EU Proposal on calf transportation. NO MOVE UNDER 35DAYS

Criminal offence...

Should have have been sent back through our accreditation system and the purpotrators charged...

Zore tolerance for that xhyte...some damage done to genuine farmers..

Seems like there was a sting in the tail for the breeders as well 😅

Just as well it isn’t a criminal offense or the majority of xbred farmers would be doing a stint inside.

I remember at the time that the Germans were in the same boat with tests showing angus meat to be as low as 6% pure.

The French are a knowledgeable society of meat consumers that demand honest labeling and genuine produce. It’ll be a long time before Irish meat will be held in the same regard as before…and it’s Irish farmers are to blame, not Larry et al.

We get a spot inspection about twice a year where dna is tested from ear cartilage. The fine for declaring the breeding incorrectly is €3300 for the first one…I don’t know how much for the second offense. All I can say is that it works very well indeed.

The slaughter/killing of calves is the best way of all to reduce our cattle numbers, which is exactly the measure needed for climate change targets for farming. The Dept should be tasked with buying up (in the market as cheaply as possible) 200/300 or 400,000 calves per annum and 'putting them to sleep'. Or put the job out to tender. It should cost no more than €60m per annum.

The story should be 'You want reduction in numbers - this is the way to go.' Climate change cannot be cost free. I see no reason ANY/EVERY farm organisation would not support this.

A good few of the Co-op's and and a lot of there high value customers have already indicated that they will not tolerate this. The Bobby calf set up in NZ is under pressure. If dairy farmers can live with a milk band of 25-30c/K then that fine. If you want a decent price for milk then this is not an option

I do not know why people suggest scenario's that are not compatible with modern ethics and sensibilities.

It's not so much the cost of feeding. That is the small part. The flawed thinking around expansion where ''the calf was not taught about or factored into the equation'' by either the co-op or the advisory agencies is becoming a bigger issue every year.

The big problem is facilities and labour. If you can dump calves off the farm at an average of 14 days it's reduced the cost of both of the above. Your calf rearing shed can work 3 timeslots of calves. It's especially an issue on larger units where there is over 100 cows and labour is hired in. Big difference between managing your replacement heifers and half that amount of other calves to having facilities for every calf that is born on the farm

'They will not tolerate this' you say.

That mindset will have to be changed. I have absolutely no problem with it and rationally there can be no objection to it. Luckily animals are not rational.

Plenty calves are killed quite young at present; veal calves only live 4/5 months anyway. Sentiments must be changed with Climate Change the driving factor.

Well if you think you can change the mind set of over a billion people in the area where our customers supply. They are not going to damage that market.

Like I said in my previous post ''I do not know why people suggest scenario's that are not compatible with modern ethics and sensibilities''

There is a prayer

''God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and wisdom to know the difference.''

In this case it's an unwinnable battle even if we wanted to win it a d Most can see no reason for it. Any business model has to accept there are costs in that model you have to accept

P&O gave up carrying calves on the Landbridge because of negative publicity regarding calf transport. The reason export is going is because of welfare issues. If we cannot f@@king export calves in 2-5 years WTF makes you think you can put a slaughter scheme in place for 2-400k calves. Wake up and smell the coffee.

On African charity or any other questions thing you want to call it. The safest thing for babies is Brest feeding, any concerted program planned from your suggestion would backfire with negative publicity. Baby food and hygiene is a huge issue in poorer countries.

Actually baby formula is more a second world issue than first or third world. In first world mother get parental leave to Brest feed, in third world most women do. It second world working women that buy infant formula so they can go back to work

Kiwi farmers are allowed why can't the paddies do it, given we are actually receiving lower milk prices then them, your argument that woke vegan twitter warriors will shut it down doesn't hold water, why is humane bull calf slaughter for food, unethical but slaughtering lambs is perfectly fine

The industry here has enough issues to be dealing with without further toxic associations with the NZ "Dirty Dairy" model. Plus there is a world of difference between lambs reared for several months outdoors and bobby calves.

This is a very disturbing view from a fellow dairy farmer .I can see a very bleak future for dairy in Ireland if this ideology of pumping out milk at all costs and dairy farmers wonder why they get bad press

What other solutions are their? If co-ops go the arla route where no calf born on farm can be slaughtered before 8 weeks of age, then they are going to have to compensate their suppliers for the financial hit in building calf sheds to accommodate these calves and then the real prospect of giving them away at the 8 weeks if larry and Co faced with a wall of cattle year in and out knowing they have a guaranteed supply, will pay prices that the Brazilians wouldn't even be happy with.....

All of the above complimented with soaring input costs realistically means the beef man mighten even take the calves at 8 weeks, so they'll be going for slaughter anyways....

I thought a calf could be sold without it being a "movement" once it is under a certain age, so while it could not be exported it still could be sold on to a calf rearer or even a calf exporter who would hold the calf until it was 35 days old

The other solution is to breed proper stock like what was done for generations in Ireland and get away from the jersey and Holstein rubbish that’s being bred now. Go back to British friesian cows crossed with white heads, Angus, Charlaois, Simmental etc. Then your calves will be worth rearing and you’ll have plenty of customers for them.

Yea you’ll take a bit of a hit on your milk production but stay at the sh**e dairy farmers are at now and you’ll have to take the hit on the cost of building facilities to keep your calves for 7 or 8 weeks and maybe give them away for nearly nothing then just to get them out of the yard.

The choice would be up to you as to which option suits you best.

So dairy farmers don't want to rear the calf and don't want to give them away cheap in case someone else might just make something on them.