Group meeting 29 September 2010
Update since last meeting
- River field was sub-soiled in June 2010
- Back hill got 20-10-10 fertiliser
- The hill (23 acres was reseeded)
- Drainage work carried out on red clover field
- Spraying carried out
- River field not over seeded because of Forefront spray.
Update on Cattle
- New bull served 19 heifers 18 pd’d as in calf
- Bull calves and heifer calves split
- Bull calves receiving 1 kg of meal
- 12 Bigger Heifers sold 25 September 2010
481 kg - £681 = £1.41/kg - DLWG from birth = 0.8 kg
Heifers 480kg - £681 Keep or Sell ??
- Heifers to gain 80-100 kg before being finished at 570 kg (56%KO = 320 kg carcase)
- 25 Kg silage + 6 kg of meal = £1.50 per day
(silage £20 / tonne and meal £166 / tonne) - 100 days finish = £150
- Need well above £831 (selling price + cost to finish)
- Would need a 325 kg carcase at £2.56, (580 kg live) in the abattoir to justify keeping them
Issues: Falling beef price and volatile concentrate prices
Bulls
- Average live weight 676 kg
- Average carcase weight 406 kg
- Average KO% = 60%
- Average receipts = £1,026 £2.52 /kg
- Average age 16 months
- Average DLWG from birth 1.30 kg per day
- Average carcase gain per day 0.78 kg per day
- Feed cost per day = £1.98 (Meal at £165 /tonne)
or £2.40 (Meal at £200/ tonne)
Problems: still little demand for bulls,16 months penalty and overweight penalty.
Feeds for winter.
Price Sept 2010 |
Price May 2010 |
Price Difference (pounds) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Barley (Dried &rolled) | 185 |
138 |
+47 |
| Maize | 210 |
168 |
+42 |
| Gluten | 170 |
143 |
+27 |
| Soya hulls | 150 |
127 |
+23 |
| Soya | 290 |
290 |
- |
| Maize distillers | 178 |
156 |
+22 |
The reseed
- The mix – Crusader white clover with Dromore, Dunluce and Tyrella
- Seed rate: 14 kg per acre
- Date: Early September
- Sowing Technique:
- Glyphosate
- ploughed
- powerharrowed
- rolled
- sown
- rolled again.
