Weight loss from standing around and a break for the border might have got them near €3/kg. Also the Friday before would have knocked a good bit off any beast's weight.
possibly up your way but I’m not sure down this part of the country
Would some factory’s be better to grade than others or are all the grading machines be similar in every factory
When there was manual grading there was big differences between factories and certain cattle suited certain places better.
The machine grading does seem to give much more consistency in grading.
During last winter I sent a load of cattle to 2 different factories within 24 hours of each other. I had weighed them all and divided them based on weight and my predicted grade to give as similar a load as possible to each factory. To my eyes the grading was identical and there was no more than a kilo or 2 in the difference in carcass weights when I worked out the percentages.
So I came to the conclusion that they do seem fairly consistent and these were 2 factories where there would have been big differences between them when manual grading was in place. Unfortunately it seems the machine grading has dragged down the grades from what would have been the better of the 2 rather than bring up the grade of the traditionally poorer one.
Fair play for going to the effort. I’m always sorry when I kill cattle when I don’t weigh them beforehand. It’s not always simple, especially with bulls.
The machine works on a grid system and in the old days the graders a lot of the time gave the animal in between or close to the next grade the benefit up, seen a lot of cattle grade and a lot depended on the factory markets for the beef, if going in carcass form out wards it was beneficial to have a better grade for markets especially cows to France or Belgium, the graders use to switch factories every month for a couple of days and we’re checked every now and again,
Weigh everything here before going. Weighbox is great and a simple drafting gate at the front of the crush makes life very easy. Say you have a group or a pen, a few are going, run them through the crush weigh everything and draft off the ones for the hook. It's great to get a handle on thrive and how the group is progressing. Bulls are a different story
have you the comrades of these still and are they bullocks? And if so what weight are they?
When you bought these how much meal did you give them? I presume a kilo a day till they go out on grass as yearlings?
I don't have any whiteheads that would be comrades of those 2 heifers, but I have a few Angus and LM that would around the same age and weight they were. Just over 500kg and a mix of heifers and bullocks.
I bought them as calves in March-22 and they'd have got 1kg of meal til they went onto fodder rape in Nov-22. They'd have got 1.5kg of meal then until they went back on grass in Mar-23. No meal after that until about 4 weeks before they were killed, when they got 3kg. I didn't plan on selling them as early, but the price offered was good so I let them off. I should have sold some of the others at the same time, but that's another story.
I wouldn't be taking these as any type of template. They were great calves, never sick a day, and seemed to flesh up very easily. All I did was feed them and get out of their way. I've plenty others who got the same feeding and treatment and they won't be fit for another few months. They just had good genetics (Hol-BF cows?) and were well looked after.
The problem with buying calves is that you can't tell the good ones from the below average ones until they're 8-10 months old. Buying direct from a farm gives you a better chance than buying at the mart, but there's always a few average ones in any bunch of 10.
Got quoted 4.60 for bullocks for Thursday. Anything better to be got?
Out of all the Calfs you bought that year what’s the average weight overall of the bullocks?
I have 4.65 got for Friday but i am told that I'm doing well to get it as there has been a pull this week.
465 Monday
There was talk of a pull last week too I think but mart prices seem to be holding so if that’s anything to go by, it’s just talk and no more than that
Was told 4.65 - 4.70, they're trying to pull it back but the cattle aren't coming.
4.65 for next Monday
Wouldn't u think if they put it up 10 or 20 cents they would probably get all the cattle they want
No they would not, a lot of people will not sell in a rising market as they are afraid they will get 5-10c/ kg more next week.
Anyway I think numbers are tight. Very poor thrive on wetter land this year. No glut of 18-20 months old cattle arriving for slaughter. Cattle being killed, earlier and lighter.
I say as well poorer breeding on the dairy side is effecting carcass weight more and more.
How are people finding their kill out weights this year compared to previous years? So far mine are back, the wet year probably doesn’t help
Cattle very tight in the UK which means good news for us.
ABP, quoting 4.50 base for fresians
Does it? Don't they have a deal with Australia and New Zealand now for beef?
They do but the preference is British followed by irish then the rest.
I don't like that... I thought the 'strike' negotiations clarified the grid, there was no mention of discrimination of breeds.
Is a 15% Protein Ration suitable to be fed to Weanlings? I am disappointed with how they have performed so far or maybe it is a Genetic reason they could have been bred after easy Calving Bulls.
Didn't remember the strike negotiation, but they payed, this for the last 3weeks at least. Don't know before this as hadn't sold cattle since last year
Weigh them if you haven’t already to get an accurate picture.
And if it’s any consolation, very few farmers are ever fully content with how their cattle weigh.
Not in Cahir.
4.55 bullocks and 4.60 heifers next week I hear some business so it is
Pull back 2 weeks increases in one week....They will get to the € 4.50 the week after
