This week, Agriland was informed of a number of examples where farmers purchased calves at average prices of €7/head, and less in some instances.
Agriland was also informed of examples this week where farmers sourced calves with payment going the way of the buyer, rather than the seller.
Not to be entirely negative, it is important to highlight that the quality calf is currently meeting an exceptional trade and it is not unusual to see a top-quality continental-cross calf making a price of over €400/head, and top-quality dairy bull calves making €150/head and more in cases.
While these top-priced calves are generally the ones that make the headlines, it cannot be ignored that many calves are currently being traded at prices of €10/head or less.
In fact, at calf sales the length and breadth of the country it was clear to see that some calves were struggling to get a bid of €5, with a few leaving the ring without a bid.
The trade for these low-priced calves is generally underpinned by calf exporters but calf export activity has been slow to kick off this spring due to choppy sea conditions.
While these low-priced calves may be sightly smaller and offer lower genetic beef potential than their higher-priced counterparts, once they have received adequate colostrum at birth and they appear healthy, at the prices they are currently trading at, you would have to ask: ‘How could you go wrong?’
While spring calving is currently in full swing, so too is lambing on many farms across the country and with lambing season, comes a supply of pet lambs on the market.
Talking to farmers who sell surplus pet lambs, it is unusual to hear of a pet lamb being traded at anything less than €20-25/head, with some making more in cases.
Assuming a Friesian bull calf was purchased at a price of €5, that would mean a farmer could have five calves for the same price as a pet lamb sold at €25.
Many farmers may make the point that the cost of rearing the calf in the first year is quite expensive, and it is a fair point, but surely there is scope for significant value for calf buyers in the current calf market?