A few questions on beef farming

[DanL99]

I'm mainly involved in arable farming and have never really been involved with any stock, with more and more arable farms starting to get into beef to improve cash-flow(near me they are anyway) I thought I should try and learn a bit as well some things I've always wanted to know. On average how many cattle per acre? Do they all come inside for winter? How many silage bales needed for let's say something like 150 cattle? I know this is farming so nothing is going to make money at the moment but what sort of number is needed to at least make money and be worth it? What sort of price per KG are people getting at the moment? What weight are they sold at? What are suckler herds? Store cattle? What it called if at the end you will be selling to be slaughtered? Are male and female cattle for different purposes? Like if you get a female calf is it valves more than a male calf? I know these questions may should odd but some I have wanted to know for some time and being at college I excel at the arable side but beef I have no idea with, sorry for so many questions, thanks anyway

 

[topground]

Might be an idea to read all of the livestock threads on here then come back and have another go.

 

[DanL99]

I'm guessing some of my questions don't quiet make sense then aha, yeah I will do I'll have a snoop around see what I can learn

 

[bread and jam]

Once you have read some of the threads on here go to a few livestock markets to watch trade. Go and have a look round a finisher unit, suckler farm. Get as much information as you can. What part of the country are you.

 

[Beef farmer]

In a nut shell,
Earn sh!t loads of money in he city, then buy some nice cattle at market for a lot of money, look at them for 6 months. Then go to sell them. Hope the trade has moved up not down and you sell for more than you paid. It's simple.
Keep repeating this step, until all the money you earned in a previous life is gone.

 

[DanL99]

Once you have read some of the threads on here go to a few livestock markets to watch trade. Go and have a look round a finisher unit, suckler farm. Get as much information as you can. What part of the country are you.

Shropshire

 

[GTB]

What exactly do you have in mind? A suckler herd or finishing unit? If you don't know what these are then I really don't know how we can help you on here. As said above perhaps you need to do a bit of research and go to visit a few farms, maybe even go to work on a beef farm over the winter to gain experience. One word of advice: don't expect to get rich by farming beef, also remember that the minute you buy livestock you have a responsibility for their welfare and that stock will always need attention, very often at the most inconvenient times.

 

[DanL99]

What exactly do you have in mind? A suckler herd or finishing unit? If you don't know what these are then I really don't know how we can help you on here. As said above perhaps you need to do a bit of research and go to visit a few farms, maybe even go to work on a beef farm over the winter to gain experience. One word of advice: don't expect to get rich by farming beef, also remember that the minute you buy livestock you have a responsibility for their welfare and that stock will always need attention, very often at the most inconvenient times.

I'm not planning on going into livestock I'm staying in arable however I have very little knowledge on livestock as its all arable by me so just want to learn some more, I do know what a suckler and finishing unit are however that's about it. I'm in the farming industry and fully expect not to make a lot of money from any aspect of it, farming won't get you rich I know that first hand, I don't give a toss about money I just want to learn more to increase my knowledge

 

[H.M.]

I'm mainly involved in arable farming and have never really been involved with any stock, with more and more arable farms starting to get into beef to improve cash-flow(near me they are anyway) I thought I should try and learn a bit as well some things I've always wanted to know. On average how many cattle per acre? Do they all come inside for winter? How many silage bales needed for let's say something like 150 cattle? I know this is farming so nothing is going to make money at the moment but what sort of number is needed to at least make money and be worth it? What sort of price per KG are people getting at the moment? What weight are they sold at? What are suckler herds? Store cattle? What it called if at the end you will be selling to be slaughtered? Are male and female cattle for different purposes? Like if you get a female calf is it valves more than a male calf? I know these questions may should odd but some I have wanted to know for some time and being at college I excel at the arable side but beef I have no idea with, sorry for so many questions, thanks anyway

