Mart Price Tracker

QA bonus. is where it applies.quality assurance means nothing most beef exported and it's not actually a bonus it's actually a penalty for all stock that dont meet spec.but calling it a bonus sounds better.if you have inspec cattle and no bodbia you will get a better base price.keep bodbia in jobs.think about it.real world stuff.

I have 6 light CH weanlings maybe jul-aug born about 250-300kg they are sucking the cows and have access to a creep feeder have being doing very well. I was thinking to wean them let them out for 6 weeks and then sell them - im just concerned that will they lose weight letting them out or lose there shape and they are all well ended stock by taking a fit of growing? what do people think? I have some good grass that would hold them for 6weeks along with the feeder.

Its a shed space issue that I would be turning them out for also as I don't have the space to pen them separately and with cows starting to calf and ground in bits I might turn them out for 6 weeks just wouldn't want them to go back on me is all.

Yes sell then now off the cows. If they are good quality the likes of them could make anything up to €4 / kg as they are a flying trade. They aren't going to make anyone in 6 weeks. Maybe check to see if you need to weight them & the cows before you sell them for any of the suckler schemes.

Not too many singles going threw that mart……

Ya I see a few blow ins at the mart in skibb. I think they probably tried a bit of livestock farming. They had an imported Galloway bull. The buyers around the ring would not be long teaching, the economics of beef farming.

The Belted Galloway are lovely looking cattle. I walk through them up around the Burren.

Getting out of cows - had a horrendous winter and I'm done. What would nice chx cows with new calves at foot out of a pure bred ch be expected to make at the moment? Thinkng of selling them in ones and twos over the next few weeks if price was decent.

Don't jump without a plan.

What age are the calves

Will you have to replace with alternative stock if so may not make much sense selling the lot.

After weaning I fattened the cows & factory

I now have their off spring to finish off of grass nxt year

@Stationmaster I would say after this winter a lot of farmers would be assessing their current position to see if there is an easier way. Livestock farmers feeding animals in a shed for 6 months isn't appealing. Tillage farmers not being able to plant crops is a serious problem for them.

I like what I do, I make a few euro out of it as a supplement to my full work. But I have but in more work this year on my farm just to stand still than I have over the previous 5 years since I took over the farm. I normally calf my cows end of March start of April in a wee padock that gets well ploughed. This padock is a disaster this year. Its like a duck pond, so I have moved to a dryer field. It's working but it's a bit further from the yard for check them or if something goes wrong. So now do I calf my cows later in 2025 (not ideal as weanling would be small for the shed in November) or do I build a shed to hold 20 freshly calved cows. That's a big investment that would be hard to justify. Will probably just try to do as normal over the next 12 months and see what happens.

Decide what you intend doing instead as @50HX posted. If you take to the mart be prepared to bring them home. In a way you have the hard part done the calves are born. Let's the cows do the work rear the calves. If the dealer's buy them.they will split them and finish or slaughter the cows.

If you wean the calves in late June you will.finish those cows by year end.

Good cow and calf units are scarce in the marts at present, best thing talk to the mart owner/ manager describe what type of stock for sale and most will advertise a sale now on Facebook and tik tok etc, if you’re fed up of cows best to sell with calf at foot and no messing weaning and trying to finish cows, have a neighbour looking for 10 incalf cows or heifers for the last 6 weeks and has only picked up two so far due to his bull being lame and empty cows which he sold in January at good money,

Maybe sell half the cows, keep the youngest ones, as is mentioned here time and again its very time consuming going to marts buying stock. With regards putting up a shed, ull have it for ever, i dont think anyone ever regretted putting one up or saying a smaller one would have done.

They be scarce but that is no indication that they will average decent prices, older cows especially.some may hit or go over 2K but there will be units there that will only 12-1400 euro.

Unless he is planning to give up farming completely he should maje up his mind on tge new system before he goes further.

You should not need to ring the accountant, you shoukd be able to look at your 2022 account and see end of year stock values. They will not have changed substantially.

Having said that unless he retires from farming completely he will have to replace them, unless he repla es them with cheap young animals his tax liability not be substantial

Suckkers on decent land are a break even operation for most farmers and have been for years. There is no point half biting the bullet, the pain remain much the same and tge figures are disapproving all the time.

Going to calf to beef operation if time is tight to pick up cattle is a good option. Presuming OP has approx 50 acres he could run a 30-50 calf to beef operation depending on the system he chooses. Calves are and will be easy buying for a while as are young cattle up to about 15 months if you choose the right buying time and focus on profit not what cattle look like