Cost of B&B for cattle?

The Real Elmer Fudd

Bit short on shed space this year but will just have enough fodder.

Friend of mine has spare shed space so I was thinking of asking him to take 2 pens of cattle on a B&B basis for a few months over the winter. He would feed them when feeding his own. I could supply fodder or he could use his own which ever would suit him if he’s interested. Think he has surplus due to cutting back on cow numbers.

Any way what is the going rate for B&B cattle, with or without fodder? I haven’t a clue as I’ve never done it before. I’d assume price of Fodder will have a big impact on it this year as it sounds like it’ll be like gold dust.

wiggy123

€1 per head a day thought was without, prob near 2 with... maybe I'm away off the mark like!

Bass Reeves

Feeding cost will be the big theing with B&B. With bales silage worth 30/bale feed costs for 4-500kg bullocks will be 1.5/day. Add in a cost of 30-40c/head/day for the shed I imagine. What a lad charges for feeding them could add another 20-50c/day. Definately if a lad had decent silage and he was charging 2 euro/day to B&B and feed cattle silage only would be in around a minimum ball park figure

jaymla627

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Feeding cost will be the big theing with B&B. With bales silage worth 30/bale feed costs for 4-500kg bullocks will be 1.5/day. Add in a cost of 30-40c/head/day for the shed I imagine. What a lad charges for feeding them could add another 20-50c/day. Definately if a lad had decent silage and he was charging 2 euro/day to B&B and feed cattle silage only would be in around a minimum ball park figure

Any decent quality baled silage won’t be let out of yards for less then 40 euros minimum I reckon, bales of imported crap in glanbia coming in at 180 euros for a 600 kgs bale really sets a price minimum for what silage for sale is worth

Dakota Dan

jaymla627 wrote: »

Any decent quality baled silage won’t be let out of yards for less then 40 euros minimum I reckon, bales of imported crap in glanbia coming in at 180 euros for a 600 kgs bale really sets a price minimum for what silage for sale is worth

If we get a bad winter it will be more like €60 for any bales that are edible.

wrangler

Dakota Dan wrote: »

If we get a bad winter it will be more like €60 for any bales that are edible.

I doubt if that's gonna happen but €2 -2.50/day should be available, anyone borrowing 350000 to buy and feed 200 stores would be well advised to to look at the options at the moment.
Farmers with money are trigger happy if the price of whole crop was anything to go by

Bass Reeves

jaymla627 wrote: »

Any decent quality baled silage won’t be let out of yards for less then 40 euros minimum I reckon, bales of imported crap in glanbia coming in at 180 euros for a 600 kgs bale really sets a price minimum for what silage for sale is worth

Dakota Dan wrote: »

If we get a bad winter it will be more like €60 for any bales that are edible.

If you are paying more than 30/bale you be better off either selling the cattle, finishing them or feeding minimum roughage and 5-6kgs of ration. Feeding silage costing 40/bale(including haulage costs) is 2 euro/head/day. 5kgs of ration and minimum silage ( a bale of your own doing 50 cattle for a day) will cost the same and i bet you cattle will thrive way better than some of the muck you buy.

The Real Elmer Fudd

Thanks lads. Fodder isn’t really an issue. I can supply the fodder or he can charge me and I can sell my own.

It’s really the daily shed cost and the feeding. No point in me driving to his yard every day to feed cattle when he’s already feeding his own in the same shed.

The alternative is throw them out in rough field with a ring feeder and pray for a mild winter.

Dakota Dan

Bass Reeves wrote: »

If you are paying more than 30/bale you be better off either selling the cattle, finishing them or feeding minimum roughage and 5-6kgs of ration. Feeding silage costing 40/bale(including haulage costs) is 2 euro/head/day. 5kgs of ration and minimum silage ( a bale of your own doing 50 cattle for a day) will cost the same and i bet you cattle will thrive way better than some of the muck you buy.

What if ration is scarce like they said it could be?

