in straight away for the same money. My aim is to have a weanling for every week and my sfp on top, if I'm selling e800 weanlings I'm making a bit along with 200 if I'm selling e1100 I'm a bit along with 500. I can't wait till I get to leg waxes prices, (before he turned .)

Ah a man after my own heart. Can't say that I'm achieving your margins but pretty much going down the same route. I do like to keep milk in the cows tho. I think you can have both with extremely careful breeding.
A buddy of mine is my AI man and the other day I was putting Sultan on a EDJ cow.(A blue on a blue he said to me, I'll give you that,your not afraid to put a bull on a cow. Go hard or go home I told him. but this all relative to the cow really. She was after calving a good fiston calf.

Numbers are going up here. Cows/sheep.
There's plenty of young fellas down here mad for farming and chomping at the bit to take over.
Reseeding reclaiming, with hard work the future is bright. Be positive lad's no point talking ourselfs into a hole. There will always be a market for top quality stock.

Dickie10

ah im not being negative but sucklers were never our game my aul lad only nought weanlings and finshed them so i never grew up with them or had a lot of knowledge or real love for them, my father didnt know much about them either but i tried to educate myself on them and i suppose if you were looking in on the set up here you would say its a good job and doing well. we kind of got caught out with a few heifers that were in calf and calved them, decided to get a bull then.

If i was at home all the time i would prob be upping numbers to around 25 as well because its not all bad and they are a ggod profit when finishing all the calves, which im at with the heifers, but i just cant and wont give the labour and time commitment to an enterpise im not hugely experinced at or have a real love for.

i will let the weanling producer do his job that he does well and i can hopefully turn something on them as well, traditionally this is what worked, let the man in the west produce the good quality cattle and hopefully lads in the east and midlands can be able to get something out of them as well.

croot

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Ah a man after my own heart. Can't say that I'm achieving your margins but pretty much going down the same route. I do like to keep milk in the cows tho. I think you can have both with extremely careful breeding.
A buddy of mine is my AI man and the other day I was putting Sultan on a EDJ cow.(A blue on a blue he said to me, I'll give you that,your not afraid to put a bull on a cow. Go hard or go home I told him. but this all relative to the cow really. She was after calving a good fiston calf.

Numbers are going up here. Cows/sheep.
There's plenty of young fellas down here mad for farming and chomping at the bit to take over.
Reseeding reclaiming, with hard work the future is bright. Be positive lad's no point talking ourselfs into a hole. There will always be a market for top quality stock.

I wouldn't base any cows calving ability on having a fiston calf. I only started using him last year and so far they are the smallest calves I've seen from a charlaois bull.

I'm with miname and titanium though. My aim is to breed all nice golden charlaois weanlings so that the lads with big BPS payments can spend it on something they like.

Seaba

Miname wrote: »

My cows are costing less than 600 a year to keep .........if I'm selling e800 weanlings I'm making a bit along with 200 if I'm selling e1100 I'm a bit along with 500. I can't wait till I get to leg waxes prices, (before he turned .)

Just wondering, going by the above figures, if you think suckler farming is "worth it" - profitability wise, taking into account your own labour, time away from family, getting up in the middle of the night checking cows etc etc etc?

If you sell a calf for €900 minus €600 to keep a cow = €300 and if you had 40 sucklers, assuming no losses (which would be unlikely) - that a return a profit of €12,000 a year is worth it?

Dickie10

i think suckler to beef is a good and profitable system but like everything it a numbers game i think you need at least 20 cows to make it worhwhile,
but my position with work i really cant give that time without running into losses, if i was really keen to keep cows or had to i would buy an angus bull and go for ease of calving and a lower input system. get the angus premium and bring all to finsh

TITANIUM.

croot wrote: »

I wouldn't base any cows calving ability on having a fiston calf. I only started using him last year and so far they are the smallest calves I've seen from a charlaois bull..

Don't worry, she's after having a few big blues already. I've had a nice few off fiston here. I wouldn't call them small but there no monsters either. There no AGZ at calving that's for sure.

patsy_mccabe

I arrived home from work yesterday to find 2 cows calved in the yard. I had them in eating hay to keep the calves from getting too big. One big bull running around the place, you'd swear he was a month old. The other, a heifer, flat out on the ground, very weak. Got the cow into the crush and held up calf. feck all milk and she's a second calver (by ADX). The cows pins weren't down yesterday morning either. Second time that's happened this year. Had to defrost beastings and bottle feed the calf. This morning before work had to hold calf up to cow in crush again. Very little milk.
Heading home this evening to face it all again. If she has no milk again, I will have to take it from the other cow who is a bit on the mad side.
I always tell myself - Nobody is holding a gun to my head.

croot

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Don't worry, she's after having a few big blues already. I've had a nice few off fiston here. I wouldn't call them small but there no monsters either. There no AGZ at calving that's for sure.

