Jonny B88
Member
- Location
- ballykelly. NI
So so so important!!!!!
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
Jonny B88
Member
- Location
- ballykelly. NI
There must be some amount of people in that WhatsApp group!!!?
- Location
- Fife
Just under 500.
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
And yet…Top photo, left, is my 11 year old Jersey/ milking shorthorn. She calved in June and fostered a calf as well ( she often had 3 nursing ). she’s due in September. She’s the last to get up to feed and always looks relaxed.Her daughter in the photo below , crossed with Red Angus,is as good as her dam , although they have a completely different body shapes. Both have only been fed grass or hay.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
It is in a total graze/no supplement system.
Miss Bikerack there hasn't got much fat to get her through a winter or dry summer, not to mention her progeny.
If no body steps in and weans her calf for her, I see trouble unless in a very good climate, or very understocked
If you're prepared to prop up your cows you can do what you like, with what you like... it's "just a positioning thing".
Do you want to be a cow farmer at the effect of feed prices and availability, never getting a break because someone has to feed the cows - or do you want to have something that puts money in your pocket reliably and keeps working with "noone home"?
A lot of farmers would feel robbed if they didn't have a job to do or costs to complain about, and "that's just a positioning thing" as well.
No right or wrong answers, but you can see the divergence here. One will pick a cow type that takes them one way, others will just keep cows.
I've done both but even the bikerack type still works for us, this winter may be a test of them as it will place a different pressure on the herd - no daily shifts and no "just a bit more", will see how they fare and cull accordingly
Fenwick
Member
- Location
- Bretagne France
So I saw this one doing the rounds on FB. Pushed by Leeson pastoral.
I think without context sure it makes sense.
Thanks @Kiwi Pete for adding a but of 'total grazing'context' concerning resilience to climatic dynamics.
However. The model is assuming a linear equation. This was also mentionned in a reply in the comments section on FB where the price of all animals they sold per kg was the same regardless of confrmation and size.
I don't know how things work abroad, but here we use a EUROP system. 1 nice calf can be worth more than 2 average ones. Infact at 9 months it may be worth 3 or 4 time more. So kgs/ha while extremely useful is not quite the all singing all dancing thing it may be in another country.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Yes I don't think many of the beef producers outside of the european "bubble" really consider you guys and the skewiff grading systems that help Krone shares go up !
@Fenwick
Why is it so? Is this a deliberate, or unintended consequence of the grading system?
Is the market fair in penalising smaller-framed animals?
And surely a well-conditioned, smaller-framed animal is worth more than a slightly under-conditioned larger framed one?
Lots of questions, ultimately all business decisions should have economics as a foundation.
As an ignorant dairy farmer, I'd appreciate your thoughts!
- Location
- somerset
first point, its been created to favour the abattoir.
second, if it doesn't, they will alter it, to make sure it does.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I don't know anyone past middle school who still believes in "fairness" - outside of TFF
(That's the "level playing field" everyone's braying for, by the way)
It's a matter of "choose your hard" ?
Direct marketing and processing off your own bat - hard and costly
Being the biggest little commodity producer with mechanised systems - hard and costly
It's time to trade magic for fact, in 2024
(That's the "level playing field" everyone's braying for, by the way)
It's a matter of "choose your hard" ?
Direct marketing and processing off your own bat - hard and costly
Being the biggest little commodity producer with mechanised systems - hard and costly
It's time to trade magic for fact, in 2024
Fenwick
Member
- Location
- Bretagne France
I have to agree with KP fair has nothing to do with anything.
Smaller, less well formed carcasses are less efficient to process. So a premium is paid for heavy animals with a better meat yeild.
If by conditioning you mean fat then if there is too little the animal is difficult to value into the 'buchery market'. too much and the excess is poorly valued considerd 'waste'.
So the best price is paid for the animals which can be pocessed efficiently and sold on to the most lucrative markets (butchery etc).
There is no evil plan. There is simply supply and demand. It all makes sense. Heck wouldn't you do the same in their position?
Unfortunatley as farmers most of us concentrate on supplying without concerning ourselves with demand. We concentrate on production but not on sales.
And then cry a bit when the price is no good. Saying its the fault of the gov, the abattoir, the supermarkets, well, anyone but us.
- Location
- somerset
l have always maintained that we have to produce, what our customers want, not what we think they want. If you want the top price.
there's a lot of farmers that don't do that. There are dairy farmers, supplying cheesemakers, whose price is based on 4.28% butterfat, who have butter fats of 3.5%
as an avid farming u'tube fan, in the USA, feedlots produce 100,000's of same shape, weight and fat cover, it simply doesn't happen here, its liquorice all sorts. And l don't think it could ever happen here, we are to individually minded.
there's a lot of farmers that don't do that. There are dairy farmers, supplying cheesemakers, whose price is based on 4.28% butterfat, who have butter fats of 3.5%
as an avid farming u'tube fan, in the USA, feedlots produce 100,000's of same shape, weight and fat cover, it simply doesn't happen here, its liquorice all sorts. And l don't think it could ever happen here, we are to individually minded.
Its only a grid, buyers can pay anywhere they like on it.
Good
there is no grid at market
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
I read somewhere that it cost 0.82$/lb in Argentina,0.52$/lb in Australia and 4+$/lb US to produce beef. It is more here in Eastern Canada( everything costs more here for some reason). However, if you are willing to direct market there is sufficient demand for locally grown meat. That is my market.
There is no way to stockpile feed here. We have to feed our stock in the non growing season.We have to many freezes, thaws,massive snowstorms, crazy downpours. Lately we have been experinecing all four seasons in the course of a day, and lots of different kinds of weather- still, insanely windy, rain, snow, hail, sun, balmy heat.
There is no way to stockpile feed here. We have to feed our stock in the non growing season.We have to many freezes, thaws,massive snowstorms, crazy downpours. Lately we have been experinecing all four seasons in the course of a day, and lots of different kinds of weather- still, insanely windy, rain, snow, hail, sun, balmy heat.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Yes I feel breeders and finishers could benefit by exploring other points on the grid and raising their stocking rates to increase profitability per acre.
However that doesn't pan out in practice when limited seating is available indoors
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
AN319/AN319: Implications of Cow Body Condition Score on Productivity
University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension outreach is a partnership between state, federal, and county governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. The University of Florida (UF), together with Florida A&M University (FAMU)...
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
How Big is Big Enough? - Pharo Cattle Company
According to the USDA Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, the average Angus, Red Angus and Hereford cow in America weighs over 1,400 pounds. WOW! The status quo seedstock industry has successfully out-Simmentalled the Simmentals. Unfortunately, as cow size has increased...
pharocattle.com
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya