Beef price tracker 2

mr.stonewall

Variables in that adg would include mart weight Vs fresh weight depending on how low they were standing around from the field to scale. Easy to see a 10% reduction in weight there.

Next would be what was the silage quality in %dmd and %dm.

How long was wintering for. Getting to grass early with dairy bred stock is key, it's better than any silage and meal.

Any set backs in their thrive could explain it.

Don't be hard in yourself as I would consider an ADG of 0.8kg as excellent for diary bred stock. With the fresh weight adjustment you are not far away

DBK1

If I remember right Funkey I think you were on here a few weeks back talking about having no fert out and cattle still in the shed in the middle of May waiting for a grass bank to build up? I don’t mean to be harsh but that’s your issue.

Cattle go stale in the shed when they’re in it for too long and just stop thriving. Light stock like that should be out 2 months already by mid May and they’d have been 30 - 40kgs heavier than they were by keeping them in the shed.

Also the quality of silage they’re getting during the winter plays a big role in thrive. Again I apologise if I’m coming across as harsh but if you still didn’t have fert out on silage ground at that stage in the middle of May then I’m afraid the silage is never going to be good quality either.

Have you your first cut done yet? If so get 60-70 units of nitrogen on it ASAP and get a top quality second cut around the 15th - 20th of July. Feed that to your young stock next winter and have them out of the shed by Paddy’s day, then you’ll see a big difference.

White Clover

I’ve been doing heifer beef now for a good few years. Usually yearling to beef but occasionally calves bought in August and carried through.

The quality of the grazing and Silage is key. First Silage usually cut around May 10th. I’ll be frowned on for this, but I have been known to house Calves on 1st September. I can’t ever seem to get them to thrive on wet autumn grass and drawing meal to troughs with a foot of scutter around them isn’t for me.

A kg/day of weight gain is possible on good silage and 1kg of a good quality nut, usually a 20% protein one. Try to have overall diet at 15 or 16% protein.

Cut out the meal 3 weeks before turnout and keep grass under them for the summer.

My advice is don’t lose faith. Make a few changes and see how you get on.

Duke92

Its not great you probably would have done better with fr or angus

there’s a few blues that are bringing very handy calves you’d be aswell off with angus and there’s a export market for them to aubrac are a bit handy to and don’t sell as well as the angus

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119188939#Comment_119188939

Were always in a good flush of grass and getting calf crunch. Done with Pour on and then when in shed done with Spot on. Kept in largish fields for the number of them. We have only kept them for the first summer. Buy in as calves in early spring winter and sell on the following spring.

Like most things recently mart was a disaster. In early but nearly last into ring. In mart about 5hrs.

Just put out a cracker of a heifer to the bull today and the b@stard is going around sucking the cows. Fed up with this year already and it's not even half over year.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119188956#Comment_119188956

Silage was an issue for part of the winter. A field was dropped and caught in the rain before it could be baled. Pissed down for a day or so. Dried up and got it baled, but it mustn't have been great stuff.

6 months wintering.

Never had the bales tested for dmd. Will hope to do that this year when housing.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189069#Comment_119189069

First cut is coming soon - still a bit soon in this region for main bulk of silage. We usually try to have them out by this stage, but this has been a bad year for us.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189628#Comment_119189628

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189630#Comment_119189630

Will sleep on it for a while, but not sure if heifers are the way to go. As for breed, it was BB s they were easily got and the AA we got were not any better.

Might try for CH next time.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189763#Comment_119189763

Very long time to have this type of stock in. They are light on ground and are the first out of the shed. Spring grass beats the best silage and meal.

Grass grows grass. Having a plan for closing up at the back end of the year, will mean you have grass for the spring. On very heavy ground here and it's all about being flexible at the start and end of the year grazing. Smaller groups and back fencing. My yearlings were housed twice this spring due to weather, but so be it, they grazed for 2 weeks at the end of Jan. Spent most of Feb in the shed, went back out at the end of Feb, but came in for 4 days around march 10th.

Getting this type of stock to graze silage ground next spring will make a massive difference to the quality of silage you have. And it focuses you on getting them out early. Forget about a bulk cut and look to make 2 good quality cuts. You are making bales so this will be easier. If you have Suckler cows and need a heap of average 1 cut silage for those hungry cows, pick 1 or 2 fields and focus this on making good grassy silage for your weanlings. Leaf not stem. I have the pit silage in now 2 weeks, bales that were made 4 weeks ago and the mower is ready for tomorrow to knock a heap of hay, (fingers crossed on this one). This will give 3 different grades of fodder for the winter. Pit and hay for the cows, bales and pit for yearlings. Pit for stores

Beef farming is a very simple game. Put as much weight on a cheap and quick as you can.

Small changes that are easy to do and try are worthwhile doing. Dont ever be afraid of getting it wrong. We all get stuff wrong everyday, but looking to improve and putting these into action will yeild results.

