Dairy Calves 2024

Siamsa Sessions

What if I said you could retire to the sunshine of Lanzarote AND milk cows over there?

https://lanzaroteinformation.co.uk/finca-de-uga/

They're milking 60 Jersey cows (not sure what they do with the bull calves) but I'm guessing they might be looking for experienced Irish lads to do the odd Sunday morning milking 😀

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119914445#Comment_119914445

I bought my farm twenty years ago. The first day I we t to the mart in mid March I bought 5 AA bullocks 340 kgs, three LM 330 ,and a few really badly done Friesian just squeezed 250 kgs they were all bullocks.

I finished the AA that December they hung 280kgs average. The LM hung 360 DW the following July and the Friesian's hung 340 DW around the same time. Now I was only starting out and made loads of mistakes.

Up until 6-8 years ago there was no problem buying AA &HE bullocks that would hang 360+ kg at 28-30 months nowadays less than 50% will do that and the rest are pure muck.

I be doing cattle better especially over the winter. The solution is better quality cattle not a calf slaughter policy hiding behind a save the suckler or an emission policy.

The whole thinking on milk expansion never probably factored in labour input, housing, production levels or calf quality. But even they all know that calf slaughter is not the answer

Anto_Meath

Correct Bass, its weight that the factory pays for, so you need an animal that will carry weight. If you aren't killing an animal that is killing out in the 300 kgs + bracket you are wasting your time. A little frame of a thing is no good for beef. Its why there was a good turn in the Holstein friesian, they might grade poor but with good summer grass they can put on plenty of weight.

Siamsa Sessions

Interesting that the editorial in the IFJ this week has a sentence that says, "By dairy beef we mean an animal produced by using a beef sire on a black and white milking cow." (emphasis mine)

Does it seem strange to mention a particular type of cow? What about the type of cow not mentioned?

whelan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119916010#Comment_119916010

Are most jersey crosses not black and white?

whelan2

I keep from posting on these threads as it's always the same roundabouts being posted. If the beef lads want good calves go to the farms and source them, no point moaning again and again about jex in marts, how dairy farmers don't feed bull calves etc etc, it's the same stuff just a different thread over and over. Rant over

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119916158#Comment_119916158

Source good calves, that’s grand. What is done with the poor quality calves?

whelan2

My point is every thread on this turns into a dairy farmer slating exercise, blaming teagasc, farmers journal etc. Let those who have crap calves deal with them and deal with the consequences. No point rehashing it every few weeks under a different title.

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119916346#Comment_119916346

That's a very simplistic view on the whole topic. I'm afraid it's a lot more serious for the industry and deserves every minute of debate.

whelan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119916489#Comment_119916489

And will there be any different posts than the ones that have been in the other numerous threads? No point losing sleep over what other people are at, it's their problem

mahoney_j

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119916788#Comment_119916788

You are right no point worrying what others are at ….to a point but what we all do and to an extent what a minority do can have big repercussions for the whole industry …perception is very important these days and it’s important we give a good one ….there is and are farmers out there who think calf slaughter is fine and maintain it should stay …farmers who won’t change tak in bull selection because it’s just all about the cow to them ….we’re very near a stage now where the calf will be a cost against the cow that we will have to absorb .

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119916158#Comment_119916158

I’d have to agree.

I’ve no cows, all stock are bought in mainly as either suck calves or weanlings. I don’t but jex calves because I don’t want them and guess what, no one comes to my yard with them and forces me to take them either.

It’s not up to me or any other calf rearer to worry about what the dairy man will do with them if I don’t buy them, that his own problem.

For as long as there are people willing to buy jex, even at only a fiver apiece, they will continue to be born and sold on. If all the calf buyers refuse to buy them then the dairy farmers will have to rear them on farm themselves. Either way it won’t affect me and all the talking about it will make no difference either.

green daries

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119915415#Comment_119915415

Yes bass that's the big one is labour.but also farmers don't want to ,are incapable (in some cases), can't get help and never realised the labour involved in rearing the extra calves and in a huge amount of cases Don't have enough facilities to rear calves. The last bit is especially true on the bigger faster expanding farms.......... but it mostly boils down to the extra specialised time that is needed for calf rearing

Siamsa Sessions

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918177#Comment_119918177

Parallels again with sheep and their wool.

Someone asked, “Wasn’t it wicked torture to be shearing them with a hand shears years ago?”

And the reply was, “Not when the wool was worth good money”

It might be easy to find time to rear calves if the farmer bred ones that were worth money

green daries

Totally agree 👍

Also when I said farmers I meant to say dairy farmers . Not the beef farmers who buy and rear calves.

cosatron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918955#Comment_119918955

a good calf will always get a good price

straight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119920634#Comment_119920634

Not if you are situated in the centre of dairying country and there is a flush of calves in Feb/March. The usual thing is there is no boat this week.

cosatron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119920727#Comment_119920727

Yes it happened us last year but we still got the best bad price on the day

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119920727#Comment_119920727

Those are the days I love.

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119920634#Comment_119920634

Your still wet behind the ears

J.O. Farmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119924474#Comment_119924474

I don't know, a good price is a relative term. A good calf should get a good price relative to a bad calf.

Whether it's a good price relative to cost of production is another story

alps

There is no cost to producing a calf...

Only a cost of getting a cow milking again...

J.O. Farmer

The cost of production is the period from the calf being born to sale.

It can still be considered as part of the cost of getting the cow back in milk of course especially if the cost of production exceeds the value of the calf.

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119925197#Comment_119925197

The price of the calf exceeds the cost of keeping it in nearly all cases...

cosatron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119924474#Comment_119924474

Maybe but I've yet to bring home calves from the mart due to bad price

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119927031#Comment_119927031

You wont have long to wait .From Paddy's day on next year you might be lucky to be able to give away calves .If shipping goes that is when the real fun begins .Imo the beef finisher are riding the rearer ,i have seen plenty of flaming year and a half aa/hr and halves sold only for double their weight this back end after the best year on reckord for beef

Tonynewholland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119927221#Comment_119927221

If shipping does go they will go after the exporting to non EU countries then. It won't help any farmer in this country. Some lads can't see very far ahead.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119927221#Comment_119927221

Beef finishing isn't that profitable, there are a lot of people looking at it and cutting numbers and stepping back after this year, yes the price was good but costs are gone insane.

Ultimately the problem is that food production is no longer valued by Society or Govt, especially in Europe.

The beef finisher might be faring better than the rearer but we are all on the same leaky boat.

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119927221#Comment_119927221

Lol! Real world facts for you coming up...

You're not entitled to a profit for rearing a calf.

You will have to accept at some stage whether you like it or not that calf production will become a cost to milk production. I.e if you want a cow to produce milk for the year she is going to have to calve. The alternative here is don't bother putting your cows in calf and see how you get on producing milk. It may well be more profitable to put her in calf and suck up the costs after that.

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119927326#Comment_119927326

You could see negative bidding in earnest then.