weanlings

farmcracker

is it worth keeping weanlings over the winter wit current prices of cattle and feedstuff?

mossfort

are you looking to buy weanlings or are you thinking of holding on to your own weanlings over the winter.

farmcracker

Holding on to my own, I have a mixture of whiteheads and limosines.

pakalasa

I think it depends on whether they are fancy or not. Plainer types are not selling that great. Some weanlings may look plain but if they are out of big cows etc, they may grow away into fine store cattle.
The exporters are looking for fancy muscle types, that's where the real money is.

mossfort

there are some decent weanling heifers about 280-300 kgs only making 100-120 euros with their weight which is a waste of time when you consider the cost of keeping the cow ,feed etc plus your own time.
if you check the prices at the mart and compare weanlings like yours, if theyre not making the money and you can afford to hold them whats the point in giving them away to make someone else rich.

snowman707

mossfort wrote: »

if you check the prices at the mart and compare weanlings like yours, if theyre not making the money and you can afford to hold them whats the point in giving them away to make someone else rich.

So you think people are going to get rich by wintering cattle this year? Hope you are correct.

mossfort

snowman707 wrote: »

So you think people are going to get rich by wintering cattle this year? Hope you are correct.

i think the dealers who are bidding on these weanlings and keeping the prices down are making more than their fair share from it.
so do you think farmers should calve a cow rear the calve and sell the weanling for a little over the cost of producing it?
im sure there is a good days profit for a dealer on a lorry load of weanlings.

adne

i'm planning on buying in a few bull Char / Lim weanlings in the next week or two.. Hoping to pick up a few around the 280 KG mark.... what price are they making

snowman707

mossfort wrote: »

i think the dealers who are bidding on these weanlings and keeping the prices down are making more than their fair share from it.
so do you think farmers should calve a cow rear the calve and sell the weanling for a little over the cost of producing it?
im sure there is a good days profit for a dealer on a lorry load of weanlings.

No I do not think a a farmer should be selling a weanling for a calf price, and if you are doing that you should not be keeping suckler cows.

I doubt if there is money in carrying these over the winter as i believe the man buying for grass will be weak, especially if fertilizer prices remain high & if the banks dont start giving out stocking loans again

hope I am wrong as we have a shed full of bucket fed weanling bullocks that will have to sell in the spring, only other option is to rent grassland.

Pharaoh1

Difficult to see any profit from winter feeding although stores and weanlings are a bit cheaper than this time last year if you are buying.
I've just sold all my bullocks which were bought as weanlings in March/April so I'll be in the market for 30 or 35 in the Spring. I sold them for an average of 265 euro more than I paid for them (mart prices) but they were probably bought a bit cheap.
I have no accomodation but to be honest even if i had I dont think I would bother to keep them for the winter. I sold all the silage I made.