The grazing season

What's the penalty over 420kg?
Do you get paid up to 420kg and a reduction on the extra kg above that?
You loose the 12c and something off the base price as well:tdown:. I think you'd be down to 3.54 or something like that. I didn't kill any over the limit yet so I'm not fully sure. You don't get paid up to the 420, the cut in price is on the full carcass weight.
 
There is little point in talking about feeding meal in June, in the end of September, or talking about the factories knowing when cattle are turning 30months.
Spring 14 calves are 30months about now, prices were always going to drop, the only difference the weather is making is cattle did not thrive as well this summer.
Beef price falls every autumn, followed by a drop in store cattle.
Farmers know this and yet many do the same thing year and year out, expecting a different result.
Of all years this summer was the one to be feeding meal. We feed meal to cattle every year and it pays without question every year.

Well said. I don't see any point either in storing cattle over if they are reasonably fit or will be in a month or two. All the indications are that there are more stores in the country than ever before especially 2015 stores so no doubt there could be a glut on the market early next year. Stock over 30 months are not as marketable and factories could easily be very picky.

You loose the 12c and something off the base price as well:tdown:. I think you'd be down to 3.54 or something like that. I didn't kill any over the limit yet so I'm not fully sure. You don't get paid up to the 420, the cut in price is on the full carcass weight.

Well the Bord Bia bonus has no weight limits on it only fat and grades so that must be a local factory thing.
 
There is little point in talking about feeding meal in June, in the end of September, or talking about the factories knowing when cattle are turning 30months.
Spring 14 calves are 30months about now, prices were always going to drop, the only difference the weather is making is cattle did not thrive as well this summer.
Beef price falls every autumn, followed by a drop in store cattle.
Farmers know this and yet many do the same thing year and year out, expecting a different result.
Of all years this summer was the one to be feeding meal. We feed meal to cattle every year and it pays without question every year.
its funny, im starting to question meal feeding at grass and was going to start a thread on it, and its coming from someone that used to feed seriously hard on grass, if grass quality is kept high im seeing less and less of a need for grain
 
its funny, im starting to question meal feeding at grass and was going to start a thread on it, and its coming from someone that used to feed seriously hard on grass, if grass quality is kept high im seeing less and less of a need for grain

I've been achieving on par if not above par live daily weight gains with calves on grass only than calves with grass and meal. Now the grass has to be spot on and allocated in no more than 3 day allocations. I know it's a bit different than what ye guys are talking about but the principals are the same.
 
I've been achieving on par if not above par live daily weight gains with calves on grass only than calves with grass and meal. Now the grass has to be spot on and allocated in no more than 3 day allocations. I know it's a bit different than what ye guys are talking about but the principals are the same.
I would think the same, from observing cattle, the amount of standing around waiting for their daily feed cattle do is unreal, grass utilisation also especially in poor weather around where cattle are feeding and waiting is a major %
 
I would think the same, from observing cattle, the amount of standing around waiting for their daily feed cattle do is unreal, grass utilisation also especially in poor weather around where cattle are feeding and waiting is a major %
Plenty grazing grass still in north wales
 
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moved cattle today. Starting the next round of grazing, surprisingly more grass in it than I was expecting. Just under a month since it was grazed bare and I mean bare.
 

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So anyway things are after changing a bit here since my last post here. Last week I sold on all my bigger heifers to a lad whos going to bull them for sucklers. Normally I would finish them all for beef but with the way factory prices are atm I decided to quit when I was ahead and sold them all out of the field. I bought back in a bunch of younger cattle in their place. Theres not as much demand for grass for the smaller cattle now so the rotation is around 35 days now. Its amazing how making a few small changes can make such a big difference at the end of the year.
Adding in more agitating points in the slatted tank allowed me to agitate the slurry faster and I had better access to it so I was more inclined to spread the slurry little and often and made better use of it and grew more grass.
 
So anyway things are after changing a bit here since my last post here. Last week I sold on all my bigger heifers to a lad whos going to bull them for sucklers. Normally I would finish them all for beef but with the way factory prices are atm I decided to quit when I was ahead and sold them all out of the field. I bought back in a bunch of younger cattle in their place. Theres not as much demand for grass for the smaller cattle now so the rotation is around 35 days now. Its amazing how making a few small changes can make such a big difference at the end of the year.
Adding in more agitating points in the slatted tank allowed me to agitate the slurry faster and I had better access to it so I was more inclined to spread the slurry little and often and made better use of it and grew more grass.
Fair does there Peter, every little helps surely. Could of been a very wise move on the big heifers indeed with the way the factories are carrying on presently. Not alone less demand on grass with the younger stock but also a lot easier on the ground than big heavy stock this time of year.
 
its funny, im starting to question meal feeding at grass and was going to start a thread on it, and its coming from someone that used to feed seriously hard on grass, if grass quality is kept high im seeing less and less of a need for grain
There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Dairy farmers can see their animals performance on a daily basis.
Most of the time the price they receive a price which would give a return on meal if needed.
But the most profitable ones feed little or no meal until late Autumn and still get the performance due to having quality grass and managing it well.
There is a cost to having this grass but it's a lot cheaper than meal.
Meal is used as an expensive substitute for good management on many cattle farms.
In certain cases it's justifiable but not many.

The reality is once you are spending money everyday on cattle especially big ones you are more likely to lose money than make it.
 
