So you sold the first of the grass cattle just a few weeks ago
anyone else think store and especially weanling prices are all wrong in relation to beef prices I know that this is normally the case but seems very excessive at d mo
To suit our system & facilitates especially when no need for unnecessary labour or costs
Beef price is 30 cent higher than this time last year I read somewhere. That’s €100 plus on a bullock. So they are probably €100 up in the mart as well. Store prices seldom make sense.
the better weanlings seem up more than that obviously shippers buying them but from what I can see financially you couldn’t buy them to sell again next year
If I make over 50e a month gross per animal I'm happy. I budget on a bale per animal per month over the winter. I do not feed any meal whatsoever. Only other major costs are fertiliser and veterinary. I try keep fertiliser down as much as possible. The way I approach it is using my grants for expenses. The profit on my cattle is all profit then. Every so often then, I'll invest in some capital item. Weighting scales this year for example.
The day of buying to sell 12 months later is gone with a while. There us a nice twist in calf to stores if you can gain a lotnof weight on grass.
Suckker weanlings are getting less ever year. Alot of lads buying will start carrying to finish. Finishers will always protect or try to expand there margin that is the name of the game.
Not at the average 1k gross yet but trying to get there, probably across all stock I am at 60-65euro per month but the aim. is to get beyond 70 for the grass based cattle. if winter feeding you would need another 15/head a month above that
was thinking about buying some he or aa weanlings this back end to hopefully kill sept-dec 2025 what kind of weights would I want to be purchasing? 300kg ? Also would they cost around 2.50 a kg ?
any price on cows this week?
5euro U s 4:90 R s 4:80 O s well fleshed continental cows
Are there any flat prices for fresians going?
1000 a year gross is not achievable; it's a bridge too far short or long term. I would be very happy to average €50 gross per month.
As I said it's a target. At present I wiukd have a few that hit it. The target is to hit it more consistently. I find that the cattle purchased earlier in the year are more likely to hit it. Out of a bunch of 20 odd killed so far this year 4 hit it. The overall average gross margin was slightly above 850 for about 16 month average residence. It was skewed because the long wnterin some woukd normally be hung a few weeks earlier and mist would have killed heavier
Quite day in the office today so I had a chance to look through my records and update my spreadsheet. Up to the end of 2023, my average gross profit per month on cattle killed in the factory was €63. And the average length of time on farm was 12 months. The highest gross profit per month, on cattle I had on farm for over 12 months, was €98. These were sold in early summer of 2022. Just at the peak of the record prices from that year. The lowest, ……. well, believe it or not, there were 2 bullocks where I actually had a gross loss for some reason or other. One was in 2020 and the other in 2021.
Do you buy back replacements straight after you kill or is it just an annual buy
Buy most in spring time, around the time I let my 2 year olds out of shed. Then, I start selling to factory from late May onwards. If grass is plentiful, I buy a few short keep bullocks to keep it ate.
@63/ month buying on average mid April and selling on average mid July you are at 950 for 15 months so not far off the 1k/ animal.
15 months is a year and a quarter.
950 is not 1000
Exactly. I would have some for nearly 18 months. So, thats I use the monthly figure. Any animal that does less than 50 euro gross profit a month is a disappointment.
Can I ask what the net profit comes to.
I dont really track that per animal. But, as I have said before, I have as little expenses as possible. No feed at all. As little fertiliser as possible. One bale per month per bullock over the winter. The bare minimum veterinary costs. I use the grants to cover expenses and aim to make as much per animal as possible. Which is all profit.
OK,thank you for the response in any case.
At present I cost to keep an animal for 12-14 months from late spring to mid summer to be about 450 euro.
What percentage of this 450 euro would be covered by your grants would you know Bass?
So a net profit of Approx €300 / animal/annum
….
No meal at all??? I take it there Hex or AA
Exactly. No meal for last 4 or 5 years at all. Used to give a little over the winter with the silage but I stopped , as I didn't think it was worth it. Was the right decision. I focus on getting the best silage I can. Generally get it done around the June Bank Holiday.
Ya, its mostly HEX and AAX. Although, I have had most of the breeds at this stage, apart from CH. I have a few SIX this year for the first time. I'm very interested to see how they do.
I consider my farm payments as part of the profit. I am stocked at 160-170kgsN/HA. My total farm payment has been approx 12.5k. It would not cover all the costs of 55-60 cattle.
I have given a break down of my costs here a few times. The biggest key thing is to keep wintering costs as cheap as possible. However silage costs are creeping up. Plastic and fertlizer a bit cheaper but contractor cost gone up.
OK thanks for that as I said before all these facts and figures combined make very interesting reading,great discussions on here reporting from the coalface of a very difficult & unfair trade.
