Certified Angus beef

I joined over 10 years ago now at the factory costs €150 if I remember right

On the Summer Grazing theme, possibly another thread, would Angus heifers bought in Feb/Mar & finishing off grass be an option? What age/LW would you want to be buying at?

They must have averaged near 280 kgs DW. They were not your average run of the mill heifers. They would have been 540kgsLW. That is great weight for AA heifers. Teagasc green acte schemes are killing HE and AA heifers and they vary from 240-280 kgs. Trying to buy to finish is different to a farmer that is producing there own

Probably is not but beef is a low margin business. Assuming you slaughter at 20/21 months if they average 280 kgs you are looking at a daily LW gain of 800 grams/ day. This is above average for AA cattle. Allow for a winter period these cattle must hit over a kg/ day for a while. I find even when feeding ration AA seldom do any better than 600 grams/ day.

If heifer's hit 1200 average or above constantly most lads would be happy with them. You could nearly stock at a unit( yearling and calf) for the year. Only real issue to overcome is stocking level in the autumn. At a guess you be making 400/ head profit assuming a calf price of 160-180/ head.

TBH I have been saying for ages that beef farming is a part time job. A we'll set up 100 acre+ drystock enterprise can be managed in 15-20 hours a week. As well if set up right you can go to France for two weeks during the summer and to Lanzrote for a week during the winter. There is no fortune to be made but if you can collect 20k off a 50 acre farm between profit and payments what is wrong with it if you have another 40 k from a job and your spouse is works ag as well

It's much better than hanging around a mart 3-4 days a week trying to pick up a few cheap cattle to make your weeks pay

Nearly any Angus that you pay 400 euro for will not leave too much profit. An Angus has a virtual weight limit of 370 kgs. Assuming that they average 4.4/ kg Inc bonuses ( that about a base of 4.15/ kg you are looking at a gross price of 1600 euro.. if you slaughter over 50/ year you get another 10c/ kg or 35 euro.

Eldest lad is all into Angus cattle, pedigree ones. He has looked at alot of stock recently. There's alot of crappy stock out there. Export gets rid of alot of them. We have a kya cow and she'd be one of our better cows. Used him on fr stock and it's a disaster. Looking at a recent sale pedigree breeder taking 1800 for bulls with very few stars. How is he making any money when meal, labour for training, going to the sale etc and getting 1800 euro.

Had an Angus heifer kill 337 yesterday and another one 303, Both O+, I was certain they'd grade R. They were out of 9 or 10000litre 100% Holstein cows.

Unfortunately there are too many killing in the 240 to 260kg bracket.

Personally I wouldn't bother with a sprayer as there are too many regulations to jump through nowdays with certification, testing etc. There is a local man (certified) who supplies a spraying service and he charges per tank load. He will also supply the spray if required but assigns it to your herd number iykwim.

A couple of bits of equipment that we use here are a chain harrow and land leveler - both are ideal for rejuvenating poached ground and can be picked up second hand for small enough money. We have a slurry tanker that allows us to spread when/where we need although the splash plate regulations will kick in. Our contractor does the majority of spreading in Spring and Autumn with a umbilical pipe system.

A lot will depend on the area you are in. If you are in a tillage area it can be impossible to get lad to spray. With spraying you need a day with no wind. I got caught waiting for 7-19 days for a lad with a sprayer a good few times.

If there is a lad locally that dose it and is dependable I let him do it. Sprayer course is not that hard to do. Keeping a small sprayer right is not that expensive either.

I have a chain harrow and a land leveller. I have not used the LL in nearly ten years. The chain harrow I use every second year. Problem with a slurry tank is you may need to move up the size of tractor you need from 80-90hp( or lower) to 110-120 hp or above. It may mean moving from a 2wd to a 4 wd.

That show how a farm can change a fairly average income and lifestyle into a very decent living without killing yourself.

I see that ABP are going to give a 20c/kg sustainability/genetic merit bonus for killing animals with an average age of 24 months. The aul stars are going nowhere, they’re going to be linked to everything we do🤔🤔

I posted the following link on F&F a few weeks ago but I will post it again - unfortunately it's a subscriber only.

https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/news/department-tight-lipped-on-slaughter-age-abp-meeting-41169092.html?fbclid=IwAR1gVGn34HkVk0qPNdE8IRPbsPw1JdV7PTVnlTnBtRMiVu_A-BXV5i5ULT8

The Department of Agriculture has refused to release details of a meeting between senior officials and a representative of meat giant ABP Group on reducing the age of cattle slaughter.

The Farming Independent understands the meeting took place in the first quarter of this year ahead of a Government target being announced to reduce the average age of slaughter of prime animals from 27 to 24 months by 2030 in November.

Reducing the age a which cattle are slaughtered could have a significant impact in reducing emissions from the agriculture sector and boost farm incomes, according to Teagasc.

However, the policy has proved controversial amongst farmers and received an angry reaction from many farmers at CAP meetings around the country in recent weeks, while factory age limits formed a key element of protests which shut down the beef industry in 2019.

In its response to a Freedom of Information request on details of the meeting, the Department of Agriculture refused to provide information on what was discussed, citing 'proprietary information of a commercial enterprise' and therefore said details of the discussion could not be disclosed by the Department. The Department did say the meeting was requested by ABP.

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According to the lobbying register, the meeting involved Bill Callanan Chief Inspector, Sinead McPhillips Assistant Secretary and Dean Holroyd, Group Technical and Sustainability Director at ABP Food Group.

The intended result of the meeting, according to the register, was 'an understanding of the impact of reduced age of cattle slaughter on emissions'.

Asked whether the Department officials engage with any other meat processors in relation to reducing the age of slaughter, it said:

Age of slaughter is a key action supporting the delivery of national climate commitments as mandated by the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 and included in the Climate Action Plan 2021. In all engagements with industry, the Department has highlighted the need for delivery of actions as set out in the Climate Action plan.

Over the period 2010 to 2020, there has been a substantial reduction in the age at which bovine animals are slaughtered in Ireland.

 2010 the average age at which dairy-sired steers were slaughtered was 908 days, while in 2020, the corresponding age was 857 days.

As a result, Teagasc said enteric and manure methane emissions have reduced by 158 kt CO2e over that period.

Looking towards 2030, Teagasc said it is possible that such reductions in age at slaughter could continue. However, it said further reductions in age at slaughter will likely be associated with a reduction in carcass weights. It also said without incentives and directly selecting genetically for animals that have a pre-disposition for a reduction in age at slaughter, the progress over the next decade is expected to be less that achieved between 2010 and 2020.

In a recent note to the Climate Advisory Council it estimated that over the period 2021 to 2030 a further one-month reduction in average age at slaughter can be achieved that would yield a mean reduction in emissions of 174 kt CO2e over the period 2021-2030.

Also the next big thing the AI company are advertising with all the stars falls flat a few years later when calves appear

Be great demand for Angus stock bulls now. Get your order in now....