What's your stocking rate on the milking platform now 4.5 plus? would you be factor ing in going zero grazing to achieve the above
Neighbour killed Angus calves this year he'd bought of us two years ago, half where of Holstein cows and half of a few jersey crosses I have, he killed them last week, and estimated the jersey cross where 30kgs deadweight lighter
The whole thing swings on calf exports.if anything happens that trade the game is over doesn't matter whether its a je cross or the finest charolois.milk,calf to beef and suckers are shagged
It won’t create too many heifer calves ….it will leave a shortage and a lot more beef calves
With sr your carrying tho that isn’t possible ….mid season or late drought is something you have to plan for now regardless
Sexed semen is not the answer. Just creates too many heifer calves in the country. Don't know how lads can't see that.
A comment I heard from lad that buys calves …he’ll never buy beef calves from x bred cows especially small framed ones …you could get great looking Charolais ,blues ,,limos etc at 2/3 weeks with belly full of milk shiny coats and buried in straw ..the jex comes out after 4/6 months …
you’ve a very simplistic view on keeping calves longer ….lot of farms will have big money to spend on calf housing as they are depending on moving calves at 2 weeks old
I have regularly topped the mart with angus and blue calves from crossbred cows ud want to educate urself and go to mart.I sold 10 jersey cross bull calves which my calf buyer wouldnt take they were 8 to 9 weeks old and guess who bought them exporter and were exported according to icbf letter i got along with other facts about carcass weights of animal i sold three years ago.I use gd bulls
They're obviously getting them for free and can't refuse....
In that case yes. Similar lads locally here but they also pay top prices for buying stock like up to 100k.
No, I’d be happier to sell the same solids off 800 kgs of meal and no silage mid season tbh
We can hold 70% of calves here with current calf facilities. Have an auto feeder that can go to 4 stations if I added on 2 bays to the shed. Last soring the first 70 calves went on the feeder. Bulls, beef calves heifers vs previous years just putting the heifer calves on it. Will do it again next year
been along time since we bobbied any calves. We’re along way down the road now away from jex and haven’t had any bother moving on calves the last couple years
He’ll of a lot has changed in 10 years you’d agree …..bet if you wanted now with autumn milk you’d be selling. North of 600 kgms at this stage …..you can never rule anything in/out at this stage ….milking through again this winter oad ….3 rows back calving around 12 jan …cows getting milked to full lactation ….I’ll go down yard tomorrow about 11 …milk do cubicles and give out dry cow minerals be back in house by 12.15
Lads buying beef bulls of Jersey cross cows are on a hiding to nothing.
Cows are crossbred here, we used all sexed semen the last two years and ai beef bulls on rest of the cows. Majority of beef calves are already booked by returning customers and those lads want early calves so they will take the calves at 2 weeks.
Small bit of planning will get any farm over the calf issues, its not the end of the world to keep calves a couple of weeks longer if the rules change
Pinch point from next year on where your calving a tight block like yourself will be having to hold your calves for 5 weeks plus/no bobbying etc, theirs probably 50k plus on alot of larger sized herds that will have to be spent on calf housing not even accounting for extra labour, and rearing costs, will be a savage bill on a larger unit where 100 plus bull calves that where usually sent on a way trip to limerick at 10 days old, will now have to kept on farm for extended periods
Hallow holsteins are only over the way from me. When you are regularly getting €10k for calves and €1000 for embryos it certainly pays.
Renting land to rear surplus stock for sale doesn't sound that lucrative.
Agreed, it’s false logic to compare the specific to the general. However it’s no harm in this case because it shows what’s possible outside of the norm.
Even though I scoff at carbon emissions from Agriculture, it is interesting that it could be possible to go carbon neutral with Stan’s system.
I’m getting paid by companies that use my place as a carbon sink so that they can offset carbon emissions. I know it’s only a scam but I get a few bob from them all the same.
I’m not questioning anyone’s ability or farming style. I’m saying you can’t compare the very best of one system against another and use the av figures for the system youre arguing against
alot of it is down to the person behind the system. 10 years ago we would have been doing 450 kgs ms in a spring and autumn calving system
now we’re selling 560-570 kgs every year in a fully spring milk system. You can’t compare the 2
I would much prefer the system we have now. Fully dry now till late Jan and get a nice break from it all and recharge the batteries. I could never see us going back to milking or calving year round
Your forgetting about gross income generated from livestock sales, probably generating 10 cent a litre plus in output across the milk sent in, our the equivalent of milking another 50 extra cows
Happened me about 5 years ago, talk about the Spanish inquisition 😀😀
If every farm costed labour etc properly it would be an eye opener …..tgeres far more way to milk cows profitably than what your saying
It’s a very tegasc answer there from Aidan ….or is it jack …less of 2 shites given either way ….article above and family in question show what can be done and achieved
There are pro/cons to all systems. If you milk cows all year round and calf cows in spring and autumn you will put in more hours of labour, it suits some farms but i think farms are badly paid fot the additional labour and effort
We sold 510 kg ms cow this year fed 800kg of concentrate, i dont think our system is better than anyone elses, but its not inferior either.
How ?
you can’t go comparing the very best of one system against a different system but only use averages
On the ICBF site checking bull EBI proofs, bulls with genomic proofs, the genomic portion of the proofs can vary from 10% to 35%. I presume the remainder of the proof is parent average. Why the difference, it seems to be random the genomic weighting.
Ebi is designed in nz system, low milk low input. Most family farms don't have the land or appetite to milk 100s of cows thus preferring to milk 120 moderate to higher yielded. Ebi is lower on these farms so they don't pay much attention to it. Irish bulls are in a protected system. Alot of bulls cannot be sold outside ireland due to poor figures this is because along time ago ai companies figured out its more profitable to stud your own bull thanpay money for semen to be shipped from abroad. On the grass , everyone here grows grass, measures grass and tries their best to grow top quality silage, what we do say is that grass is not mana from heaven and there is a benefit buffer feeding with it to meet the animals nutritional requirements at certain times of the year or during extreme weather.
Have the first batch of conti heifers coming into the parlour in spring. Great looking heifers. Got the highest percentage of heifers to bulls using conti as well.
😀😀😀😀😀😀😀laughable
