Calves: Similar to 2020 early calf sales have started off with some very high prices being given for dairy-beef calves this week. While early calves are obviously going to attract a premium, be careful around the price you pay. I’ve seen 16-day-old Aberdeen Angus and Hereford calves hit €300 on a regular basis over the last seven to 10 days.

I don’t want to talk down the trade but there is a slim chance of making any margin at these prices. Within an efficient dairy-beef system there are two key variables which will have the largest impact on profitability. You are in full control of what you pay for calves, while there is very little control on where beef price will be in 2023 when these calves will be slaughtered. Every year there seems to be more and more interest among farmers switching to dairy-calf-to-beef systems or at least dipping their toe in the water.

Margins need to be looked at closely. While dairy calves are cheap to get into, they can be expensive to bring to finish and costs could add up to between €800 and €1,000 depending on the system. If you purchase 20 calves at €150, that’s €3,000. To get these calves through to finish will take an extra €16,000 to €20,000. In this week’s calf focus, Declan Marren outlines the Thrive dairy-beef budgets on pages 52 and 53. It’s important you draw up a rough cashflow budget to see where the pressure points will be. Margins are tight and efficiency levels need to be high, including achieving a long grazing season to minimise costs.

Do the sums before purchase and see what you can afford to pay for a calf. Don’t think that just because a calf can be purchased for €80, it will leave money. Do some homework on the farmer you are purchasing the calves from and make sure enough colostrum has been fed. If you can, buy in batches. Buying ones and twos here and there is a recipe for a disease outbreak on your farm. All beef sires now have a dairy-beef index (DBI) and ideally you would know the DBI of the sire of the calves.

Autumn-calving cow scanning: Cull cows continue to be a good trade in marts, with very good northern demand for top-quality cows. Top-quality well-fleshed continental cows are making €2 and over it in many cases. These prices are in excess of what cows are worth to farmers, with small numbers going to factories.

Farmers should seize the opportunity if they have cull cows to sell. Scanning should be carried out as soon as possible to determine any empty cows in autumn herds. Keeping empty cows to lie idle for 12 months will increase costs.

A better option would be to wean early and offload. August calves could be targeted for early turnout if weaned in advance.

Beef page clarification: In my article on page 31 of last week’s edition a error was made on the table outlining the members of the Beef Market Taskforce. The table should have included Joe Ryan as a participant in the Beef Market Taskforce and not Joe Healy.