Calf Prices 2014

epfff · 21-02-2014 5:55pm

Insp. Harry Callahan wrote: »

Bought 13, 6 week old good freisian bull calves 130 euro left in yard

Ohhhh
13 finished off with a 13 0 wouldn't touch them

Farmer Pudsey · 21-02-2014 6:41pm

epfff wrote: »

Ohhhh
13 finished off with a 13 0 wouldn't touch them

The first number of cattle I bought was 13 must say where cattle are concerned that it is kind of a lucky number with me. I think Fresian cattle are the value at present.

visatorro · 21-02-2014 6:42pm

Six fr bulls between eight and twelve weeks 1000 euro in yard.

royaler83 · 21-02-2014 7:27pm

Insp. Harry Callahan wrote: »

Bought 13, 6 week old good freisian bull calves 130 euro left in yard

What's the plan for them?

biddy2013 · 21-02-2014 9:12pm

lad was here today from wicklow calf co., calves have to be at least 14 days, maximum he can pay is 55 as, the max he will get from them is 60 euro and he has to leave them to their yard, i didnt sell him any, will bring them to mart on tuesday, they are br/fr

Mulumpy · 21-02-2014 9:56pm

Got average 110 for 19 2/4 week old fr bulls in yard today

Insp. Harry Callahan · 22-02-2014 9:56am

royaler83 wrote: »

What's the plan for them?

Used to finish as 22 month bulls up to last year,stopped mainly due to grazing issues in year 2, just as well as it turned out, just keep them as bullocks now, I will castrate in 1 year then try and finish them at 24/26 months

Reggie. · 22-02-2014 10:49am

mf240 wrote: »

There sound in Thurles alright,

The website is www.midtippmart.com it's gives a full report.

Any charlies in it Kev?

Decent website that

bbam · 22-02-2014 5:01pm

biddy2013 wrote: »

lad was here today from wicklow calf co., calves have to be at least 14 days, maximum he can pay is 55 as, the max he will get from them is 60 euro and he has to leave them to their yard, i didnt sell him any, will bring them to mart on tuesday, they are br/fr

Yea.. like he's just turning a fiver on them :rolleyes:
Wouldn't say he sells many at less than €100
Hate lads with silly sob stories..

biddy2013 · 22-02-2014 5:39pm

bbam wrote: »

Yea.. like he's just turning a fiver on them :rolleyes:
Wouldn't say he sells many at less than €100
Hate lads with silly sob stories..

going to mart tuesday with some

J DEERE · 22-02-2014 6:04pm

I know there's a difference between continental dairy bred and Friesian calves but there can't be that much of a difference to justify a 300-400 gap in price at 6 weeks old. Surely at anything up to 100, the Frisian is worth a punt. I'd be very interested to see how these carcasses differ when on a hook at the end of it all

Miname · 22-02-2014 6:13pm

J DEERE wrote: »

I know there's a difference between continental dairy bred and Friesian calves but there can't be that much of a difference to justify a 300-400 gap in price at 6 weeks old. Surely at anything up to 100, the Frisian is worth a punt. I'd be very interested to see how these carcasses differ when on a hook at the end of it all

I had a batch of british friesains with a few black limos through them. I sold the limo bulls at 12 months averaging 740 (cost average 210) I had to hold the friesains another 7 months to come into the same( average cost 120). Friesains may seem cheap when your buying as calves but you will have them for a long,long time and only then discover that they are the best converters of meal into fertilizer.

J DEERE · 22-02-2014 6:16pm

Miname wrote: »

I had a batch of british friesains with a few black limos through them. I sold the limo bulls at 12 months averaging 740 (cost average 210) I had to hold the friesains another 7 months to come into the same( average cost 120). Friesains may seem cheap when your buying as calves but you will have them for a long,long time and only then discover that they are the best converters of meal into fertilizer.

You won't pick up black limos for 210 too handy. What year was that?

Miname · 22-02-2014 7:03pm

J DEERE wrote: »

You won't pick up black limos for 210 too handy. What year was that?

