- Location
- somerset
why not select a breed that doesn't need creep, and will finish off good quality grass, how do you define cost effective?
Is there any future in suckler cows ?
- Thread starter ges
- Start date
Is there a breed that finishes at 16 months at 400kg carcase off grass ?
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
I’ll have a few if you find any
dannewhouse
Member
- Location
- huddersfield
Just do like half the stuff you see sold, don't register birth for 6 months! Onto a winner then!
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
I don’t want to get caught up in that!....I finish my own so no benefit to me
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Because creep feeding nearly always means you get an improvement in growth rates at the point in an animals life that it’s feed conversion efficiency is near its best. If done properly is cost effective in terms of growth and their for acts to dilute some of you other fixed costs by increasing Kgs of beef produced per measured unit.
Unfortunately your traditional breeds that get fat on grass don’t really have the growth rates and then your kgs produced per ha ends up pretty poor, ok if you have access to vast areas of cheap land but not in the UK.
- Location
- Ardrossan Ayrshire
Grain is too cheap, hence the low production cost of chicken?
- Location
- somerset
the lad I know, 350 aax cows, aa bull, everything gone fat by 20 mnts, all hitting waitrose spec, no conc. nothing housed, measured his grass, maxed that, wintered on kale. The best dairy boys are getting 5000 liters from forage, if they can do that, so can the fat finish off grass.
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
That’s great, he is obviously on good free draining land. The question would be could he improve his growth rate and reduce his days to slaughter. This may allow him to carry more cows on the same area for the same fixed costs. It may or may not be more profitable!
You are correct in some ways but alot of what you have said only works if you own a big ranch. Farm size and type plus things like- do we sell fat or stores etc. I would have to reduce cow numbers to take calves through to fat and then the smaller amount wouldnt add up to the lump sum i get for stores. For me ,getting suckler bull calves to over 400kg in november at 8 mths old is childs play and they make tidy money, getting hfrs to the magic 400kg is very hard and so better silage leys have been sown, rocket fuel silage has been made and calving brought forward all to aid selling heavier calves that a finisher can buy rather than a store/grazier buyer. I dont think waitrose or any of the other schemes could cope if we all joined them and it wouldnt be long before premium prices stopped ,but i take my hat off to the farmers that got there first. My cows do there own Rotational grazing!
Hilly
Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders.
I feel inadequate now, think I will sell my herd.
Still got to be fed regardless of it being a false 16 or a true 20mths
- Location
- somerset
mwj
Member
- Location
- Illinois USA
If you were alive in the 80's and believe this, I have a lot of property to sell you!
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
When do you calve to get them gone before second winter?
beefandsleep
Member
- Location
- Staffordshire
Yes, I have thought about that. The reason those calves are not currently being reared is that it is not economic to do so. If they are reared then it becomes even less so. Unless the dairy farmers and processors are prepared to subsidise them then they will not make it into the food chain in any greater numbers than they are now. What will happen is that they will be kept the absolute minimum amount of time possible before being taken to the pet food factory. I suppose the price of pedigree chum may come back a bit.
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Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Here's a system advocated by some American suckler producers, with some suggested adaptions. I've flagged this up elsewhere but interested in what the TFF assembled suckler brains trust think:
-Native-bred cows, calving June/July.
-Calves wintered at foot on deferred grazing (could be housed) and weaned on to spring grass.
-Sell as stores before second winter, or if carried over (brassicas? Good silage?) would finish readily on grass.
-Pluses: Potential for a PFLA/no cereals system. Cull cows finished easily at grass when price is generally good. Lean cows put condition on easily in spring.
-Negatives: controlling cow condition before calving? Calves small to sell if you need to get out of them before winter.
-Native-bred cows, calving June/July.
-Calves wintered at foot on deferred grazing (could be housed) and weaned on to spring grass.
-Sell as stores before second winter, or if carried over (brassicas? Good silage?) would finish readily on grass.
-Pluses: Potential for a PFLA/no cereals system. Cull cows finished easily at grass when price is generally good. Lean cows put condition on easily in spring.
-Negatives: controlling cow condition before calving? Calves small to sell if you need to get out of them before winter.
Weasel
Member
- Location
- in the hills
beefandsleep
Member
- Location
- Staffordshire
Issues that occur.
Young calves on muddy forage crops are not going to do well, you are losing a lot of good growth potential at an age when they are at their most efficient.
If you have lovely dry ground ideal for outwintering then you are probably short of summer grass when the cows need it to milk.