I don't know about AGZ buts he's no GPD either. The first FSW calf this year was born the same day as a GPD calf. The GPD one was just about twice as big.

bogman_bass

croot wrote: »

I don't know about AGZ buts he's no GPD either. The first FSW calf this year was born the same day as a GPD calf. The GPD one was just about twice as big.

GPD is a rugrat compared to AGZ. I know a lad that got an 80kg calf from him :eek:

Farrell

bogman_bass wrote: »

GPD is a rugrat compared to AGZ. I know a lad that got an 80kg calf from him :eek:

Great cow, hope she was able to finish the job too

patsy_mccabe

Miname wrote: »

.........,, if I'm selling e800 weanlings I'm making a bit along with 200 if I'm selling e1100 I'm a bit along with 500. I can't wait till I get to leg waxes prices, (before he turned .)

He changed cause he wasn't making money. If you go with harder calving bulls you might get away with for a while but you will get caught eventually.speaking from experience on that one. That's where the star ratings come in. You have to add it all up. When you loose the cow and the calf from a hard calving you will sit down and have a rethink.

TITANIUM.

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

He changed cause he wasn't making money. If you go with harder calving bulls you might get away with for a while but you will get caught eventually.speaking from experience on that one. That's where the star ratings come in. You have to add it all up. When you loose the cow and the calf from a hard calving you will sit down and have a rethink.

Ah lad's for crying out load it's all relative.
Nobodys advocating putting hard calved bulls on every single cow. Any lad with any sense matches the bull to the cow. For example AGZ, I wouldn't put him on my well muscled blue cow's but he's perfect for the big black lm x. Allot of it is down to the cow and also what everybody forgets, the man managing that cow.

I was told I was looking for trouble putting a ch fiston on blue cow's but they calve him no bother.
I'm not sure about this Lm bull ZAG yet tho. His calves are nearly to handy from what I've seen so far. I hope these are the exception rather than the rule as I have a few heifers due to him in the next 2 weeks.

tanko

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Ah lad's for crying out load it's all relative.
Nobodys advocating putting hard calved bulls on every single cow. Any lad with any sense matches the bull to the cow. For example AGZ, I wouldn't put him on my well muscled blue cow's but he's perfect for the big black lm x. Allot of it is down to the cow and also what everybody forgets, the man managing that cow.

I was told I was looking for trouble putting a ch fiston on blue cow's but they calve him no bother.
I'm not sure about this Lm bull ZAG yet tho. His calves are nearly to handy from what I've seen so far. I hope these are the exception rather than the rule as I have a few heifers due to him in the next 2 weeks.

It's funny you should mention ZAG, I was just going to ask what everyone thinks of him. I put him on 7 young cows, nice shapey calves but there isn't a whole pile to them. Hopefully they'll develop as they get older. He should be an ideal bull for strong heifers.
Fiston calves are very easy born, they're light boned like limos at birth but really shape up after a month. An ideal bull for part time farmers I'd say.

freedominacup

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Ah a man after my own heart. Can't say that I'm achieving your margins but pretty much going down the same route. I do like to keep milk in the cows tho. I think you can have both with extremely careful breeding.
A buddy of mine is my AI man and the other day I was putting Sultan on a EDJ cow.(A blue on a blue he said to me, I'll give you that,your not afraid to put a bull on a cow. Go hard or go home I told him. but this all relative to the cow really. She was after calving a good fiston calf.

Numbers are going up here. Cows/sheep.
There's plenty of young fellas down here mad for farming and chomping at the bit to take over.
Reseeding reclaiming, with hard work the future is bright. Be positive lad's no point talking ourselfs into a hole. There will always be a market for top quality stock.

Great to see some positivity around here. Far too much doom and gloom on this forum lately. Any of ye think about finishing these top quality weanlings? My uncle has around fifty cows and finishes everything. His ground is as tough as any in the country, dry but rough. Makes good quality first cut and buys crimped grain off the combine and pits it. All cattle gone by first of July they never go back out in the second spring.I've seen a factory agent's lorry waiting in the yard for the agent to come and agree a price. You can be certain the price quoted in the findo had very little to do with the price he got in that deal. Always plenty of demand May/June for cattle like this.

Muckit

freedominacup wrote: »

Great to see some positivity around here. Far too much doom and gloom on this forum lately. Any of ye think about finishing these top quality weanlings? My uncle has around fifty cows and finishes everything. His ground is as tough as any in the country, dry but rough. Makes good quality first cut and buys crimped grain off the combine and pits it. All cattle gone by first of July they never go back out in the second spring.I've seen a factory agent's lorry waiting in the yard for the agent to come and agree a price. You can be certain the price quoted in the findo had very little to do with the price he got in that deal. Always plenty of demand May/June for cattle like this.

What's a combine? Only ever seen pictures in the journal!!

freedominacup

Muckit wrote: »

What's a combine? Only ever seen pictures in the journal!!

I know, I know. But on farm storage of smallish amounts of green grain isn't rocket science. The man I'm talking about certainly isn't growing his own.