How much profit do you make rearing a calf to approx. one year old on a beef suckler farm

Con2211

Hi Everybody,

I am doing an assessment in Maths on the profit and costs involved in rearing a calf to one year on our farm. I would appreciate some estimates of profit you would have on your farms. I know there are a lot of variables involved.

Thanking you all in advance,

Con2211

funkey_monkey

Are you considering economies of scale as part of this?

Con2211

Thank you for replying.

I will include a section on this.

The man in red and black

Next or near no profit when you factor in feeding the big limousine/charolais cow who rears the calf. This is why suckler farms are disappearing year on year.

Con2211

Thank you, I hadn't thought of that.

funkey_monkey

Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable ones reply here with figures.

https://www.wynnstay.co.uk/blog/costing-for-rearing-beef-calves-from-2-weeks-old-/

Some stuff on the Web if you do a search but not sure if there is much specifically related to Ireland.

Con2211

Thanks very much for that.

Hard Knocks

Last year there was 3 FR bulls reared here, we’re not really set-up so efficiency wouldn’t be great.

Calves @ €60 each

Milk station, jackets, buckets with hangers @ €180

2 bags Golden Maverick @ €43 each

Krunch/nuts building up to max 1kg each morning & evening

krunch to July @ €304

Calf grower since July @ € 293

Straw @ €60

Silage @ €50

dosing, blackleg, IBR & RSV PI3 took from sucklers

older by the day

Il add my two pence here. I did the sums a few years ago and It took 380 to bring an Angus bucket fed calf from 6wks to 1year. That was for feed and a few doses and test. Don't include land rent or buildings, electricity so on. Now that don't include calf price of course and at selling price that time I think they left 100 EUR. But they are on an out side rough place and not fit for much else

SuperTortoise

I'm not going to post exact numbers because i'd scare the shite out of myself, but to be brutally honest i'm not making a bob.

Grueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118528254#Comment_118528254

I can sympathise with that. We have sucklers here too and when I start adding up costs like shed repairs, insurance, jeep maintenance and a lot of the fixed costs the boss here gets as thick as pig sh1t and says "sure if your going to count everything of course you're making nothing". The wife finds it hilarious when he as it, she works in financial services.

Con2211

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118530265#Comment_118530265

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118530265#Comment_118530265

Con2211

Thank you all very much for your help.

JohnChadwick

Apparently the cow costs 600 to keep tor the year (that's what the accountants say and it's not far off I'd say).

Sell the weanling at 1 year for 1000. That's 400 profit. That should leave a few grand in my case but it doesn't really as your always developing the farm infrastructure which sucks a lot of that up.