Breeding additional store heifers is being considered on several farms this year.

With current cattle prices at record highs and and calf prices also reaching never-before-seen peaks, there may be a case for breeding additional heifers on some farms this year.

In light of the strong cattle trade, the initial instinct with many farmers will be to push forward with selling as many forward and fit cattle as possible, but some farmers are opting to 'take a punt' on the longer-term cattle market and breed some of their later 2024-born heifers.

All signals currently point to a reduced cattle herd in Ireland, across Europe and even the US for the foreseeable future.

The Irish cattle herd has fallen by 3.8% in the past year and if the trend of falling suckler and dairy cow numbers continues as well as the strong export numbers, this could fall further in the coming year.

In a time when many farmers are turning their backs on suckler farming due to factors including their age profile and time limitations, those farmers who are not restricted by these limitations may well have a profitable case to ramp up their breeding-cow numbers.

Better-type store cattle are making €5/kg (liveweight) and above in cases and well-bred calves are making over €1,000/head at calf sales the length and breadth of the country.

At Balla Mart, Co. Mayo, on Saturday, July 26, a Simmental-cross recipient cow with a Belgian Blue bull calf at foot bred off Corrandulla Princess (dam) and DouDou as the sire sold for €6,650.

While this is an exceptional example, the trend nationally is more and more farmers are moving away from breeding suckler-bred stock to buying-in cattle for drystock farming.

R-grade cows are being quoted at €7.20-€7.40/kg this week, a price farmers would have only dreamed possible for prime beef cattle this time last year, let alone for cows.

Assuming calf prices stayed at least at current levels and cull cow values remained steady, there could well be a case for breeding additional heifers this year.

This could reduce some of the need to buy in expensive replacement cattle later this year, and farms that recently exited suckler or dairy farming may still have the safety equipment and infrastructure for calving cows (calving gate, etc.).

There will be some limitations to this including cashflow restrictions.

While an in-calf heifer or a cow-calf pair is generally always a good seller, many farmers may need to sell stock sooner and may not be able to afford to wait until the cow has reared and weaned a calf to sell them.

Other limitations may include infrastructure and time. As well as this, a cow served today (Friday, August 1) will not be calving until the second week of May, which is late-on in the season.

Despite these limitations, there is surely some level of opportunity in breeding additional stock and while the risk is high, the reward may well be higher 12-15 months down the road with a good cow-calf pair or weanling to sell.