The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has made available data on the average prices paid for calves based on breed, age and Commercial Beef Value (CBV) in the first week of April.
The organisation has also said it hopes to have the screen (see below) live on its website from next week onwards, which will show farmers the latest information on calf prices based on breed, age and CBV.
The figures from Monday, April 1, to Sunday, April 7, show the calves being sold at marts with higher CBVs are making more money, with the most notable difference seen in the prices being paid for the higher CBV continental calves.
The information will be updated on a weekly basis and the screen below will be made available to farmers in a format similar to the table below:
As can be seen from the table above, calves sold under 21 days bred of continental bulls have a difference of €142/calf between the average price of the bottom third of CBV calves and the top third of CBV calves.
The top third of continental calves sold under 21-days-of-age in the first week of April had a CBV of €175.
The same specification of calves sired by traditional breed bulls had a CBV of €113 and the top third of dairy-sired calves had a CBV of €23.
While the CBV will differentiate calves of higher genetic beef potential from calves with lower genetic beef potential, as farmers in the calf to beef business will know already, if the price paid for the calf is too high, the profit margins will be eroded.
Many farmers will make the point that a male Friesian calf to beef system is their preferential system because the calf price is often much lower and while this may well be the case, the CBV can still be used as a guidance for this calf to beef farmer as it will determine the calves that have the genetic potential to deliver better beef carcasses.
The use of the CBV will likely take some time for farmers to fully embrace but if it is to be beneficial to both dairy and beef farmers, a high usage of the CBV from calf to beef farmers is essential.
The CBV will benefit dairy farmers in that they will be rewarded for producing higher genetic merit beef calves and it will benefit calf to beef farmers in that it will improve the genetic beef merit of the annual calf crop from the dairy herd destined for beef production.
A key aspect of dairy sustainability in Ireland is ensuring a strong market for beef calves into the future and a key aspect of ensuring a strong beef calf market is ensuring the calf quality is improving and calves have the potential to go on to produce an ‘in-spec’ carcass when slaughtered as beef animals.