Tips for a new suckler herd

[Moss192]

Hi all, new member here. I’ve been rearing 300 head a year from calves and selling as well grown stores and have a good established customer base, have been going around 15 years this way but the price of rearing keeps going up, and the healthy demand for strong suckled stores has finally tempted me.

Had a chance on a beef building on a neighbors farm and decided a good chance to start a suckler herd. Something I’ve always wanted to do.
Will be starting with 20 Limx Holstein heifers and will put to an Angus bull first then as numbers grow will AI to a lim or blue (plan to try both) and sweep with my Angus bull.
after any tips, tricks, advice, hopefully not too many of you will tell me I’m mad
Thanks

 

[Hampton]

Blood test for johnes and BVD

 

[Limcrazy]

If you use limxholstein heifers crossed to angus your stores won't be much better than what you're already selling so why bother complicating things.
I'd buy something better to start of with.

 

[egbert]

'chance on a beef building on a neighbors farm' ....is this meaning you're intending to winter house sucklers?
That alone would almost certainly condemn the project to a loss maker I'm afeart.

You're a 'mixed farmer', suggesting some arable?
Cool, getting cow poop into the system is always a good thing.

I would be aiming at a closed self replacing herd....so instead of an AA bull, use a South Devon.
Keep female progeny, and continue until you've got lovely quiet orange cows in your life.

 

[Optimus]

'chance on a beef building on a neighbors farm' ....is this meaning you're intending to winter house sucklers?
That alone would almost certainly condemn the project to a loss maker I'm afeart.

You're a 'mixed farmer', suggesting some arable?
Cool, getting cow poop into the system is always a good thing.

I would be aiming at a closed self replacing herd....so instead of an AA bull, use a South Devon.
Keep female progeny, and continue until you've got lovely quiet orange cows in your life.

Why would he lose money by housing suckler cows over winter? Does that mean everybody who houses them loses money?

 

[Beames]

Put a lim bull on the limx heifers. Mate of mine does it then sells as cow and calf at foot. He Topped the market in Hereford this week with a pair. More money in that than keeping suckler cows. I know as I keep sucklers!!!!!!

 

[twizzel]

Herd health is incredibly important. BVD, johnes, lepto, IBR will all cause havoc if you have them in the herd.

 

[egbert]

Why would he lose money by housing suckler cows over winter? Does that mean everybody who houses them loses money?

Er.....National stats indicate pretty much all of us lose money keeping sucklers.
Good for you if your system works*, but that's the reality.

* do share!

 

[farmgineer]

Lim x Friesian would be better, in my experience they are more hardy than the Holstein cross. If your double suckling they still work, if your singles the Holstein produces too much milk and mastitis is a pain because the calf never clears out properly like a milking machine.

I personally think that suckled beef is the only venture you can make reliable money from in farming. But the payback isn't as great as in the other areas that allow a boom/bust gambling approach. You have to be along the dog and stick sort of approach. We have 20 sucklers with followers, running around 50 head total on 60 acres. We still buy feed and straw in but are working on not doing so.

Check out the holistic farming thread on TFF set up by @Kiwi Pete and I would recommend the 2 books by Allan Savory which have a good section on predicting your costing and return. Also check out this You Tube ted talk which inspired me when I was trying to work out how to survive post BPS (

).

All the best

 

[Optimus]

Er.....National stats indicate pretty much all of us lose money keeping sucklers.
Good for you if your system works*, but that's the reality.

* do share!

Why do you keep them then if your losing money?

No much different to other folk. Just don't go presuming everyone loses money.and don't believe all the stats you read.

 

[BrianV]

Why would he lose money by housing suckler cows over winter? Does that mean everybody who houses them loses money?

If you have to buy straw for winter housing then don’t even think about it as you will lose money.

 

[Oliveau]

Avoid the Holstein x like the plague. Perhaps you can find a local supply of calves from someone who still has some nice big “old fashioned” Friesians, which can be reared up to provide the basis of your herd.
If I was starting again I’d be looking at producing SD x Angus.

 

[Moss192]

Herd health is incredibly important. BVD, johnes, lepto, IBR will all cause havoc if you have them in the herd.

