Beef plan

no grain for the calves I rear myself. Was a few bob in them, but not so sure this year at €3.50. My Mortality is way too high and it only causes issues from day 120 onwards for some unknown reason. lost 4% of them again a few weeks ago with respiratory infection even though vaccinated, in isolated land block. too much work and getting too much of a hole kicking from sick calves. cost 230 this year, would have to be back to 150 next year to make me consider them. Too many good calves pumped on whole milk turn into bad calves later in life, too hit and miss, breeding is way off the mark
Agreed, bought AA calves last year, but had way too much hassle dealing with sick calves (pneumonia). The price of the calf is way too high for all the work/cost involved in rearing them. Unless the price comes down I wont be doing it again. Will try and buy weanlings or maybe year and a half Friesians instead at the back end of the year.
 
So for a 2 week shut down, what has been achieved. All the talk is for bits and pieces of mickey mouse stuff. IMO the average price of beef wont change a cent. If some lad makes a few quid more for easing of specs, base price will be dropped a few cents to cater for it. Most guys will have lost 3 weeks kill either protesting or not passing the pickets and I didnt think Beefplan would throw in the towel so easy, so very few cattle killed this week as most taught they would be back protesting. price back 10c - 15c in those 3 weeks (dont know next weeks price yet?). the protest would want to deliver allot to cover, not moving downwards with a market.
 
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Price has stopped falling has it not. I don't know.

Extra cattle being killed this week.
 
So for a 2 week shut down, what has been achieved. All the talk is for bit and pieces of mickey mouse stuff. IMO the average price of beef would change a cent. If some lad makes a few quid more for easing of specs, base price will be dropped a few cents to cater for it. Most guys will have lost 3 weeks kill either protesting or not passing the pickets and I didnt think Beefplan would throw in the towel so easy, so very few cattle killed this week as most taught they would be back protesting. price back 10c - 15c in those 3 weeks (dont know next weeks price yet?). the protest would want to deliver allot to cover, not moving downwards with a market.
So for a 2 week shut down, what has been achieved. All the talk is for bit and pieces of mickey mouse stuff. IMO the average price of beef would change a cent. If some lad makes a few quid more for easing of specs, base price will be dropped a few cents to cater for it. Most guys will have lost 3 weeks kill either protesting or not passing the pickets and I didnt think Beefplan would throw in the towel so easy, so very few cattle killed this week as most taught they would be back protesting. price back 10c - 15c in those 3 weeks (dont know next weeks price yet?). the protest would want to deliver allot to cover, not moving downwards with a market.

Would your price be set or just a certain amount Above the ordinary farmer.
 
Would your price be set or just a certain amount Above the ordinary farmer.
I wish, but usually just block sell a certain number. Couple of cents extra will buy most of the cattle in the country irrespective of numbers. I need to be getting about 10c extra to pass my local factory, 6c for haulage and 4c weightloss/ball ache/waiting for a cheque. Factories know this only too well.

Most lads that broke their balls, buying and finishing cattle went broke. Most are in such a rush to get money, bargaining a price doesnt even come into it. Think this says enough. I would think most that killed over the weeks of the protest did so in need of cash

Lots of diseconomies of scale with larger farms, and it's never talked about. Stupid mantra of bigger is better, it most certainly isn't in farming.
 
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My issue with that is we would be doing that based on outside interest and regulation, and you still have to sell through factories and supermarkets, so the main problem remains, they will source the beef from elsewhere(new South American supply) if they have to maintain supply.
The problem is control and farmers have absolutely zero control right now.
We need our own processing and our own shop. And we shouldn't be looking at the government as something that restricts us but challenging them to make it easier for us.
Are you suggesting a farmer-owned co-operative to process the commodity and distribute it nationally and internationally under a single brand-name, thus allowing farmers set the price of the end product for the consumer at a level that guarantees a satisfactory farm gate income from the raw materials? How's that going for the dairy industry?
 
Are you suggesting a farmer-owned co-operative to process the commodity and distribute it nationally and internationally under a single brand-name, thus allowing farmers set the price of the end product for the consumer at a level that guarantees a satisfactory farm gate income from the raw materials? How's that going for the dairy industry?
Great if you were from west cork
 
Are you suggesting a farmer-owned co-operative to process the commodity and distribute it nationally and internationally under a single brand-name, thus allowing farmers set the price of the end product for the consumer at a level that guarantees a satisfactory farm gate income from the raw materials? How's that going for the dairy industry?
Judging by the number of farmers pouring into the industry it would appear that it has served them pretty well
 
Are you suggesting a farmer-owned co-operative to process the commodity and distribute it nationally and internationally under a single brand-name, thus allowing farmers set the price of the end product for the consumer at a level that guarantees a satisfactory farm gate income from the raw materials? How's that going for the dairy industry?
The idea would be to set it up as non profit. No shares offered, no paid board. No ownership of the shop per say.
Also the dairy industry do not have their own shop so it's not quite the same, plus they are incentivsing producing more for less, we'd cap all food production by only allowing using Irish grain for cattle feed initially. This could be tweaked if there were poor harvests or increased demand past what is possible to meet with Irish grain.
 
