Suckler systems I may have tipped myself over the edge

Stormy times

Member
Mixed Farmer
Suckler system in a small way 30 cows BBxhol. Bulled to the Charlie.
wanting to change the system we have for the cows. We calve in doors in March turn out in April weather dependant. And sell in the following feb onwards. Feel could maybe better the system / refine it.
ok her goes tin hat on.
ai them in middle nov in a block 4 weeks.
calve from aug outside.
instead of weaning them leave them on the cow for the winter.
turn out at spring grass on the cow sell from field may to end of June.
Am I bonkers in doing this I feel I can cut costs a little and have a easier system.
all ideas appreciated.
 

Bojangles

Member
Location
Scotland
Suckler system in a small way 30 cows BBxhol. Bulled to the Charlie.
wanting to change the system we have for the cows. We calve in doors in March turn out in April weather dependant. And sell in the following feb onwards. Feel could maybe better the system / refine it.
ok her goes tin hat on.
ai them in middle nov in a block 4 weeks.
calve from aug outside.
instead of weaning them leave them on the cow for the winter.
turn out at spring grass on the cow sell from field may to end of June.
Am I bonkers in doing this I feel I can cut costs a little and have a easier system.
all ideas appreciated.
Calf them second week July onwards sell calf’s straight off them first week June, creep them from end jan. keep cows working will keep calving ok. Put on bare ground as in really bare after weaning. Does depend on how bad flies are with you though
 
Few things I would watch. Summer mastitis is one. AI'ing cows inside is never as successful as when at grass. If you miss a few then they will run on into the winter months which then will bring scour etc.
 

Vader

Member
Mixed Farmer
Suckler system in a small way 30 cows BBxhol. Bulled to the Charlie.
wanting to change the system we have for the cows. We calve in doors in March turn out in April weather dependant. And sell in the following feb onwards. Feel could maybe better the system / refine it.
ok her goes tin hat on.
ai them in middle nov in a block 4 weeks.
calve from aug outside.
instead of weaning them leave them on the cow for the winter.
turn out at spring grass on the cow sell from field may to end of June.
Am I bonkers in doing this I feel I can cut costs a little and have a easier system.
all ideas appreciated.
We calf indoors nov to Jan.
So when turn out they big enough to get stuck into the spring grass.
Still suckling end August go stop fly trouble, wean off as come in and big enough to go as meaty stores.
 

Whitepeak

Member
Livestock Farmer
Suckler system in a small way 30 cows BBxhol. Bulled to the Charlie.
wanting to change the system we have for the cows. We calve in doors in March turn out in April weather dependant. And sell in the following feb onwards. Feel could maybe better the system / refine it.
ok her goes tin hat on.
ai them in middle nov in a block 4 weeks.
calve from aug outside.
instead of weaning them leave them on the cow for the winter.
turn out at spring grass on the cow sell from field may to end of June.
Am I bonkers in doing this I feel I can cut costs a little and have a easier system.
all ideas appreciated.
What is your indoor housing system? Straw yard, slats, cubicles? Are you currently weaning at housing or in Feb?
If on straw bulling inside will use more straw due to cows churning up the bedding.
 

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
I wonder how much you would save by selling calves in the autumn thereby saving feed and straw……the problem is the vast amounts of extra space, equipment and straw required for early calving.
 

Wolds Beef

Member
Stay as you are if it is successful but change to a native sire for ease of calving. Try a Lincoln Red Bull. Your Landlords the NT will be chuffed if you do that. Lincoln's are also docile, and therefore easy to handle and finish well on any system.
WB
 

Agrivator

Member
Promoting native breeds (which have been contaminated by overseas breeds anyway) means that you are discriminating against continental breeds (which have been here since the 1960s) and it should be regarded as racial discrimination, if not a hate crime.

I think I'll bring it to the attention of BBC Newsnight.

And for some silly reason, the Sycamore, which has been here for thousands of years, is still not regarded as native.
 

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
Why change, calving early spring and on to good grass when the cows need it has got to be the most econimical way of converting grass into beef.

You have the cows under your eye at calving which is much easier than trying to spot a difficult job out in the field when the cows are so fat from all that spring grass..

I wean in February from April calving, stops the cows getting too fat, makes the calves grow a bit more and get less set back.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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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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