Businesses put a huge emphasis on attracting customers and marketing their goods and a suckler farm should be no different. Ask yourself: “What should I be doing between now and sale time to ensure that I achieve the best price?”

First two points on check-list

The first two points on your check-list should be completed well in advance of sale – stress-free weaning and any health treatments.

These have been covered in detail in previous weeks, but it is important that the sale date does not come around too quickly after weaning or treatments such as vaccination or dosing.

In an ideal world, there should be at least 10-14 days between weaning and sale

No matter how hard we try, there will be some stress at weaning for the calf.

Thrive will be depressed to some degree, depending on how well we manage the process.

The last thing we should be doing is adding to this stress with a journey to the mart. Allow calves to get over weaning and get back to growing before handling them again.

Thriving animals

Thriving animals will be brighter and carry a better coat.

Would you give top dollar for a weanling that is highly strung, has a grubby coat, has mucous candlesticks hanging from its nose, or laboured breathing? All of these are symptoms of an immunosuppressed, stressed animal that has not been growing.

Care with dosing

Although intentions might be good, care should be taken around dosing pre-sale. Clear doses (avermectin) will bring on an intensive worm kill straightaway.

While this sounds ideal, our animal has to cough up all of these dead worms and this in itself is a stressor. Coughing post-dosing with such products can last for a week or more.

Combine this with another stressor like a cold wet day, an animal in heat or a trip to the mart and we are at risk of further problems. Not to mention the obvious influence that a coughing animal in the mart lairage will have on buyers. If you are going to dose your calves and you feel that there is a worm burden (you have seen coughing/dirty backsides or encountered pneumonia), use a white drench (levamisole) instead. It will lead to a gentler kill.

I once heard a remark about a group of calves that were ‘gradually weaned’ because the lorry driver drove out the gate in first gear. Funny at the time, but do you think this customer came back looking for more the next year? I doubt it.

Ideally, with any kind of dose, give animals a fortnight before sale to get over potential setbacks. The same can be said for vaccination – allow at least one week before going to the mart and remember many vaccines require two shots, with four to six weeks in between.

When readying our animals for sale, these are the two most important steps. We hear lots of complaints about the weanling producer not being able to achieve a margin out of the prices the live buyer is paying. Often, this live buyer is doing the sums based on past experience of modest average growth rate and end point.

Reputation

A calf that flatlines or goes backwards from a growth point of view for a fortnight after arriving on the buyer’s farm will do nothing for his average growth figure.

Reputation is key in the beef game. Farmers talk. While the mart has obvious benefits, many prefer to buy direct and pay a premium when they know what they’re getting.

I once heard a remark about a group of calves that were ‘gradually weaned’ because the lorry driver drove out the gate in first gear. Funny at the time, but do you think this customer came back looking for more the next year? I doubt it.

OK, our calves have been properly weaned, got all of their vaccinations and are parasite-free.

What's next?

What’s next? Whether we’re selling in a mart or privately, let people know as much as you can regarding your animals.

It might be on the day of sale standing beside their pen in the lairage, or it might be earlier. Social media is great for free advertising.

There are a number of agricultural discussion groups on Facebook and, while they sometimes forbid advertising, I would argue that things like this are exactly what they should be used for – farmers helping farmers. Twitter is an excellent medium too, with a growing agri-population.

Post pictures with answers to the following questions. What is the parentage? What are the weights and growth rates?

How many doses have they received? What vaccinations have they gotten? How long are they weaned and are they on creep feed?

Replacement index values for heifers? And, of course, what mart they’re going to if private selling is not the preferred route. Not into social media? For a couple of euro, post on popular trading sites such as toplink.ie.

Even if you are intent on going to the mart, advertise and let people know you’re selling and have a premium product.

Clean calves

While we lost the pre-weaning creep feeding debate a few weeks ago (62% for creep feeding, 38% against), a couple of kilos of a simple energy mix to calves going for sale is a no-brainer. Not discounting the kick in growth rate, it will put a shine on to animals and help to settle them.

Selling calves in groups is always a good idea and the more uniform we can make these groups, the better.

Animals should be in groups of their respective genders at this point. Next, look at the rough weight and quality spread and consider grouping accordingly. Splitting bigger bulls away from smaller ones helps minimise bullying as they grow boisterous.

Uniformity is something the Irish suckler herd largely lacks and a group of weanlings like peas in a pod will attract interest from all buyers, especially those with a big shopping list and financial clout.

Cleanliness is a simple attribute that we often dismiss.

Think of the importance of first impressions. If our calves are indoors at this point, they should be on straw, and this straw should be constantly changed. If they are outdoors on lush grass, they may have dirty backsides by default, given the dropping dry matter and high digestibility in grass.

It might be no harm to bring these cattle in for the days prior to sale and feed some decent roughage along with top-class silage and meals of course. It will take a stressor – rounding up and loading – away on the day of sale too and make our lives that bit easier. House in the most open, airy shed possible, don’t house animals wet, have enough straw that you can kneel and rise again with dry trousers and have clean water available at all times.

Avoid the temptation to dose or vaccinate on the day of housing – wait at least two days. If the equipment is available, a shaved back will help animals to avoid getting over-hot in the shed and show a prospective buyer that you have put effort into your animals. Run a four inch-wide strip from the tail head to the front shoulder.

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