Lovegoodstock
Member
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
That's a relief I thought I was getting a telling off!! No not used it at all, not atall against it, and as you pointed out, for those that say, rear calves, sell on to growers and then on to finishers, performance figures should be rewarded, keeping a beast 2/3 months longer to weigh maybe 50 kilo lighter will make the difference to being profitable or losing per beast obviously. I am a store cattle producer, have 250 cows, changing policy but have gone for muscled calves that sell at a premium. Calving interval is a month on from perfect, well 3 weeks, I calve all year round as on my own, and 80 year old parents, 3 weeks costs yes, told inefficient, yes, but feed cheaper, way cheaper in dry period, keep cattle leaner than some, so long as colostrum is plentiful and adequate im happy. Found losses during calving well under average stats, normally buy in 300 ewe lambs to sell as lambed shearlings, sell 50% lambs at 12 weeks at mean average 37 kilo, rest reared twins and weaned early to recover and lambs sold as stores, ewe flock lambed 2 more years where uncrept lambs sold normally at 13 weeks at 21k dw, bar disaster this year hope to sell 1 .73 lambs per tupped ewe, average for last 3 years, I don't have time to run through assessing weight gains, but right behind you in that if your performance is average or poor, then time should be made, or has to be made, but when not keeping a sheep for more than 3 lambings,and not keeping a closed flock, and having repeat customers for years on end, I cant see thee point for me individually. Where we are hopeless as an industry is honesty, I believe, if you record and you are well above or below in weight gains or whatever it should be posted, to see a benefit for others, to see where you should be at, with an element of variation with pat of country, but I do believe we are great at striving for one up manship, hope that makes sense, that if someone posts there lambs average a daily lw gain of 400g and they are only doing 200g, they think they ought to put 300g so don't look bad, same as there are plenty and we all know it that calve are registered a month late so they "look bigger" I really believe we don't and have no interest in working together, maybe wrongSorry @Lovegoodstock you did say your system of farming, I respect that people have their own systems which can be 100% reliable for them.
I hope the point I was trying to make can be the focus.
Having said that systems which are common to all will be useful. When calves go to rearers then to growers/graziers then maybe to finishers - if we all have our own systems then the passing of information up and down the chain is rendered impossible.
Surely a system which embraced the passing of info between partners* in the production of a beast would be beneficial?
* All people in the production chain need to earn a shilling - we need to get away from the few who shift their problems onto the next keeper without a second thought.