Beef price tracker 2

Not sure on the definition of sucklers done right,like without a lot of the suckler scheme payments it's hard see how they are profitable.

10 years ago..granted a long time ago,but I see it hard to see a suckler cow compete with a dairy beef calf bought for €100-€200 and killed before its second winter into €1500-€1800 after just a 6-8 week finishing period..couple the fact it's possible to finish 1 of those animals per acre off ground without derogation.

good sucklers calves the last two years are coming into fifteen hundred. I averaged over 1400 on last years calves at at 105% weaned . This year I’ve kept a few until the new year but I’ll sit down over Christmas and see where I’m at. Stocked at 132kg per hectare. There’s money in anything if done right.

A rising market helps all in the beef game and often masks what's underneath the surface.

We have no late nights, no cesarian, I had no deaths in 12 years, if you are locked up with tb you are in trouble, if I am they are all going on the hook anyway, you have probably 1300 tied up in a cow all the time, my stocking rate suits current limits. 50k less cows in the system according to the rag tells it own story.

I can see only a heavily sub suckler cow being profitable and those days are over except for marginal land. One cow producing one calf a year just doesn't do it for me. My net margin on one animal is up there with the best suckler but I can have 1.5 more animal than the suckler and her calf. U need to buy a decent expensive bull too to be in the game.

Not knocking anyone's system and I accept it fits into a farm type etc but the ship has sailed with suckler.

Beef is beef to the factories and it doesn't matter what shape it comes in. If it did they would pay a premium better than they are. They single handed drove the suckler people out of business in the last 15 odd years.There is more than enough dairy and dairy cross stock to replace those. Why are they pushing dairy calf to beef demo farms and not sucklers.

I wouldn’t say that, I have no calves and very little illness, I'd be expecting that result. Thanks for the vote of confidence all the same.

A base price of 5.50e a 350kg r minus fs 3 bullock comes into 1,925 before stoppages. A U minus fs 3 is now on 5.62 comes into 1967.....where is the equity in that? That dairy beef animal has to feed one man in general. That big arse suckler probably went to 3 fellas. If it was only 2 fellas it's still not at the races. You don't seem to get my point

No one should be putting through under flesh cattle to a factory. I was a suckler farmer and won't be returning.

I know about kill out and yields in a bonning hall as good as any. Yes the factories love them and their margin is better on them but it's all about volume both in factory and farm.

I get what you mean but I'm saying for the last time their is no fairness in that grid for the good u versus the poor R. Give him a 50kg advantage on the r minus, still not great for the time, effort and the movements he might do before hanging. The factories have killed sucklers and the evidence is also in the exodus. If you think 50k less cows is going to be an advantage to you, i don't. All they want now is angus and hereford. Those stores are not far per kg off some suckler bred stock. There is easier and better ways to make money from beef.

I agree calves are not for the faint hearted. I'm only doing a comparison of suckler v dairy beef as an example of the unfairness. I don't do dairy calf to beef. I get in when the hard stuff ends and finish them fast and hard. I actually think it pays much better than any dairy calf to beef enterprise. But in the above weight comparison the dairy calf man and I carry more stock per acre.

You can too with sucklers.

They are paying much more on angus than any u grading bullock and would go to aa yard in a shot before a charlaois yard in the morning. A good friend of mine has 75 aa and Hereford bullocks ready atm and he's having great bidding war with the barons. That be almost 150k in the bank. By the way he bought them very right.

@kk.man you are correct, short keep cattle are the most profitable with the least work. I have had cattle barely 70 days and often made €300+ on them. But it takes time to go around a mart to pick up what you would like. For me who is working full time with a young family, I just haven't that time to spend around a mart. I would go to Carnaross an odd Tuesday evening & bank holiday Monday to pick up a few, (around another 20 so that I have 60 ish a year to sell) I do find it hard enough, and wouldn't like to have to buy all 60 in the mart every year.

Bass will be giving out to you for adding cost to your system using a haulier.... yes that's handy for you. I am a firm believer in there are loads of different systems that work in the beef game, get the 1 that suits you best and if you do it right there can be a nice few bob in it.

3-5kg is only warming a cow up. 7-8kg and if there’s flesh on them now they will more than likely be long gone by March if not you may still have them.

They are some of them dairy crosses and they would be just in average shape so a warming up phase I think is no hard How long would you warm them up for if they got 4-5kg between now and new years and then up it over a a couple of weeks to 8kg in the new year would that be a good time-line? Would that feed be a good ration to push them on? will be mixing there nuts now with the ration to get them in on maize meal