Bass Reeves

Dakota Dan wrote: »

What if ration is scarce like they said it could be?

Ration will be available the question is the price. I penciling it in around 300/ton bulk blown into a bin. However if you are short of silage front feed ration in the early part of the winter and conserve silage. Palm Kernal as a straight looks a good option the question is the price.

st1979

Any update on prices. Straw bedded shed . Cattle bedded and fed baled silage and herded each day. 500kg bullocks. Any ideas on price per head per day

keepalive213

st1979 wrote: »

Any update on prices. Straw bedded shed . Cattle bedded and fed baled silage and herded each day. 500kg bullocks. Any ideas on price per head per day

The update is not a good one.
Straw gone up, bullocks gone down.
Phone a friend chief

st1979

Has anyone got a ballpark figure.

Bass Reeves

If he providing the straw and silage it really depends on part of countr straw could be costing 25/ bale. It's hard to see it for much less than 2 euro/ day. TBH the way look at stuff like that you have to question the economics yourself. However silage out of a yard is relatively cheap to buy.

Give it that silage is costing a euro/ head per day. Straw at 25c per day and shed rental cost at 25c/ day. Give him 25c per day herding and feeding.

That's 1.75/ day. From now until turnout Kate march 92 days 169 euro per head. However I expect he have at least 2/ head in his mind.

Neither of Yee are at anything once again Larry is getting beef a farmer will have no margin on

Gman1987

Paying €1.40 per day here on slats for 475kg bullocks

st1979

Thanks for replying. I actually have sheds for rent. Just happy I was pricing myself fair for all parties. Have sheds come empty now. So have advertised them on done deal

Sacrolyte

Gman1987 wrote: »

Paying €1.40 per day here on slats for 475kg bullocks

Inc silage?

Bass Reeves

Sacrolyte wrote: »

Inc silage?

If not he is paying through the nose.

Sacrolyte

Bass Reeves wrote: »

If not he is paying through the nose.

Stranger things have happened

tancoman

Asked this question before and haven't got a straight answer. Had a neighbours 400 kg bullocks on grass B&B from Mid March until late October. No herding involved. Mains fence and water also supplied. No formal arrangements. The reason that I had grass available was because of the Covid situation and not being able to purchase in the spring, as the marts had closed.
Question: how much per day per head should I charge him. All I want is a fair price.

wrangler

tancoman wrote: »

Asked this question before and haven't got a straight answer. Had a neighbours 400 kg bullocks on grass B&B from Mid March until late October. No herding involved. Mains fence and water also supplied. No formal arrangements. The reason that I had grass available was because of the Covid situation and not being able to purchase in the spring, as the marts had closed.
Question: how much per day per head should I charge him. All I want is a fair price.

80c - €1/day
You were foolish to allow him in without agreeing a price,
There's too many variables for anyone to say a set price, poor land, poor grass, or even good grass. poor grass would little more than maintain them whereas good grass could put on maybe €300 worth of weight each. You should've rented it by the acre according to what it was making in the area.
So there's no such thing as a straight answer in your case, it's like asking us to value a car without giving make, model or age.

tancoman

The arrangement suited me, given the year that was in it with the Marts closed. The land and grass is top quality and his cattle done well over the summer. I wanted a ballpark figure as he is calling the coming weekend to pay me. Thanks for your reply

Sacrolyte

tancoman wrote: »

The arrangement suited me, given the year that was in it with the Marts closed. The land and grass is top quality and his cattle done well over the summer. I wanted a ballpark figure as he is calling the coming weekend to pay me. Thanks for your reply

He may want to pay you per acre. Sure he practically had it most of the year. I’m assuming there’s no maps involved.

tancoman

Sacrolyte wrote: »

He may want to pay you per acre. Sure he practically had it most of the year. I’m assuming there’s no maps involved.

Normally I'd buy in around early April, graze over the summer and sell off late October/ early November. This didn't happen this year. No maps involved. The arrangement suited both.