Sourcing calves that are good value for money is essential when beef farmers are buying calves bred from dairy herds for beef production, farmers tuning into a recent Teagasc webinar were told.
The webinar took place on Tuesday, February 6, as part of a series being hosted by Teagasc Mayo.
The focus topics of the webinar were spring management of dairy calf to beef animals, which herd from Teagasc’s Tommy Cox, while Alan Nolan provided an update on Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) and other suckler-related topics.
Commenting on some of the key aspects farmers want when buying dairy calves for beef production, Tommy Cox included value for money in the list.
He said: “Value for money is hugely important. If you pay over the odds day one when you purchase a calf, the profit will be eroded eventually when you sell that animal.
“Paying over the odds on day one, you’re continuously trying to chase that profit, so if you give too much [money] the first day, you will make less of a profit when you do finish or sell the animal.”
The webinar gave no indication on guide prices for farmers buying calves this spring.
He also suggested that farmers should source older calves where possible. Commenting on the age a calf should be at purchase, the Teagasc advisor said: “We would be advocating the calf is at least three-weeks-of-age or greater.
He noted that at that stage, the calf is over some of the diseases the younger calves are more prone to and added: “Generally at that stage, the cost of the rearing is diluted as well”.
He emphasised that farmers should also focus on buying a calf that will finish as a mature beef animal and “won’t disappoint at slaughter”.
He said: “A farmer gets paid for carcass weight, so the higher kilos of carcass you can achieve at slaughter will mean the higher value cheque you can have home for that animal.”
He also explained the benefits of using the Commercial Beef Value (CBV) when buying calves for beef production, and added that “the genetics of the calf is a big area we’re really looking into in the last couple of years”.