Suckler cow profitability

dinderleat

Member
Location
Wells
Working out your cost of production is also key to any decisions you make going forward, survival after bps disappears will be only possible if you are able to change and adapt you system and knowing your costs will be key.
 

DanMidWales

Member
Livestock Farmer
Nope ours are costing us. Worked out margins - pretty poor. Got x2 child labour now too. Good job we have the construction income.
Do you mind me asking what you're costings/income was coming to? How many cows
Working out your cost of production is also key to any decisions you make going forward, survival after bps disappears will be only possible if you are able to change and adapt you system and knowing your costs will be key.
It would be nice to have bps my dad keeps that as his retirement or rent for the farm can't be grudge him that it's his farm after all, I get the glastir tho
 

dinderleat

Member
Location
Wells
Do you mind me asking what you're costings/income was coming to? How many cows

It would be nice to have bps my dad keeps that as his retirement or rent for the farm can't be grudge him that it's his farm after all, I get the glastir tho
Punctuation can be of vital importance.

Woman without her man is nothing.
Woman: without her, man is nothing.


Or:
When shall we eat Mum?
When shall we eat, Mum?
You have a point, but it’s pointless.
 

Hilly

Member
Question to them that say they cost them money , why bother ? I can half understand arable farmer keeping them for the dung but if your working off farm and they costing you money why on earth keep them?
 

Agrivator

Member
Question to them that say they cost them money , why bother ? I can half understand arable farmer keeping them for the dung but if your working off farm and they costing you money why on earth keep them?

But suckler cows or feeding cattle aren't meant to provide much cash to live on - they're regarded as a safe way of keeping your money together.

Farming isn't a business or even a way of life. It's a philosophy.
 

Hilly

Member
But suckler cows or feeding cattle aren't meant to provide much cash to live on - they're regarded as a safe way of keeping your money together.

Farming isn't a business or even a way of life. It's a philosophy.
But suckler cows or feeding cattle aren't meant to provide much cash to live on - they're regarded as a safe way of keeping your money together.

Farming isn't a business or even a way of life. It's a philosophy.
Bills still need to be paid.
 

Werzle

Member
Location
Midlands
Maybe I should do what I've seen a few north Wales boys do and sell all the sucklers cut the sheep to by half and milk 250 300 cows it seems what the banks want you to do spend 500 to a million on a dairy set up, good luck to those that do but I'd need to find at least 50k a year in wages and no guarantee the milk price will hold up but it seems that what the banks and advisors keep pushing for or a chicken shed
Theres at least one dairy herd for sale every week . Some people make sucklers pay , some dont. Same goes for dairy, sheep, arable, contracting etc etc. Some farmers are better than others, the same goes in all walks of life.
I could buy nice 8-12mths dairy x weanlings now for what you cop is and cash them in october for at least £200 /hd clear profit, just to put it in perspective.
 
Theres at least one dairy herd for sale every week . Some people make sucklers pay , some dont. Same goes for dairy, sheep, arable, contracting etc etc. Some farmers are better than others, the same goes in all walks of life.
I could buy nice 8-12mths dairy x weanlings now for what you cop is and cash them in october for at least £200 /hd clear profit, just to put it in perspective.
How many of them would you run to the acre on PP on that model?
 

DanMidWales

Member
Livestock Farmer
Probably start at 3/acre working down to 1/acre, depends how good the grass is and/or the farms fertility i suppose.
Probably start at 3/acre working down to 1/acre, depends how good the grass is and/or the farms fertility i suppose.
Bloody hell better sell these cows I run these on 150 acres in the summer just the grazing excluding the silage ground, so could run 300 say at what you're saying, at £200 that's 60k profit
 
Bloody hell better sell these cows I run these on 150 acres in the summer just the grazing excluding the silage ground, so could run 300 say at what you're saying, at £200 that's 60k profit
That’s why I asked the question. Last time I looked at buying suckled calves, running them for a year and selling in autumn to a finisher, the maths suggested it wouldn’t have covered the rent.
 

Werzle

Member
Location
Midlands
420 variable 230 fixed my variable are as close I can get, harder on my fixed costs hard to split them between the sheep and cows
Do you think it would be more profitable to sell the calves as stores especially when store prices are good? Im guessing being from mid wales the fattening ration would all be bought in and costly? The big finishers can fatten cattle for £'s cheaper due to location etc .
 

DanMidWales

Member
Livestock Farmer
Do you think it would be more profitable to sell the calves as stores especially when store prices are good? Im guessing being from mid wales the fattening ration would all be bought in and costly? The big finishers can fatten cattle for £'s cheaper due to location etc .
TB can be a issue don't want to be dependent on selling stores and have a TB breakdown, all mostly pure stabiliser now don't seem to sell in the stores, fattening the bulls on tmr yes buying in rolled barley Trafford gold but grow our own whole crop and maize, heifers are housed quite soon in October and finished the following spring early summer only having good quality silage the native breed in them makes the heifers go to fat with concentrates
Do you think it would be more profitable to sell the calves as stores especially when store prices are good? Im guessing being from mid wales the fattening ration would all be bought in and costly? The big finishers can fatten cattle for £'s cheaper due to location etc .

Do you think it would be more profitable to sell the calves as stores especially when store prices are good? Im guessing being from mid wales the fattening ration would all be bought in and costly? The big finishers can fatten cattle for £'s cheaper due to location etc .
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 35.0%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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