2012. It took a good bit of skulking around marts and some direct off two farmers. I got two charlaois last year for 200 each and one sold alreaady for 680. Ive came to the conclusion however even at that buying price there isnt enough in them when alls in. I wont be buying a single calf this year, ive a cow as soon as she calves will be sent to the factory and that calf will be sold. theres far too much messing with bucket feds and far too many lads out looking for them.

J DEERE · 22-02-2014 9:03pm

Miname wrote: »

2012. It took a good bit of skulking around marts and some direct off two farmers. I got two charlaois last year for 200 each and one sold alreaady for 680. Ive came to the conclusion however even at that buying price there isnt enough in them when alls in. I wont be buying a single calf this year, ive a cow as soon as she calves will be sent to the factory and that calf will be sold. theres far too much messing with bucket feds and far too many lads out looking for them.

Considering I saw Hereford and angus heifer weanings selling for under 500 last November I would agree. Less hassle and less work

maxxuumman · 24-02-2014 7:14pm

20 Fr bulls out of the yard on Sat 2-3 weeks old €100

RaggyDays · 24-02-2014 8:47pm

Heard on the radio a mart down in cork failed to sell Jersey Bull calves @ €2 each

mf240 · 24-02-2014 8:53pm

Was in Thurles today, three jerseys failed to get a bid.

Friesans from 20 to 195 majority between 70 and 100,

Charlaois made from 300 to 395 (madness)

farmerjj · 24-02-2014 9:14pm

RaggyDays wrote: »

Heard on the radio a mart down in cork failed to sell Jersey Bull calves @ €2 each

Nothing new there!!

Farmer Pudsey · 24-02-2014 9:17pm

RaggyDays wrote: »

Heard on the radio a mart down in cork failed to sell Jersey Bull calves @ €2 each

mf240 wrote: »

Was in Thurles today, three jerseys failed to get a bid.

Friesans from 20 to 195 majority between 70 and 100,

Charlaois made from 300 to 395 (madness)

What kind of JE were they.

were they JEX either black or black and white in colour or were they mink, red or Jersey coloured.

What sort of age were they and were they good healty calves.

mf240 · 24-02-2014 9:20pm

They were brown and white, they were small but healthy,

Personally I think the value was in the middle of the road friesans at 60/70.

Farmer Pudsey · 24-02-2014 9:25pm

mf240 wrote: »

They were brown and white, they were small but healthy,

Personally I think the value was in the middle of the road friesans at 60/70.

They were JEX crosses so( I forgot that they are brown and white until about 6 months and then go black and white).

I know what you are saying about Fresians however in the U16 month bull market these Jersey crosses have always out preformed fresians. The smaller frame allows them to finish earlier and get fat cover on earlier.

If doing as bullocks I be goinf for the Friesian.

Reggie. · 24-02-2014 9:30pm

Heard of a man today that is selling Jex for €10 a head and if ya buy 150 you get 50 free.

Greengrass1 · 24-02-2014 9:34pm

Reggie. wrote: »

Heard of a man today that is selling Jex for €10 a head and if ya buy 150 you get 50 free.

That's surely delaval

Reggie. · 24-02-2014 9:38pm

Greengrass1 wrote: »

That's surely delaval

Nope fella close enough to me, future brother in law is his farm manager

Cavanjack · 24-02-2014 9:56pm

mf240 wrote: »

They were brown and white, they were small but healthy,

Personally I think the value was in the middle of the road friesans at 60/70.[/quote

I saw a lad heading home with a bunch of nice friesian's in carnaross today. €75-85 he said he paid for them. Looked like good value. "Be brave when others are fearful" as warren buffet would say.

Base price · 24-02-2014 10:55pm

Call me mad or a fool :eek:
OH and I have been busy for the last week picking up Fr and JEx (mostly black) bull suck calves. Average price for the Fr's is €32 and the JEx's is €7. We will continue to buy direct from farmers for the next two to three weeks until we have sufficient numbers.
We would buy a fair number of calves every year and have had no problems selling on the better quality calf. We have always reared the lesser quality Fr bull calf (if the price is right) and Jex's.

