Study aims to boost veal sales
At present, these two livestock categories are proving more profitable for Irish farmers. By contrast, farmers in Britain are enjoying more favourable returns from eight-month and 12-month breeding systems, though these returns are coming from calves fetching €100 or more per head.
Gauging the optimum moment for veal sales will be critical in Ireland’s bid to produce more beef from dairy offspring. Farmers have been enjoying steady returns from live exports of weanlings, and they will be watching these Dawn and Teagasc trials with interest, notably on the profit balance between early live exports and rearing animals for processing in Ireland.
Dawn Meats agriculture manager Sarah Long said: “Obviously if you keep the calf in Ireland all the way through the supply chain, then you will be putting a lot more into the local economy, and helping to sustain jobs.
“The figures for the 16-month calves don’t stack up right now for some farmers. That said, some commercial partners of Teagasc and ourselves are showing a very positive growth in this category, particularly some of them who have bases in the UK.
“You have to have the capital to develop the 16-month calving system, and you have to be clear about what your endgame is before you start. It will not suit everyone. You have to sit down and do the sums. You have to be selective about the calves.
“I’ve always said that to get the right product out, you have to put the right product in. You’re aiming for a 550kg liveweight at 16 months, which will deliver a 270kg carcass. We are trying to be realistic, and the costings might make some people run away for now, while they are working very well for others.”
There is certainly huge interest in the profits that can come from beef production from dairy offspring. Over 1,000 farmers from all over Ireland attended the recent Teagasc/Dawn Meats ‘Dairy Calf to Beef’ Open Day at the Teagasc Research Centre, Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford.
Research is taking place into different beef production systems for male calves from the dairy herd finished at five different ages. At the open day, the large attendance of farmers was informed of the latest developments with the production systems being trialled in terms of production efficiency and profitability.
While the 16/18-month are enjoying the widest success for Irish breeders at present, the trials are also looking at eight-month pink veal market and the 12-month rosé veal market.
Dawn’s Sarah Long opened the panel discussion at last Thursday’s open day, which also outlined findings from additional off-site trials being run by Dawn Meats with farmers involved in contract rearing and finishing.
The discussion suggested that there are some niche market opportunities for eight-month and 12-month veal. This sector will be given further attention. For now, the animal finished at 16 months is the current market requirement, notably in Britain.
For farmers weighing up their options, calf costs, feed price and beef price are all important factors in deciding which route to go down, while the experts all agreed that calf selection was crucial.
Sarah Long added: “There will be a lot of black-and-whites being produced in Ireland. So, rather than just sending it out for export, for the next three or four years we will be working with Teagasc to see if there are any solutions which could allow us to boost processing here in Ireland.”
The experts present in Johnstown Castle agreed that blueprints for dairy beef production are critical for generating profit from dairy calf-to-beef systems.
The dairy beef research in Johnstown Castle is looking at performance and economics of finishing dairy calves under different production systems; 8, 12, 16 18 and 22 months of age. Dawn Meats are currently investigating other opportunities to add value to dairy calves.
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