With the beginning of the 2021 calving season only weeks away, demand remains strong for quality dairy stock, with both heifers and aged cows highly sought after.
To obtain a bit of insight into the demand for dairy breeding stock, Agriland caught up with Bertie Troy of Grasstec.
He said: ”The strong demand continues to be driven by new entrants to the dairy sector, despite the uncertainty of Brexit and a possible no-deal.
”With many new entrants focusing on data to back up their purchases, sellers are seeing the advantage of having milk recording results available, while also being able to choose a mix of heifers and young cows.
“There has been a shift away from crossbred heifers, with many farmers choosing to select high economic breeding index (EBI) Friesians instead. This is mainly due to the bull calf issue which has been highlighted in recent years.”
Bertie outlined a few sample prices being achieved by dairy stock currently.
Sample prices of heifers:
- €1,400-1,550 – with milk recording data;
- €1,200-1,350 – without milk recording data.
Sample prices of aged cows:
- €1,450-1,500 – with milk recording data;
- €1,200 – without milk recording data.
The export market
In terms of the live export market, Bertie said that the demand from the UK remains strong.
He added: ”The live export market to the UK remains strong, as the Brexit deadline approaches, with the UK having a high demand for Irish dairy genetics.
“The UK is a net importer of dairy stock, due to the high number of ‘flying herd systems’ being operated.
”The question must then be asked were will the UK obtain its required replacement dairy heifers from and who will have to pay the tariff that may be placed on these live imports.
”Deal or no deal, the UK will require dairy replacement stock to sustain its current levels of production.”