Greengrass1 · 24-02-2014 10:57pm

Base price wrote: »

Call me mad or a fool :eek:
OH and I have been busy for the last week picking up Fr and JEx (mostly black) bull suck calves. Average price for the Fr's is €32 and the JEx's is €7. We will continue to buy direct from farmers for the next two to three weeks until we have sufficient numbers.
We would buy a fair number of calves every year and have had no problems selling on the better quality calf. We have always reared the lesser quality Fr bull calf (if the price is right) and Jex's.

What sort of money do the jex make for you

Base price · 24-02-2014 11:07pm

Greengrass1 wrote: »

What sort of money do the jex make for you

Not trying to be smart Greengrass but enough that we continue to do it. Having said that there was a bit of a sting in Nov with some but we squeesed the older bulls (400kgs +/-) in Jan both Fr and Je. Sold a good few Fr bullocks since. However I will add that we pick the better quality JEx's. The rest head to the pastures in the sky.
Collected a few last Thursday and there is one bull that is a good as any LMxFR excluding the doe eyes and extra long eyelashes.

limo_100 · 25-02-2014 12:35am

Base price wrote: »

bull that is a good as any LMxFR excluding the doe eyes and extra long eyelashes.

Iv seen them before crossed with lm they look fine when there young its after bout 3months then they get screwy.

wats the figures with the jersey calves? as in what age do you sell them at what weight do they be at selling and what price?

Base price · 25-02-2014 12:45am

limo_100 wrote: »

Iv seen them before crossed with lm they look fine when there young its after bout 3months then they get screwy.

wats the figures with the jersey calves? as in what age do you sell them at what weight do they be at selling and what price?

No offence but a guard wouldn't ask me that and if they did I would tell them to F-off.
As I said earlier we have been doing this for years. 2012/13 was crazy due to calf prices and we diverted more into other stock. However, it seems like the dairy calf market is settling back to normality from a buyers point of view and milk prices are good for the initial producer so hopefully everyone is happy.

limo_100 · 25-02-2014 1:10am

Base price wrote: »

No offence but a guard wouldn't ask me that and if they did I would tell them to F-off.
As I said earlier we have been doing this for years. 2012/13 was crazy due to calf prices and we diverted more into other stock. However, it seems like the dairy calf market is settling back to normality from a buyers point of view and milk prices are good for the initial producer so hopefully everyone is happy.

I disagree if anyone asked me id tell what iv done iv done it on here before several times, Its an information forum im sure im not the only that would like to know. your telling use here that theres money in them yet you wont say what your weight, age and profit is from them. Theres probably people on here if they knew the facts from jerseys they may consider it. and anyway your anonymous on this site

Base price · 25-02-2014 1:23am

limo_100 wrote: »

I disagree if anyone asked me id tell what iv done iv done it on here before several times, Its an information forum im sure im not the only that would like to know. your telling use here that theres money in them yet you wont say what your weight, age and profit is from them. Theres probably people on here if they knew the facts from jerseys they may consider it. and anyway your anonymous on this site

You have just stated that I am anonymous on this site so therefore I must be.

At the end of the day its a numbers game + low cost initial investment + low cost inputs + having an outlet which one acquires over many years of successful trading.

Farmer Pudsey · 25-02-2014 2:27am

Base price wrote: »

Call me mad or a fool :eek:
OH and I have been busy for the last week picking up Fr and JEx (mostly black) bull suck calves. Average price for the Fr's is €32 and the JEx's is €7. We will continue to buy direct from farmers for the next two to three weeks until we have sufficient numbers.
We would buy a fair number of calves every year and have had no problems selling on the better quality calf. We have always reared the lesser quality Fr bull calf (if the price is right) and Jex's.

The figures add up on the lower price calfs at present. However they need to be coming at that price to leave a decent margin. The trouble with too many beef lads is they want to subsidise the dairy farmer. Too many farmers get caught up in the value of the final cheque rather than the profit in the cheque.

Also if you do not want to have money tied up in stock these sort of cattle are the way to go. At worst they will leave 50/head less of a margin than 250-400 euro calves. As one ould lad that use to buy a few good charlois ever year, used to say that they were for the field in front of the house. The back of the house was for profit and he used to fill that with Fresians. Now and again one of the good one was left in the front field for the last few months.

