Fellow suckler farmers - are ye Bord Bia approved?

Sugarbowl

As the new suckler scheme will require us to be BB approved at the time of application, have any of ye gone about joining? I’m still on the fence whether we will join up for this new scheme here. Becoming BB approved is the biggest turn off for us. While I hate the tagging and weighing I get on with it, and I do see the benefits of weighing them, I have never needed quality assurance, my cattle are sold in the mart and it just another hurdle for us. What are ye’re thoughts? Will ye join up?

mr.stonewall

Suckler to beef and calf to beef here. Always have been qa assured for donkeys years. And it s a doddle to get it.

At the end of the day. It's the paperwork that we have to have if you had a Dept inspection. The biggest hurdle most people find is sorting out the drug and remedies register. If you keep on top of this the rest is a piece of peddle.

No matter what you do they will have to find some small area for improvement.

Better to have the carrot than the stick.

Just wondering is there any stats on the % of farms that get a dept inspection that are qa and not qa

trg

We're in it. Zero hassle. Herdwatch for the remedies. Job done.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156045#Comment_119156045

The buzz word now is carbon nuetral,

Enterprises will have to be carbon nuetral if beef , lamb and milk ever goes in surplus again

jfh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156045#Comment_119156045

Same as, with herdwatch its a good help to record as you do things

Sugarbowl

We would be a bit lapse now alright on recording the remedies so that’s 1 thing I should start. Any advice where to start? Do ye just jot it down in a notebook? I don’t have herdwatch.

Dinzee Conlee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156494#Comment_119156494

What does this actually mean though?

Like - on one side of the ledger there is the carbon you use - diesel, fertiliser, etc…

But how do you work out the other side, the carbon sequestered? Everyone has a different value on it…

Just seems a minefield to me, and acourse it seems weighted against the farmer…

minerleague

In Bord Bia QA since it started ( all cattle to factory - so no choice really ) not difficult to stay approved, and i do a year and a half of paperwork the night before inspection. One thing thats frustrating is this carbon footprint and the calculation. Spread little or no fertilizer but because i'm lowly stocked and let cattle go to near 30 months my carbon footprint is higher than average. Now on an individual animal basis I see this makes sense ( animal killed at 16 months will emit less methane over their lifetime than one at 30 ) but you will keep more animals on a farm that way so overall you will produce/ emit the same amount if that makes sense. Got a Beef Benchmarking Report from ICBF ( Herdplus ) lately (selected for pilot - lucky me ! ) and its all down in black and white - every animal killed, weights, daily gains, carbon footprint etc. They have everything about us at the touch of computer button

orm0nd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156677#Comment_119156677

Check out HerdApp as well, depending on your herd size. Could work out a lot less expensive than Herdwatch.

Sugarbowl

Big difference in price between the 2 apps actually. Will definitely consider it. If you don’t have the app, are you still supposed to be filling the remedies into the old blue book?

minerleague

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119159572#Comment_119159572

If you join bord bia they have their own books for feed, medicine etc. blue book otherwise

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160514#Comment_119160514

Or you can use an excel file or whatever. It doesn’t matter how it’s recorded as long as it is recorded and captures the required details.

Lime Tree Farm

The apps may be handier but I prefer to be in control of the information.

I record in an Excel workbook, 3 worksheets. One for recording meds administered, Second has full tag numbers grouped into how the herd is split ( tag numbers copied from icbf or dept).The third has a reference list of meds & dose withdrawal dates. Then it's only a matter of copying and pasting the info into the med page

Write the date of purchase & supplier near the BN on the label - handy to have when filling the form.

https://assets.gov.ie/77407/1a857458-23a3-4496-b628-bcf832b1d87c.xls

timple23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156677#Comment_119156677

Go into your vets and ask for a drugs register report, it lists all the medicine you bought in the last 12 months or so. Look at what medicine you've left and work out what was used. If you buy dosing in an agri store, go ask for a statement and do the same. 6 months records are needed for new applicants I think.

bogman_bass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156045#Comment_119156045

I was told by an inspector that they couldn’t accept Herdwatch for meds

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163206#Comment_119163206

Herdwatch here for a good few years. Never a problem for bord bia or cross compliance inspections.

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163206#Comment_119163206

Can you do a hardcopy printout of meds from herdwatch app.

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163310#Comment_119163310

Email file to whoever including yourself and print.

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163486#Comment_119163486

Can't see why that wouldn't be acceptable for the inspector. Does the app have all the headings. These are offhand from memory

Amount quantity purchased

Product including batch number and expiry

Date purchased

Supplier

Amount dispensed to animal

Tag number

Withdrawal days

Meat & milk withdrawal days

Withdrawal expiry date

Name of person administering med

White Clover

Has the whole lot. As far as I know, herdwatch was invented to help farmers have their records easily recorded for compliance reasons.

timple23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163206#Comment_119163206

Well they were 100% wrong. Yes you can. You can't use herdwatch as your herd register, you need to show your blue book or agfood/printouts of it.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165166#Comment_119165166

Just to clarify. Herd watch will generate a report with the headings as per the drug remedies book. This is what they look for. Just as do they wish to view it on a laptop as a PDF or do they want it printed.

In the current climate BB should accept it as pdf, as it is lowering the carbon footprint on the farm

timple23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165682#Comment_119165682

Yes no need to print anything. I think herdwatch even gives a warning about the herd register saying that it is not official.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165881#Comment_119165881

When you are using these herd management apps, you have to agree to going paperless with the herd register. This syncs with agfoods AIMS. The herd register is nearly obsolete, as it's in the cloud. Any movement is notified to agfood, eg mart, farm to farm sale, factory, knackery. The only entry that farmers have then is the registration of calves.

Have the remedies up to date, with the necessary invoices and you are nearly home and hosed. My dosing would be bought in 2 merchants and the vets. I have 2 ring binders and once a month put the invoices into there respective folder. Everything is in date order then and no trouble to find.

Invoices that are emailed now are bloody fantastic