3 Easy changes I would highly recommend.

Less wintering time for these stock/Early spring grass

Making a small amount of high quality silage for this group of stock

Test your silage. Protein content is often overlooked.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189894#Comment_119189894

Aubrac are a good option if you plan to finish them

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189913#Comment_119189913

No plans to finish at minute.

mr.stonewall

Back to the key point of this thread. Any one have quoted stock namely a flat price for AA.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189752#Comment_119189752

Never a fan of pour one's especially for fluke. Much prefer to deliver a dose with a needle. A kg of ration is not delivering enough minerals during the winter.

You need to shorten your winter young. Stock shod be out by April 1st at the latest and I would be trying for early March. It's a matter of closing 5-10 acres in Early mid October and no matter how much grass is on it in December do not graze it. Do not worry if the tip go yellow, do not worry.

The ground you graze in March close it for silage. 2k gallons of slurry and 70 units of N and cut and bale around the 20 th of May. Make good dry silage.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189796#Comment_119189796

Have you some stock still in sheds?

The next fine day that comes get your silage knocked. Contact your contractor now and book him, every day past the end of May that you delay cutting is costing you in either money or thrive next winter. You’re far better off with a lighter quality cut than a heavy stemmy cut with about as much feed value as woodchip.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119189902#Comment_119189902

Excellent advice there for you @funkey_monkey . You won’t go too far wrong if you can follow that and you won’t believe the difference in your stock.

I have to reiterate stonewall’s point about the protein too. For young stock this is far more important than dmd and dm that most lads concentrate on. Cutting young leafy grass and leaving it on the ground for no more than 36 hours is the secret to keeping the protein up. A short fast wilt on leafy grass.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119190238#Comment_119190238

All out for a while now. Hope to be cutting in the incoming week.

Good loser

I take in about 60 calves per annum for many years - bulls and heifers. Half are Fr bulls. Got a few BB from time to time and they were ALWAYS very poor for weight gains. And hard to put fat on.

mr.stonewall

I wonder is this story only the tip of the needle for the factories. If it is the kill numbers are going to plummet. Just shows the problem with labour everywhere in the economy

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-target-south-american-gang-after-raid-finds-significant-number-of-illegal-immigrants-working-in-meath-factory-41742640.html

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119195413#Comment_119195413

What factories are there in Meath as a matter of interest. Ashbourne meats is one, Clonee is another is there any other. As well remember it could be Pork, lamb or Chicken as well

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119195698#Comment_119195698

Dawn in slane, duleek and traditional meat

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119195892#Comment_119195892

Ya that is a fair few of them. Most of the bigger plants do it by the books. I would say they would be carrying out all the checks properly

148multi

Have been aware of this behaviour for years, how the factories were able to get away with it.

Bass Reeves

I was just doing the sums on that Simmental bullock in Gorthnalea LL as Friday. He was 1310 kgs and made 3790

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/simmental-bullock-makes-e3790-at-gortatlea/

Assuming he lost 120 kgs in body weight going to the mart and killed 56% he would have gone Ng about 800DW. That gives him a DW price of about 475/kg. Would he have made more in the factory

kk.man

That bullock could tell a few stories with the age of him!

Carcass would be hitting off the floor...he be the last one killed on final day on earth.

DukeCaboom

That bullock was down for 3 weeks last winter, he hurt his leg and couldn't get up. He made some recovery.

cute geoge

The bullock adg was just over 0.5kg ,which is not bad .What sort of cattle keep growing like that ,would there be holstein in the dam .I presume it was just one owner for most of the bullocks life ,the people that keep cattle so long must be characters themselves

dzer2

Waiting here in Holyhead to book in for the ferry. Jesus some amount of empty refrigerated trailers being dropped back.

Grueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119204187#Comment_119204187

That man is a wexford man but right on the border I'll have you know. On bad order this couple of years so I think those cattle may not appear any more. He used to call them the calves.

Albert Johnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119204187#Comment_119204187

The like of then would be worth rounding up atm. There's generally a backstory to all those type of stock. I got the job of reducing down a herd for a neighbour in bad health after Xmas. There was a 2013 born bullock on it so you'd wonder what does be going through lad's heads at times.

On the subject of characters I was driving along a road not that far away from home one day and happened to see a cow bulling in an adjacent field. A bit further down the road her owner (typical elderly bachelor type) was out painting the wall infront of his dwelling house. I stopped for a quick chat and mentioned the cow incase he'd missed her (he had only a small herd and relied solely on A.I.). Once I described which one it was he thanked me but told me that cow was rearing a calf and it was very severe on a cow to rear a calf every year. He only served them every second year to alleviate the pressure of motherhood on them. I agreed with him and drove off, every man has there own ways of working.

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119204313#Comment_119204313

We could give out all we want (as you said agree with them)....these people are few and far between now...all gone around here now.