He told me it was very hard to expand a beef enterprise with with expensive cattle. Doing the sums base you would stock a farm for 2K comfortably.;)

dzer2 · 25-02-2014 9:51am

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

The figures add up on the lower price calfs at present. However they need to be coming at that price to leave a decent margin. The trouble with too many beef lads is they want to subsidise the dairy farmer. Too many farmers get caught up in the value of the final cheque rather than the profit in the cheque.

Also if you do not want to have money tied up in stock these sort of cattle are the way to go. At worst they will leave 50/head less of a margin than 250-400 euro calves. As one ould lad that use to buy a few good charlois ever year, used to say that they were for the field in front of the house. The back of the house was for profit and he used to fill that with Fresians. Now and again one of the good one was left in the front field for the last few months.

He told me it was very hard to expand a beef enterprise with with expensive cattle. Doing the sums base you would stock a farm for 2K comfortably.;)

This is the most important part I rear a lot of calves each yr and wont pay a high price for a calf. They all eat near enough the same amount and I have learned they leave the same profit. In the last 3 yrs I found the most expensive calf bought nearly always made the most money but the difference between the dear calf and the cheap calf was never enough to justify tying up an extra 4 or 5 k in them.

Base price · 25-02-2014 11:58am

limo_100 wrote: »

I disagree if anyone asked me id tell what iv done iv done it on here before several times, Its an information forum im sure im not the only that would like to know. your telling use here that theres money in them yet you wont say what your weight, age and profit is from them. Theres probably people on here if they knew the facts from jerseys they may consider it. and anyway your anonymous on this site

Last year before the price drop we were getting €3.85 to €4 for Jex bulls (underage) and we had to be quality assured although there is no premium for bulls. Just had a quick look at some dockets and the weights varied from 250 to 320 kgs. All were O's.
Since the factories started acting up with prices it is no longer a viable proposition.
However I am hopeful for the future and we have always operated on the theory of buy in a cheap as possible. Nobody likes to loose an animal but I would prefer to loose a €40 Fr calf than a €400 Continental one. Also as others have said above you have less money tied up with stock.
Milk replacer is costing us 23.5c/l. We have hot water on tap from the house as it is a by product of the cooker. Hay is our own from last year. Calf crunch is €10 per bag.

Farmer Pudsey · 25-02-2014 1:46pm

Base price wrote: »

Last year before the price drop we were getting €3.85 to €4 for Jex bulls (underage) and we had to be quality assured although there is no premium for bulls. Just had a quick look at some dockets and the weights varied from 250 to 320 kgs. All were O's.
Since the factories started acting up with prices it is no longer a viable proposition.
However I am hopeful for the future and we have always operated on the theory of buy in a cheap as possible. Nobody likes to loose an animal but I would prefer to loose a €40 Fr calf than a €400 Continental one. Also as others have said above you have less money tied up with stock.
Milk replacer is costing us 23.5c/l. We have hot water on tap from the house as it is a by product of the cooker. Hay is our own from last year. Calf crunch is €10 per bag.

Have you done the sums for finishing the JEX at 16 months. On paper I think they is a decent margin finishing them for May/June. However they have to be bombing along all year long. calf crunch at 400/ton sounds expensive would expect that buying by the ton you should be able to acces at 320-350/ton

Base price · 25-02-2014 2:05pm

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Have you done the sums for finishing the JEX at 16 months. On paper I think they is a decent margin finishing them for May/June. However they have to be bombing along all year long. calf crunch at 400/ton sounds expensive would expect that buying by the ton you should be able to acces at 320-350/ton

Started working on figures yesterday morning but never got anything finalised as we had to head away but we reckoned on using a finishing figure of €3/kg. We will see how prices pan out over the next year to year and a half.
Bought 5 bags of crunch in local co-op on Thursday to start us off until we price and get delivery. We normally buy in 4 or 5 ton at a time.
We prefer to buy in bulk if possible as that is where additional savings are made.
Got a pallet of milk replacer delivered on Friday.

mf240 · 25-02-2014 2:33pm

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Have you done the sums for finishing the JEX at 16 months. On paper I think they is a decent margin finishing them for May/June. However they have to be bombing along all year long.

