Calf prices

bob charles

awaywithyou wrote: »

lads and ladies the boom times for farming are just going to get boomier... and in any case i predict a soft landing for calf prices in the future as the fundamentals are sound......................

I think the opposite, energy being one of my main concerns, just doing simple figures in my head energy prices will be 15k dearer this year on my little project here.

Regarding beef, something has got to give soon, looking at all the forward cattle I have bought so far this year most are wrong in my eyes, cattle will have to stay above €4/kg for them to leave a rex. Risk is just getting too big. 100k will now buy only 70 forward cattle, only 18 months ago it was buying 120 forward animals. Finance costs are going to have serious implications. There could be plenty room around the mart ring sides before the days shorten:D

Everyone I talk to is having serious mortality issues this year probably due to mild conditions with rates as high as 2.5% of housed animals :eek:

Tipp Man

bbam wrote: »

I just sold a pen of weanlings I reared from last spring.... One with the other they left a bit along with €200 each after ALL costs were accounted for, not a killing but a profit at least...

Similar calves are at least €150/€200 dearer now but I have no faith that weanlings will hold their current price never mind increase another €200 a head to leave a profit...

The problem is taking the gamble over 12 months against prices.. I'd rather buy a few 300kg heifers and graze them over the summer to hit a small profit in the short term... A small short term profit is better than a long term gamble on a loss.. And if prices start to fall they'll be easier offloaded than half reared sucks..

IMHO continental cross calves from BF cows have a limit to their potential beef and so I think anything above €400 for the best of them won't leave a profit worth talking about if they have to get milk replacer... Maybe for a dairy man who is over quota, may as well feed a calf with the milk... But they are paying way over the odds to make the best of their situation rather than a profit making exercise, the milk still costs money to produce, paying €500/€600 for LIX, CHX calves is just too much..

One thing that i would say is that I would view your profit as being the cost of replacing the animal you have sold - not the difference between what specific animals were bought and sold for.

Mentioned this on here before and was shot down in flames but it is really the way people should be doing their sums

Regarding calf prices - they seem to be nuts at the moment - and here we are starting to rear them again:rolleyes:

bbam

Horses for courses I suppose.
For me each batch has to make an individual profit after all costs taken into account.
Maybe that's just my time spent budgeting in industry coming through?

I'd rather bank some of the cash for a while than replace stock at any cost.
As my father often said, "you can buy gold too dear"
That's just not a sustainable approach for me.

Tipp Man

As I said in another thread a few days ago, I know plenty of lads who thought cattle were too dear last spring and didn't buy them, made silage instead. Now cattle are even dearer and they either can't buy as many animals as they need or they are going to take a large loss to buy them. That and they are left with a huge pile of round bales that they can't sell.

Very dangerous times in cattle and the longer you leave it between selling an animals and replacing him the greater the risk of making a loss.

As bob charles quite rightly says above 100k last year would have bought you 120 cattle, now its only 70. So if last year a fella didn't invest his 100k then he has actually lost a huge amount of money

bbam

I take your point, by not investing last year a profit opportunity was lost.
I suppose it's like the property boom gone by, knowing when they are too dear is hard to call and when will they max out even harder.
Is there something out there that will hold prices up? I read that eu prices have fallen, would this not bring Irish beef prices down too?

Is the reduction in south american beef production enough to keep our prices strong?

lakill Farm

just quoted €450 plus for HEX or AAX heifer calves at 3 weeks.

PatQfarmer

lakill Farm wrote: »

just quoted €450 plus for HEX or AAX heifer calves at 3 weeks.

Serious bubble territory...:eek:

6480

i got 380 each for bf calves 3 weeks old ,

pakalasa

whelan1

lakill Farm wrote: »

just quoted €450 plus for HEX or AAX heifer calves at 3 weeks.

are they the ones on done deal? just back from mart, didnt have time to wait for calf sale, sold 2 culls, 600kg got €690 and 602kg got 650 , need a good bit of feeding:rolleyes:

lakill Farm

They are on donedeal but no photo.

A few nice cash cows there

whelan1 wrote: »

are they the ones on done deal? just back from mart, didnt have time to wait for calf sale, sold 2 culls, 600kg got €690 and 602kg got 650 , need a good bit of feeding:rolleyes:

easymoney!

whelan1 wrote: »

are they the ones on done deal? just back from mart, didnt have time to wait for calf sale, sold 2 culls, 600kg got €690 and 602kg got 650 , need a good bit of feeding:rolleyes:

whelan1 they sound like good value?! what is 500kg cow making i know there FR cows

whelan1

there where only 2 other cows in the sale one was mad bulling:D think she was around 680kg made just over 700 euro... was a lighter cow made around €50 with her weight... Was talking to a lad and i was asking what would i ask for calves being sold from my yard he said you will never get as good a price at home as there is in the mart at the minute, tbh i would be embarrassed to ask someone those mad prices that are being quoted here

lakill Farm

Why would you be embarrassed. Look after your normal lads who buy off you year in & year out, and well bull everyone else, unless me of course .

Do you think others are not at it?

whelan1 wrote: »

there where only 2 other cows in the sale one was mad bulling:D think she was around 680kg made just over 700 euro... was a lighter cow made around €50 with her weight... Was talking to a lad and i was asking what would i ask for calves being sold from my yard he said you will never get as good a price at home as there is in the mart at the minute, tbh i would be embarrassed to ask someone those mad prices that are being quoted here

masseyferg

sold 1st of calves today from home all from fresian 1st calvers.
calves 2-3 days old angus small bull 300euro and 3 heifers at 250 each.
looks like i sold them too cheap but in all fairness they were small.
how do people expect to make money after buying calf for 500 + ????
cows due to start calving soon what should i be charging for fresin bulls,
angus bulls , angus heifers all sold less than a week old?
thanks

whelan1

tbh i would never ever sell a calf at less than a week old, it takes them a good week to straighten out also exporters want the friesian bulls to be over 2 wekks old

masseyferg

any body got examples of calf prices around the country??