Bull choice for late breeding

DairyBeef 500 Programme Co-ordinator, Alan Dillon, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss late breeding season bull choice.

Alan explains that late born calves are as much a hassle for the beef farmer as they are for the dairy farmer as they don’t fit into any system, so a defined breeding season is important to eliminate May/June calves as they are of no value to dairy beef farms nor to dairy farmers.

Alan then outlines the criteria for bull selection at this stage of the season with high carcass weight >10kg for traditional breeds such as Angus and Hereford and a minimum of 20kg for the continental breeds. The focus must be to deliver a quality calf that has potential to deliver a return. 

Gestation length and calving ease are the other two important criteria for dairy farmers particularly at this stage of the season where the objective must be to get the cow calved as early as possible at this late stage.

Alan says there are buyers for most calves throughout the season with a variation similar to that of calving start date to when calves are bought across the country. Dairy farmers should try to use the best beef genetics either through AI or the stock bull they buy to generate calves of quality to move into dairy beef systems. 

In the future CBV will have a significant role to play in deciding the value of the calf but all calves can leave a return as long as the purchase price is right. 

Alan advocates developing a relationship with a local buyer to ensure calves move off the dairy farm for a reasonable price and in an orderly fashion rather than being at the mercy of the market each week. This is very useful for the calf buyer as they have animals that have a health history behind them so dairy farmers should try to develop these relationships ahead of the calving season when time will be hard to come by.  Using a good beef animal is as easy as using a bad one and is to the benefit of the industry as a whole.

Finally, Alan invites all farmers to attend the BEEf2024 Open Day in Grange, Co. Meath on June 26th, to see all things dairy beef with something for everyone.

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