The boat has steadied but there is no improvement. Beef prices remain stubborn this week on 370-375 cents per kilo.
We all must keep a thought in mind for the tillage grower who is in very stormy waters at present. The green barley trade is being talked down to €125 which in beef terms, I reckon is equivalent to 310-320 cent per kilo for prime in-spec stock.
Both the beef and tillage man have to be grateful for each other. The way that things are going so poorly, we are propping each other up. Low grain prices mean a ration high in energy is bought at a low cost and beef farmers are big customers for straw, so that should help keep a floor in the market.
But is it time that we started to investigate a great deal closer how much energy we are getting into the diet? There is very little left that can’t be measured in some form. I find in my finishing system, energy is the driver of profitability.
It’s quite simple; the quicker I can finish animals the less meal I have to feed, the less time it takes to feed it and the less cost there is of running from one block of land to another.
This is a policy that we started to implement probably three years ago. We operate a store to finish system with all animals killed under 30 months. In the past we fed all animals right up to 30 months. This meant we were feeding large numbers on grass all through September. Now from August onwards we start to pick animals that have the correct fat score and are “fit” in-spec for the factory and group bonus.
This has seen a huge reduction in the meal bill. Over the last four years we have cut the amount of meal fed by 20 tonne which, on the average family farm, is a significant reduction. However, we didn’t get to this place overnight.
There are a number of factors which are crucial to this success:
Early turn out to quality grass. On the last day of March everything is out on grass unless a weather event that is completely out of our control occurs. The grazing block is all shut up by the last day of September. This means we have large volumes of grass available. We have a paddock system in place so cattle are moved to fresh grass at least once a week. All cattle are on meal from last week of July at a rate of 2 kg per head per day. I have stuck with the 80:20 Barley, Soya hulls mix as I am happy with the performance so far.I took in-depth soil analysis last week and the trace element part of the results show all my trace elements are within the desired parameters, copper is marginally low but not at a stage that I would need to supplement. Also my zinc was exceptionally low so that’s something that might need further investigation.
The boat has steadied but there is no improvement. Beef prices remain stubborn this week on 370-375 cents per kilo.
We all must keep a thought in mind for the tillage grower who is in very stormy waters at present. The green barley trade is being talked down to €125 which in beef terms, I reckon is equivalent to 310-320 cent per kilo for prime in-spec stock.
Both the beef and tillage man have to be grateful for each other. The way that things are going so poorly, we are propping each other up. Low grain prices mean a ration high in energy is bought at a low cost and beef farmers are big customers for straw, so that should help keep a floor in the market.
But is it time that we started to investigate a great deal closer how much energy we are getting into the diet? There is very little left that can’t be measured in some form. I find in my finishing system, energy is the driver of profitability.
It’s quite simple; the quicker I can finish animals the less meal I have to feed, the less time it takes to feed it and the less cost there is of running from one block of land to another.
This is a policy that we started to implement probably three years ago. We operate a store to finish system with all animals killed under 30 months. In the past we fed all animals right up to 30 months. This meant we were feeding large numbers on grass all through September. Now from August onwards we start to pick animals that have the correct fat score and are “fit” in-spec for the factory and group bonus.
This has seen a huge reduction in the meal bill. Over the last four years we have cut the amount of meal fed by 20 tonne which, on the average family farm, is a significant reduction. However, we didn’t get to this place overnight.
There are a number of factors which are crucial to this success:
Early turn out to quality grass. On the last day of March everything is out on grass unless a weather event that is completely out of our control occurs. The grazing block is all shut up by the last day of September. This means we have large volumes of grass available. We have a paddock system in place so cattle are moved to fresh grass at least once a week. All cattle are on meal from last week of July at a rate of 2 kg per head per day. I have stuck with the 80:20 Barley, Soya hulls mix as I am happy with the performance so far.I took in-depth soil analysis last week and the trace element part of the results show all my trace elements are within the desired parameters, copper is marginally low but not at a stage that I would need to supplement. Also my zinc was exceptionally low so that’s something that might need further investigation.
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