Plight of Bull Calves

You farmers hadn't hand act of part in what's going on. Didn't they produce those extra calves without any thought about how the were going to get rid of them?

These calves are not making money for farmers

Two questions from a non-farmer here (probably asked and answered already)

(1) if the dairy bull calves are exported to be reared as veal abroad, why can't we do that here?

(2) I realise that dairy bull calves aren't bred for beef, but surely if the selling price by the dairy farmer is low enough, some sort of beef fattening enterprise is viable here for these calves?

I'm afraid a lot, no, all of that post is wishful thinking. We've seen the cries of horror earlier this year when food inflation started to get a little out of control and the happiness when shops started selling milk a few cent cheaper than it was. People don't value food and therefore a) won't pay what it's worth and b) waste far too much of what they do buy.

Wrong. The calves do make money for some farmers. Without the calf, the dairy farmer gets no milk to sell. The value of the calf may be zero to them when selling, but what that calf leaves behind on the farm in terms of the cow is worth something. The beef man buying the calf finds it very hard to make anything from it (hence why no sale value is put on them). note though that the calves are next to free only when there's a glut of calves in springtime. Holding calves longer on farm increases the sale value, but the cost to keep often times is higher than that. There's the reason why they are moved on so quick. It should also be noted that the calf, when mature and slaughtered leaves money for the haulier, processors and retailers. It's the primary producer that's left dick swinging.

I didnt say there was a shortage of food. The point I was making was that the crop failed. Growing crops successfully depends on so many variables - not every year will be the same - output and revenue could vary greatly year on year which isnt great for farmer or economy.

1 This was tried (rose veal) some years ago and was a total loss making enterprise as neither the demand nor market here.

2 Even if you got a Jex or Holstein for taking away the selling price at finished stage won't cover the cost of the inputs required let alone giving any return on labour or capital.

I see you are incapable of reading/ comprehending what was written.

As you were, carry on!

What a moronic ill informed statement.

I'd imagine if we did an audit of a lot of the lives of many of the knee jerk loons with zero capacity for reasoning or nuance etc ...we would find out many areas of their lives that would have "to go" if we used the same standards.

No. We need to end this nonsense. We as a country are not very cruel to animals. A small minority, and I mean a very small minority are and they need to be sorted out. There is a multitude of rules and regulations. Lets enforce them before adding more to be ignored.

Tillage farmers dont go but because they are experienced in what they do - they know what works and what doesnt, They know what to do when the time is right etc. Its not easy to get crops right, believe me - it does take alot of knowledge.

If every beef or dairy farmer decided to grow spuds, corn, barley, rapeseed, avocados, grapes or whatever other mad thing someone thinks is viable do you think it would work well for them - it just wouldnt work straight away for them if ever even. It could take years to get right and to find a viable crop and find their market segment. I dont think the tax payer or the EU would be willing to pay them an income during this time or fund the new machinery and investment needed. Also do you compensate based on bad weather or lack of knowledge - how would the criteria be decided for every farmer.

Do you think if you decided tomorrow to grow a field of rapeseed with no knowledge whatsover do you think it would go well - Im sure it wouldnt. You are asking farmers to completely change their job and take them away from an industry that works well all because some scientist says cows and cattle are bad from the environment ( I think they will be proven wrong on this in the future). It really would have a huge impact on the Irish economy and that affects everybody negatively including you. Most people though are too uneducated to see this point though and think they are distanced from this( This is not meant as an insult towards you by way - Im talking about the public in general )