Don’t be too quick to cull young cows with potential
A lot of cows have been culled this year due to high prices, and with the pressure of quota, many farmers are likely to use the opportunity to get rid of problem cows this autumn.
With sufficient grass available on many farms, if cows for culling are dried off, they should be in fairly good condition before the winter.
Obviously, it is better to sell well-conditioned cows, but young cows that have the potential to put on condition and weight might justify an indoor feeding period.
The profit from this exercise depends on a substantial rise in price and grade between now and when they are finished. A rise of about €300-€450 in the price of culls will be needed to justify finishing culls over the winter, but of course, much depends on the type and condition of the cows you are starting off with. It requires six to seven tonnes of silage per cow to carry culls over winter.
In an experiment at Moorepark, cull cows fattened on good quality silage took 125 days to finish, consuming 11 kg of dry matter (DM) per day (or seven tonnes of silage at 20% DM). Three other groups of cull cows, fed 3, 6 or 9 kg of DM as concentrates respectively took 109, 95 and 83 days respectively to finish.
In a situation where there is plenty of good quality silage available on the farm, the all-silage option is the most economical. However, if silage or any other good quality forage has to be purchased, carrying culls over the winter is unlikely to be profitable. Of course, as with any other cattle finishing system, the price rise over the feeding period will be the main determinant of profit.
With a drop in the price of cereals this year, finishing suitable culls with fairly high concentrate levels may suit some farmers.
Cows on good quality silage will not respond to concentrates as well as younger cattle, because of their higher rumen intake. A trial with 600 kg cows at condition score 2.6, gaining 0.9 kg per day, indicated that the total costs of finishing including silage (1,100 kg of DM) and meal (335 kg) is about €370.