Thanks, already screened and passed

 

[Moss192]

A bit more farm background, we have our own arable, and selling surplus straw so well covered on that front. Surprised to hear a few saying to avoid the Holstein cross, the heifers and steers from this herd regularly grade at U&R and produce a 400kg carcass at 24 months old, to my mind nothing wrong with that.
The Angus is just to be used as a sweeper and to get the first calves out of heifers. Being inexperienced in calving I need so thing relatively easy. Once they’ve had a calf in the first year I’ll be Ai’ing to a quality Lim or BB bull and sweeping with the Angus.

 

[BrianV]

A bit more farm background, we have our own arable, and selling surplus straw so well covered on that front. Surprised to hear a few saying to avoid the Holstein cross, the heifers and steers from this herd regularly grade at U&R and produce a 400kg carcass at 24 months old, to my mind nothing wrong with that.
The Angus is just to be used as a sweeper and to get the first calves out of heifers. Being inexperienced in calving I need so thing relatively easy. Once they’ve had a calf in the first year I’ll be Ai’ing to a quality Lim or BB bull and sweeping with the Angus.

We run 140 sucklers, 40 belted galloway &100 limousines & to be honest if you counted the man hours, time, stress & costs involved if I had the opportunity of arable or sucklers I would stick with the arable no question, you will have a far easier life.

 

[JP1]

Why do you keep them then if your losing money?

No much different to other folk. Just don't go presuming everyone loses money.and don't believe all the stats you read.

Look at the ground, the terrain, the rainfall, the geology - what's the alternative?

 

[Moss192]

We run 140 sucklers, 40 belted galloway &100 limousines & to be honest if you counted the man hours, time, stress & costs involved if I had the opportunity of arable or sucklers I would stick with the arable no question, you will have a far easier life.

Would like to keep the thread on topic if possible, I love keeping cattle, I’ve built the dry herd from 70 to 300 and enjoy it so much, so I’ve got to try this while I’m still young and fit!
There’s no free meals in arable farming, lack of grant support for production based systems, market volatility, and equipment costs make it an enormous roll of the dice every year. Our arable would be toast by now if I couldn’t feed 60-80% of what we grow to the cattle.
The only way you’d have an easier life crop farming vs livestock at the moment is far less manual work.

 

[JP1]

Would like to keep the thread on topic if possible, I love keeping cattle, I’ve built the dry herd from 70 to 300 and enjoy it so much, so I’ve got to try this while I’m still young and fit!
There’s no free meals in arable farming, lack of grant support for production based systems, market volatility, and equipment costs make it an enormous roll of the dice every year. Our arable would be toast by now if I couldn’t feed 60-80% of what we grow to the cattle.
The only way you’d have an easier life crop farming vs livestock at the moment is far less manual work.

As said by others, compared with buying in stores / calves, concentrate on knowing your herd health and maintaining it. Routine testing , test and quarantine any incoming cattle especially bulls

And have simple but adequate and effective handling systems ; that might include a squeeze crush with open access for latching a calf on and some simple pen arrangements so you can tag a calf safely if needs be

 

[BrianV]

Would like to keep the thread on topic if possible, I love keeping cattle, I’ve built the dry herd from 70 to 300 and enjoy it so much, so I’ve got to try this while I’m still young and fit!
There’s no free meals in arable farming, lack of grant support for production based systems, market volatility, and equipment costs make it an enormous roll of the dice every year. Our arable would be toast by now if I couldn’t feed 60-80% of what we grow to the cattle.
The only way you’d have an easier life crop farming vs livestock at the moment is far less manual work.

Not sure where you are based but another consideration might be TB, nothing more soul destroying than suckler cows going down with TB & you unable to purchase replacements.

 

[shields kaiser]

The number 1 trait in a profitable Suckler enterprise is fertility - Not knowing your situation is a stab in the dark, but I wouldnt be choosing Lim X Holsteins as the base cow.
Research the herds that are in the top brackets for calves reared for cows to Bull. I'd also be keeping an eye on Cow mature weight, as you potentially have a higher stocking density on the same land with lighter cows, but should also cost less to keep.