Anyone sell calves yet?
I got caught out last year buying calves like that. They were advertised as weaned and looked smashers. But several fell apart when I got them home. I put them back on milk but they didn't know what the teat feeder was. I followed up with the dealer and found out they had all been drinking cows til the morning they were brought to the mart. Another mistake I won't make again.
I was watching New Ross online on Saturday - all calves seemed to be back a bit. I went to Dungarvan last Thursday (in person) and they seemed similar to previous weeks. Plenty strong AA, HE, and LM heifers and bulls under €200 at 3-4 weeks old. That's around my budget anyway. I'll have to sit around the ring in the cold and get dirty looks from the gaggle of jobbers in the corner for a few hours but it's a small price to pay for getting the right calves.
If you get walking through calves beforehand. Any calf that isn’t going mad to get your fingers is going to take work to get onto a feeder.
I do that, sell off cow. Gives the calf a great start tbf.
Any body using HerdApp, they now have online calf sale listings. Not many using it yet, but it gives the full breakdown of the dam's back breeding and the sire, and the tag number and & dob of the calf for sale.
Seller's name and contact number.
If it’s simple to use it would pay for itself quickly
That 10% Jersey, how do you know that is the %?
I just applied for the dairy-beef scheme on agfood and noticed that you can get paid now for 40 calves, up from 20 last year. Not likely to impact calf price much but it'll be an extra few quid for people rearing beef calves in a year when every cent will count.
From checking out his tag on ICBF it gives you the % breakdown, so usually 50% the bull, plus what ever makes up the cow.
Do the type of calves matter or would Fr or Jex calves qualify?
Once they are bulls they qualify
What's the criteria for entering.? Do you have to buy them in or can a dairy farmer apply? Do you need to keep them to finish? Can beef heifers qualify? Thanks
Dairy farmer can apply. Calves must be weighed and data submitted to icbf. Not sure of the length they need to be kept.
For dairy breeds like FR and Jex only bulls qualify. For beef breeds like HEX, AA etc. bulls and heifers are eligible.
They need to be a minimum of 12 weeks old before weighing but I don’t think there’s any stipulation on a length of time you have to keep them after that.
Any type of farmer can apply but calves have to be in the herd no for a minimum of 10 days before you can weigh them.
I presume its like the bdgp scheme where you need to use a registered scales, still it's a handy 20 euro.
Yep that’s it. If you have your own scales it takes 2 minutes to register it online. You have about a 6 month window then where all you have to do is weigh your calves once at any time that you decide yourself. It’s money for jam really and anyone with calves should be doing it. There’s a max of €800 to be got if you’ve 40 calves (€20 per calf) and it’s the easiest money you’ll earn from them calves. Even if you have to rent a scales it’s probably around €50 so you’ll still have €750 for yourself for 1 hours work.
Definitely now I'll only have about 20 calves because I sold most of the bull calves but still handy money, easily weighed when getting a dose in the summer.
Exactly, and even with only 20 it’ll still be €400 for maximum an hours work. Show me anywhere else in farming we can get that!
You can even borrow a scales that's registered. I was moving my calves last year and stopped in a friends yard, ran them up the crush across his scales, reloaded them and away again.
Think i paid €60 last year to get 40 weighed with a lad from the local FRS.
They were all in the same bunch and I was interested to where they were at in general.
I thought about buying a scales but I’m on my own here and that €60 covers the FRS lad’s time helping me get them in the crush and up on the scales as well as the hire of the scales itself.
That’s sounds like good value to me.
Lad came there for 1 calf for a cow, left with 16 calves
she must be some cow
Spring is in the air 🙂
A farmer came yesterday for a calf to put on a cow - he left with a whitehead bull calf and also bought a FR cow (one of the cull cows that calved two weeks ago) that's rearing her own whitehead heifer along with two adopted wh heifer calves.
Sound like people who are careful planners and not the impulse purchasers🙄
Great to see empty sheds this evening.
How much is a small ten day old 7/8 Limousin Suckler bred twin bull calf worth?
The Stena Horizion, one of the ships licenced to carry livestock trucks from Ireland is in dry dock for the next two weeks.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/setback-for-calf-exports-as-livestock-approved-ferry-in-dry-dock/?utm_content=buffer95c47&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR28nLrQBM6kpy0TDvb336IE6xwzhVOMoyDftcIGlffdOdxbvuoTxWMZYjI
Calf prices on the floor today in Listowel ,no better in Tralee last night .Sold nice aa bulls 6 weeks (of cow) E190 . aa heifers 4 weeeks E115
maiden fr heifers for the bull varied 500 - 800 high ebi /pb records
Farmers not in great humour ,just as well weather is fine or it would be real depressing
How much do you think you lost on the AA bulls off the cow? I've 8 Angus for the mart Friday. 2 to 3 weeks old. 50 - 70 euro I suppose.
I think the price of things is after sinking in to farmers. Uncertainty on the future. You will have more milk in the tank tonight at 45c plus a litre. It's ok. Those Friesian heifer calves were making 4 to 500 as calves last year.
