Is there any future in suckler cows ?

[M-J-G]

Depends what breed. Some will just jump the fence when you try and shed it out

Anything that would jump a fence should be culled.

If you have good electric iys an extreme situation where they will attempt to jump, unless they are lunatics.

I've been using it as a method of singling out an animal for years, usually take the bulls away from the cows that way or get a lame cow etc.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Anything that would jump a fence should be culled.

Say it again for those in the back.

 

[unlacedgecko]

How far can you travel

Pretty flexible. Always like getting out and about, seeing different parts of the country.

 

[Woolless]

I have managed upto now and i imagine i will be ok going forward. I think subs have allowed alot off farm folks "salesman , experts" etc to peddle their ideas at the farmers expense. When sub stops the chopping off of these passengers will see who can survive. Not sure why you pro paddock grazing people are getting your knickers in a twist over our comments, make your millions and laugh down at us from upon high if i were you. Always found it odd in farming that people want to sell ideas rather than keep them secret and make a killing

You have got to want to go down grazing management road, no point of doing just because you see other farmers doing it and banging on about it. Main drive for us was to dilute fixed cost per kg produced and reduce a major issue we had with buying in inputs, fert/feed.

Go and visit farmers who are doing it and willing to share experiences as there are loads of good people out there that are happy to help get you started, that's what I found anyway. It is not at all plain sailing by any means but if you have some good positive people around you it can help massively.

Hardest part for us was getting past the first 12-18months as usually this is where your commitment is not fully invested as we were still not sure if it was the best thing for our farm. We have made more mistakes than successes to begin with but looking back it has been a real game changer regards to the profitability of a marginal upland farm.

It is certainly not a prerequisite for a profitable farm by any means and will not suit everyone but it is another option to help keep farming in the future.

@Werzle have a look at @redcoo235's quote above. Adopting these practices has the potential to get the snouts of these 'hangers on' out your trough sooner.

 

[Werzle]

@Werzle have a look at @redcoo235's quote above. Adopting these practices has the potential to get the snouts of these 'hangers on' out your trough sooner.

If i had any hangers on they would be shopping at the food bank and sleeping under the hedge on the money they earn out of me

 

[Blaithin]

Pretty flexible. Always like getting out and about, seeing different parts of the country.

You can come do fencing for me!

Lots of travelling and I won’t charge you a thing!

 

[Cvx1170]

You seem very sure of yourselves?
I got balls but they aint crystal, who the hell knows whats going to be profitable in the future or in the next week. irrational investment and system changes will likely finish you off at this point

 

[Woolless]

You seem very sure of yourselves?
I got balls but they aint crystal, who the hell knows whats going to be profitable in the future or in the next week. irrational investment and system changes will likely finish you off at this point

I think that's the issue, isn't it? Many suckler herds don't show a profit and with subs only likely to go one way surely they've got to get out, get smarter or go under?

 

[Henarar]

When my cows have grazed down one field I let them into the next and I even shut the gate behind them ! That field freshens up . .....what could be simpler ?

Sounds about what I do, we have mainly small fields anyway so they are not in one for that long, some of them could do with a fence down the middle though so they are not eating re growth so much

 

[deerandgrassland.com]

"Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement.
If you can't measure something, you can't understand it.
If you can't understand it, you can't control it.
If you can't control it, you can't improve it."

That's true for assessing your grass situation too.
Another fact that managing change is the hardest bit...
If the grass is managed well, does it really matter whether dairy cows or beef or deer harvest it?!
Furthermore if harvested by dairy cows, there is much higher pressure on gateways and water troughs as well.
So if dairy farmers can cope with these challenges, probably some beef farmers could too?

 

[Bossfarmer]

I would rather see cattle grazing in a field, than the bloody awful mess of rewilding, as would most farmers, the title of this thread is, is there a future in suckle cows, and it does look a bit iffy. NZ lost its subs suddenly, those that survived, made the use of grass, in the best way they could. We have been told about NZ systems for years, of course it has its faults, some regular practices over there, would have us locked up. But it works, it works over there, and it works over here, fact. To go back to my first bit, I would rather see cattle than a mess, I know I post some contentious replies, the reason being, if people take the umph, they will at least remember it, and hopefully think about what they do at home. I have friends with sucklers, and they are all worried about the future, some change to grass systems, and actually sought out advice, others are just hoping for the best, and won't change. What I didn't expect, was the large number of likes on here, I fully expected to be ridiculed, the fact I wasn't tells me people are thinking about change, and what they do, that is all the thanks I want.

did suckler cow farmers survive the sub removal? i was under the impression a lot switched to milk?

 

[Bossfarmer]

what does it cost per day in electric per km of electric fence?

 

[Farmer Fin]

The price paid for beef is not going to change as the consumer won’t pay it and will switch to eating white meat as is already happening. There for their needs to be a reduction in cost of production and this is normally done through improvements in efficiencies. If some don’t believe that they can improve their grassland efficiency what is their strategy to have a future for sucklers???

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Sounds about what I do, we have mainly small fields anyway so they are not in one for that long, some of them could do with a fence down the middle though so they are not eating re growth so much

My cattle seem to be selling as good as anyone else's when I sell them so I can't be doing too much wrong !
I think too many people read too many books written by failed farmers telling them the best way to do it !
I can't be arsed with electric fencing....if a fence is needed I get @nb844 in and he puts up a fence .....job done !!

 

[Henarar]

My cattle seem to be selling as good as anyone else's when I sell them so I can't be doing too much wrong !
I think too many people read too many books written by failed farmers telling them the best way to do it !
I can't be arsed with electric fencing....if a fence is needed I get @nb844 in and he puts up a fence .....job done !!

It don't matter what the fence is made of

 

[som farmer]

My cattle seem to be selling as good as anyone else's when I sell them so I can't be doing too much wrong !
I think too many people read too many books written by failed farmers telling them the best way to do it !
I can't be arsed with electric fencing....if a fence is needed I get @nb844 in and he puts up a fence .....job done !!

you make your own bed, and you lie in it, but don't moan when things go wrong, because you couldn't be arsed to make a few basic changes, that 1,000's of successful farmers, have found very profitable, Your opinion on failed farmers/managers, writing books about why they failed, may be politer than mine. On that, its even worse if they get to teach in an ag college.

 

[unlacedgecko]

what does it cost per day in electric per km of electric fence?

Fuk all.

 

[Hilly]

I can install infrastructure if needed, but it's not hard to bang in a few posts and put up a bit of wire.

I like trying to help people. If they aren't interested that's their call ?

If your ever round my part call in , I’m open to new ideas .

 

[unlacedgecko]

did suckler cow farmers survive the sub removal? i was under the impression a lot switched to milk?

There's still 3.6million beef cows in NZ.

 

[unlacedgecko]

If your ever round my part call in , I’m open to new ideas .

I'll be up next month.