In 2011, over 2,000 calves were reared through the Dawn Meats dairy beef programme. Justin McCarthy gets an update and some top tips from Sarah Long, agricultural manager with Dawn Meats
Sarah Long Group Agricultural Manager.
What was the scale of the Dawn Meats project in 2011 and what was the mortality rate?
Working with Teagasc, and on our standalone project, saw nearly 2,000 2011 born calves put into the project. There were 1,100 calves on the Dawn Meats hand-picked farms and mortality was 1.3%.
We were very pleased with this performance which we put down to good calf selection and health strategy on-farm. We budgeted for 4%, which would be considered more realistic. These figures do not account for the calves culled as a result of being BVD PIs. The incidence of this on the Dawn Meats farms was 0.76%.
Pictured: Richard Clinton Dawn Meats, Robert Prenderville TEAGASC, Prof Gerry Boyle TEAGASC, Paul Nolan Dawn Meats
What advice would you give to a farmer embarking on rearing dairy bull calves for the first time?
Seek advice and, if possible, talk to someone who is doing it or has done it.
Make sure you fill the sheds as quickly as possible to avoid the stress of mixing the calves and unnecessary disease challenges.
Have a clear health plan from day one.
Know your costs and stick to them as far as possible.
Be clear about the quality of the calf you want and stick to it.
costs
From your experience with the Dawn Meats dairy beef programme, how much more can farmers afford to pay for reared calves at 12 weeks of age over calves at two weeks of age?
Rearing a calf costs in the region of €110. This is a breakeven cost and doesn't allow a margin for the rearer.
Dawn Meats/Teagasc dairy bull scheme
Reared calf prices must take into consideration the input costs for finishing (approximately €500 of feed for a 16-month system) and the relatively low carcaseweights/returns.
When buying reared calves, what should farmers look out for?
A healthy calf - showing no signs of ill health, i.e lameness, lung damage, discharge from the nose or eyes, etc.
Vaccination history and medical history as far as possible.
Feeding regime to date - you don't want to buy a calf that has been intensively fed meal and then put him straight out to grass.
What is the most profitable finishing system for Friesian bull calves?
The research to date shows that the 18-month system is the most profitable.
However, the market signals are still for the under 16-month animal, so we are still working on the eating quality end of the project to ensure that the system still delivers what our customers are looking for.
There is still a long way to go with the research with more trials into 16 and 18 months systems underway at Johnstown Castle to investigate different options aside from ad-lib feeding, from which we won't know any results until later this year.
What is the ideal carcase specification for Friesian bulls and steers?
A minimum of 270kg carcase and O=2=.
Justin McCarthey
irishfarmersjournal.ie
Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
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