It is almost impossible to do a comparison on cattle finished on grass only and on grass and meal.
Our own view, in our situation, feeding R and U grade continental heifers, it pays to feed on grass, it may not pay to feed meal to cattle with a poorer FCE.
No doubt, there are much better grassland managers than ourselves among us here, we could do it better, it's a slow process, I think we are getting better.
Feeding meal earlier in the grazing season may not pay, though once we get into killing of grass in August, September it works for us.
The problem is time to manage grass, in the end of March, April may and early June we are very busy and short on staff until collage holidays.
Going back to the economics of feeding meal, good fit cattle are easier sold, more bargaining power, when you have a product that's wanted, it's worth a few c/kg extra, good flesh will lead to better grades and higher fat scores, 3+ to 4= anything less has not reached their potential.
Anybody on here finishing continental heifers off grass without meal?
 
So what are your plans on closing up paddocks for the winter? Normally cattle are housed here from early to mid noember and back out for mid march. grass is still growing well last week but the nights are getting cold and I reckon that if I get another 3 weeks grazing for the cattle il be doing well.
I was looking through my fertiliser records the other day and I spread 2 tons less fertiliser this year than I did last year although I bought some meadows of grass my stocking rate is higher this year and I had more silage left in the pits in spring 2015 than I did this spring. last year as the pits were full I made around 100 bales of silage out of surplus grass which were wrapped @6 layers costing around €4 per bale in plastic,this year any surplus grass went direct into the pit with the wagon with far less labour and expence.
 
So what are your plans on closing up paddocks for the winter? Normally cattle are housed here from early to mid noember and back out for mid march. grass is still growing well last week but the nights are getting cold and I reckon that if I get another 3 weeks grazing for the cattle il be doing well.
I was looking through my fertiliser records the other day and I spread 2 tons less fertiliser this year than I did last year although I bought some meadows of grass my stocking rate is higher this year and I had more silage left in the pits in spring 2015 than I did this spring. last year as the pits were full I made around 100 bales of silage out of surplus grass which were wrapped @6 layers costing around €4 per bale in plastic,this year any surplus grass went direct into the pit with the wagon with far less labour and expence.
Sounds like you done some good management and planning there @PETER.
Like the old saying goes lad " look after the pennies and the pounds will mind themselves "
 
So what are your plans on closing up paddocks for the winter? Normally cattle are housed here from early to mid noember and back out for mid march. grass is still growing well last week but the nights are getting cold and I reckon that if I get another 3 weeks grazing for the cattle il be doing well.
I was looking through my fertiliser records the other day and I spread 2 tons less fertiliser this year than I did last year although I bought some meadows of grass my stocking rate is higher this year and I had more silage left in the pits in spring 2015 than I did this spring. last year as the pits were full I made around 100 bales of silage out of surplus grass which were wrapped @6 layers costing around €4 per bale in plastic,this year any surplus grass went direct into the pit with the wagon with far less labour and expence.
Definitely a candidate for grass measuring there!
Started closing up the first day of October, always start with dry ground here to have it for the Spring. I aim to have near 70% closed up by the end of this month and will drag out the rest in to the middle of November, all weather permitting of course. Have been feeding bales strong the last few weeks.
 
all heavy covers are grazed off here since last week, feeding maize with 16 days now, guessing they are eating about 5-6kgs DM of it, the rest of the paddocks to be grazed are quite light, 1500 max at a guess, closing paddocks since the 8th, the first 12 acres are very dry and have got slurry earlier this week. plenty grass for heifers and 2016 calves for 3-4 weeks but cow ground will be nearly all grazed by early november as this place when the year goes the inch/river bank ground gets very soft. all in all its a good back end and cows dong 1.5kgs of solids still.
 
Grass isn't growing much today. I've a bit of concrete to finish off tomorrow hopefully and after that I intend to bring in a bunch or two of the heavy lads to start feeding.
 
Nearly over here,heavy covers of grass just melted away a forgettable year.

Is nearly over here too . You would have a hump on your back like a well bulled cow here , this evening. Raw.
A lot of heavier cattle housed after Friday nights rain , especially if feeding meal. Getting wer around them and in gaps.
 
its funny, im starting to question meal feeding at grass and was going to start a thread on it, and its coming from someone that used to feed seriously hard on grass, if grass quality is kept high im seeing less and less of a need for grain
Dropped all meal feeding at grass for the 0-1s and they'll only get it when housed. The 1-2s havent been fed meal on grass for 4 years or more.
Only difference is I put the 0-1s in front and started doing leader follower, when they're not there they're on 30 acres of after grass. Basically they're only getting top quality grass all the time
Growth rates have improved every year since I took out meal from the 1-2s and managed grass better, now I'll see if its the same for 0-1s
 
I think I could hear every animal within a mile radius looing thus morning. My cows took their turn at voicing their concerns about the wet weather too, even though they had literally just been turned out to a fresh paddock of grass.
 
Definitely a candidate for grass measuring there!
Started closing up the first day of October, always start with dry ground here to have it for the Spring. I aim to have near 70% closed up by the end of this month and will drag out the rest in to the middle of November, all weather permitting of course. Have been feeding bales strong the last few weeks.

I was trying to get the young farmers discussion group out for a farm walk with a couple of plate meters to do a bit of measuring but that didn't happen yet. Atm theres about 50% of the farm grazed off and closed up for the spring. Today I housed some of the bigger bullocks that I was mealing strong on grass. whats left to graze off will last the cattle another two weeks at least until their housed.
 
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