What weigt roughly would you be expecting them to kill at 16 months and what would expect them to eat in meal,

Farmer Pudsey · 25-02-2014 3:29pm

mf240 wrote: »

What weigt roughly would you be expecting them to kill at 16 months and what would expect them to eat in meal,

I expect them to average 230kgs maybe a bit with it. You could only use the better quality JEX calf and these calf born in Jan/Feb. They would need a kg-kg and a half of ration when on grass and you would need to keep out as long as possible. ( cattle go stale in a shed Kale form late Nov-early January would be ideal) Then finish on an average of 5-6kg and good silage over 120 days ( start on 4 and build to 7 goin up 1kg ever 30 days)

There would be no place for set back or a store period.

royaler83 · 25-02-2014 3:57pm

Cavanjack wrote: »

mf240 wrote: »

They were brown and white, they were small but healthy,

Personally I think the value was in the middle of the road friesans at 60/70.[/quote

I saw a lad heading home with a bunch of nice friesian's in carnaross today. €75-85 he said he paid for them. Looked like good value. "Be brave when others are fearful" as warren buffet would say.

Hard to see how it would add up paying €280-€300 for a WH calf when four decent FR can be got for the price of one WH, and remember the WH is 1/2 FR

Any man that can tell me what the factories will want in 24 months is a great man :rolleyes:

Cavanjack · 25-02-2014 4:01pm

royaler83 wrote: »

Cavanjack wrote: »

Hard to see how it would add up paying €280-€300 for a WH calf when four decent FR can be got for the price of one WH, and remember the WH is 1/2 FR

Any man that can tell me what the factories will want in 24 months is a great man :rolleyes:

They will want whatever the opposite is of what you got!!

galwayhillbilly · 25-02-2014 4:16pm

Luckily I just had a rather long rant interrupted by a system update, I can understand why Base Price is reluctant to share his business model fully, the Irish market is too small and is too vulnerable to a bunch of lads rushing to the next new business model or revised old business model with the same wad of cash that is getting smaller every year since 2006 from the last site they sold.
Anyway I think finishing these Jex bulls might suit my farm, I have heavy land and not much in the way of sheds, they could out-winter without doing too much damage. I have sheep at the minute and intend to stay in sheep but with work commitments I can't afford to let my numbers get too high as I'd never be able to cope with lambing. So I am diversifying into calf rearing, no cows, as I cant be watching them at calving time, (at least lambing can be confined to about 3-6 weeks in the year).
As a learning process I will buy 1 this year to rear for the freezer anybody got any experience of this? any suggestions regarding finishing?
If anyone is willing to part with one, in East Galway, East Clare, South Roscommon or Westmeath I travel to all these areas on a regular basis, please don't try to sell be 50 of them I only want one for the experiment, and if it works out I might buy 20 next year.

royaler83 · 25-02-2014 6:21pm

Who says there's no value in the market

http://www.donedeal.ie/beefcattle-for-sale/suck-calf/6510310

biddy2013 · 25-02-2014 7:02pm

royaler83 wrote: »

Who says there's no value in the market

http://www.donedeal.ie/beefcattle-for-sale/suck-calf/6510310

thats meath men for ya:D was at ardee mart today, 100 calves in sale.T aht would be a massive sale for there fr bulls from 20-100. simx bulls to 360:eek: aa bulls from 80-250 , jex no bids at 5 euro

limo_100 · 25-02-2014 8:36pm

galwayhillbilly wrote: »

Luckily I just had a rather long rant interrupted by a system update, I can understand why Base Price is reluctant to share his business model fully, the Irish market is too small and is too vulnerable to a bunch of lads rushing to the next new business model or revised old business model with the same wad of cash that is getting smaller every year since 2006 from the last site they sold.
Anyway I think finishing these Jex bulls might suit my farm, I have heavy land and not much in the way of sheds, they could out-winter without doing too much damage. I have sheep at the minute and intend to stay in sheep but with work commitments I can't afford to let my numbers get too high as I'd never be able to cope with lambing. So I am diversifying into calf rearing, no cows, as I cant be watching them at calving time, (at least lambing can be confined to about 3-6 weeks in the year).
As a learning process I will buy 1 this year to rear for the freezer anybody got any experience of this? any suggestions regarding finishing?
If anyone is willing to part with one, in East Galway, East Clare, South Roscommon or Westmeath I travel to all these areas on a regular basis, please don't try to sell be 50 of them I only want one for the experiment, and if it works out I might buy 20 next year.