Judging by the number of farmers pouring into the industry it would appear that it has served them pretty well

It will go the same as beef, overdone with money at the top and the crumbs for the farmers. It's the latest craze at the moment.
 
Imo it would give us total control back.
It would reduce our susceptibility to world trade prices as much less is exported. It would help beef sheep and dairy, it would vastly increase the value of tillage.
 
The idea would be to set it up as non profit. No shares offered, no paid board. No ownership of the shop per say.
Also the dairy industry do not have their own shop so it's not quite the same, plus they are incentivsing producing more for less, we'd cap all food production by only allowing using Irish grain for cattle feed initially. This could be tweaked if there were poor harvests or increased demand past what is possible to meet with Irish grain.
Ah I misunderstood. You want a chain of retail outlets all over Europe, or indeed the world, operating as a charity, that only sells one product. Interesting business model.
 
A not-for-profit supermarket chain owned by Irish beef farmers, that will sell the same thing as every other supermarket chain, but be more expensive?
Why would we be more expensive? We'll sell for the same as everyone else except we won't be taking profit out for share holders or give CEOs millions to buy yachts or make a millionaire from every private owner that slaps a brand on their building and sells food from it.
 
You're losing me. If there are no shareholders who does the profit go to? Who would fund the multi-billion euro start-up costs, and would they not want to see a return on their investments, A.K.A a bottom line profit?
 
Also you are the one saying it's only beef farmers, this would not be for just beef farmers but for every farmer and if there are farmers out there with their own cheeses vegetables baked goods etc etc. Irish people making Irish things from Irish ingredients where possible.
 
You're losing me. If there are no shareholders who does the profit go to? Who would fund the multi-billion euro start-up costs, and would they not want to see a return on their investments, A.K.A a bottom line profit?
There would be a sale price, there would be a cost against processing and selling, that gets deducted from sale price and voila the farmer gets the rest.
Initial set up would be difficult, only way would be to ask farmers themselves to invest but it would really have to be more like a loan rather than shares, paid back maybe over 10 years with interest. Obviously though those farmers would have access to the processing and shop for what they produce which could be a good enough incentive.
 
There would be a sale price, there would be a cost against processing and selling, that gets deducted from sale price and voila the farmer gets the rest.
Initial set up would be difficult, only way would be to ask farmers themselves to invest but it would really have to be more like a loan rather than shares, paid back maybe over 10 years with interest. Obviously though those farmers would have access to the processing and shop for what they produce which could be a good enough incentive.
Bear with me, I'm struggling to get my head around it all. If this supermarket chain sells only products produced by Irish farmers, at the same price as all the other supermarkets, why would any customers darken the door considering they'll have a hell of a lot more choice in SuperValu across the road and won't even have access to everyday run-of-the-mill items like tea, coffee, oranges, bananas? What happens if the cost of processing and selling leaves a smaller margin for the the farmer than the one he's getting from the mainstream system? If no profit is being generated where does the money come from to pay the interest on the initial loans?
 
Bear with me, I'm struggling to get my head around it all. If this supermarket chain sells only products produced by Irish farmers, at the same price as all the other supermarkets, why would any customers darken the door considering they'll have a hell of a lot more choice in SuperValu across the road and won't even have access to everyday run-of-the-mill items like tea, coffee, oranges, bananas? What happens if the cost of processing and selling leaves a smaller margin for the the farmer than the one he's getting from the mainstream system? If no profit is being generated where does the money come from to pay the interest on the initial loans?
I said Irish produce where possible.
Well I'd say it's worth a look into actual costs then of processing and retailing. If there was no extra then we are in as good of a position as possible and have no reason to complain. Obviously that would also imply that retailers and processors are losing money, or that we couldn't operate as cheaply.
You're last point is a good one. Technically there is no profit and they would be entitled to maximum returns, so how can we reimburse them, I guess after the initial cash injection from the start up farmers the only way to pay them back would be a membership fee for future entrants.
 
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