Cows per acre- it depends how good the land is, how much grass there is and if they're getting fed anything else
Housing cattle- depends what land you're on and you're climate
Silage bales- it depends how big the cattle are, whether they're adult cows or still growing and what else they're being fed. It also depends on how dry the silage is, the animals' appetite is measured in kg of dry matter, so if the silage is 30%DM they'll need less kg of fresh silage than if it was 20%DM
Numbers to make a living- how long's a piece of string
Price per kg- check the price tracker thread at the top of the livestock section on here
Weight sold- that depends on breed and sex and how heavy they get before they get too fat, females will be sold at lighter weights than males
Suckler herds- herds of cows producing calves, the calves are either finished on farm (at the end they're either sold live through a market, or sold straight to an abattoir) or sold as stores (calves that are weaned and haven't been finished yet)
Some females could get a higher price by being sold for breeding

Hope that answers some questions [emoji4] the AHDB beef and lamb website has more info [emoji106]

 

[DanL99]

Thank you, I appreciate it, has helped me a lot

 

[Stubbs85]

Can anyone help me estimate how much rolled barley a 12 - 18 month old steer or heifer will eat if i finish them on it?

what are peoples preferred mix of barley to additives for finishing?

Any help wanted please

 

[beefandsleep]

Round about 10-12 kilos. Put him on it gradually over 2-3 weeks and feed plenty of long fibre I.e clean bright straw alongside it. I feed a mineral and yeast, some people will tell you yeast is a waste of money. I also feed a source of digestible fibre such as soya hulls or sugar beet pulp. About 1kg per day and the same of rapemeal or wheat distillers. Whatever is the right money basically. Starch is the key really, the level of barley is the one part of my ration that doesn't change. Make sure there is always feed in front of him as well as a dry bed and clean water.

 

[choochter]

Mine are on 5kg/hd/dy plus silage.

PS I'm no expert, just trying.

 

[Stubbs85]

Round about 10-12 kilos. Put him on it gradually over 2-3 weeks and feed plenty of long fibre I.e clean bright straw alongside it. I feed a mineral and yeast, some people will tell you yeast is a waste of money. I also feed a source of digestible fibre such as soya hulls or sugar beet pulp. About 1kg per day and the same of rapemeal or wheat distillers. Whatever is the right money basically. Starch is the key really, the level of barley is the one part of my ration that doesn't change. Make sure there is always feed in front of him as well as a dry bed and clean water.

Is that per week i take it?

in your experience how many kg per day or week will that add?

i was thinking of doing like i have seen my family do in years gone by rolled barley and a promal concentrate with straw avalible adlib after the first 2 - 3 weeks any advise on that?

I'm looking to work out some costs etc before i plan any further ahead as i have sheds crushers etc all ready to go.

any advise welcome please

 

[Stubbs85]

Mine are on 5kg/hd/dy plus silage.

PS I'm no expert, just trying.

do you finish them on that?

 

[choochter]

No, they are 11 - 15 months old now and their lifetime dlwg is 1kg/dy. I am not happy with that and think it should be better.

 

[beefandsleep]

Is that per week i take it?

in your experience how many kg per day or week will that add?

i was thinking of doing like i have seen my family do in years gone by rolled barley and a promal concentrate with straw avalible adlib after the first 2 - 3 weeks any advise on that?

I'm looking to work out some costs etc before i plan any further ahead as i have sheds crushers etc all ready to go.

any advise welcome please

That is daily, they will be putting on 1.5kg+ per day.

 

[d williams]

Round about 10-12 kilos. Put him on it gradually over 2-3 weeks and feed plenty of long fibre I.e clean bright straw alongside it. I feed a mineral and yeast, some people will tell you yeast is a waste of money. I also feed a source of digestible fibre such as soya hulls or sugar beet pulp. About 1kg per day and the same of rapemeal or wheat distillers. Whatever is the right money basically. Starch is the key really, the level of barley is the one part of my ration that doesn't change. Make sure there is always feed in front of him as well as a dry bed and clean water.

They bulls? That some barley going into them

 

[czechmate]

They bulls? That some barley going into them

Our bulls, once ad lib eat 10kg/day. Don't dare to get them to that in 2-3 weeks though. Think we are nearer 4-5.

 

[beefandsleep]

Steers, they would peak at 14kg . Started from 525-550kg liveweight. Killed when they are fat or at top weight at 90 days onwards.