you should buy two calves because two calves together will do far better than one on his own. If your going to keep the meat you should buy heifers id recommend angus heifer calves
try this fella he fairly decent for price

http://www.donedeal.ie/beefcattle-for-sale/clarehill-livestock-ltd-/5681868

Farmer Pudsey · 25-02-2014 9:34pm

galwayhillbilly wrote: »

Luckily I just had a rather long rant interrupted by a system update, I can understand why Base Price is reluctant to share his business model fully, the Irish market is too small and is too vulnerable to a bunch of lads rushing to the next new business model or revised old business model with the same wad of cash that is getting smaller every year since 2006 from the last site they sold.
Anyway I think finishing these Jex bulls might suit my farm, I have heavy land and not much in the way of sheds, they could out-winter without doing too much damage. I have sheep at the minute and intend to stay in sheep but with work commitments I can't afford to let my numbers get too high as I'd never be able to cope with lambing. So I am diversifying into calf rearing, no cows, as I cant be watching them at calving time, (at least lambing can be confined to about 3-6 weeks in the year).
As a learning process I will buy 1 this year to rear for the freezer anybody got any experience of this? any suggestions regarding finishing?
If anyone is willing to part with one, in East Galway, East Clare, South Roscommon or Westmeath I travel to all these areas on a regular basis, please don't try to sell be 50 of them I only want one for the experiment, and if it works out I might buy 20 next year.

I think I be inclined to go for about 5 first cattle need company. The one disadvantage with jerseys bulls is you cannot keep them outside above 400kgsLW they are too F@@king dangerous. But remember you need to keep them moving no store period for bulls, or else pick good ones squeeze and do as bullocks, you can still leave one a full bull and kill for freezer in 18 months time.

limo_100 · 25-02-2014 9:38pm

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

I think I be inclined to go for about 5 first cattle need company. The one disadvantage with jerseys bulls is you cannot keep them outside above 400kgsLW they are too F@@king dangerous. But remember you need to keep them moving no store period for bulls, or else pick good ones squeeze and do as bullocks, you can still leave one a full bull and kill for freezer in 18 months time.

would you not think pudsey for starting out ud be off with a few black or black wited calves

Farmer Pudsey · 25-02-2014 9:54pm

limo_100 wrote: »

would you not think pudsey for starting out ud be off with a few black or black wited calves

In a way you are right however calves are hard looking after. I did them for a while about 5-7 years ago. Bought mostly Fresians, or AA at the time. Had been brought up rearing calves so it was not a total shock to the system. Time is the killer

However at present an AA or WH calf costs over 250 yoyo. I imagine that you would get fine strong JE calves 5 weeks old for 50 euro. 10 day old ones for the taking away. I prefer a bunch of 5 week old calfs for 50 than WH or AA for 300yoyo. You might get 5 nice agey JEX's in a group for 150 euro, would you get 5 coloured calves for 1200 euro???

Small money small margin small risk nothing wrong starting off.

limo_100 · 25-02-2014 10:08pm

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

In a way you are right however calves are hard looking after. I did them for a while about 5-7 years ago. Bought mostly Fresians, or AA at the time. Had been brought up rearing calves so it was not a total shock to the system. Time is the killer

However at present an AA or WH calf costs over 250 yoyo. I imagine that you would get fine strong JE calves 5 weeks old for 50 euro. 10 day old ones for the taking away. I prefer a bunch of 5 week old calfs for 50 than WH or AA for 300yoyo. You might get 5 nice agey JEX's in a group for 150 euro, would you get 5 coloured calves for 1200 euro???

Small money small margin small risk nothing wrong starting off.

a ya would iv bought 2red whitehead calves already at a house for 220 a piece. Im not gona bother with two many more this year i just wont have the time for them

Calf Prices 2014

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