Gary Allis (pictured) runs one the most successful dairy calf-to-beef operations in the UK. Over 1,500 Holstein Freisian bulls are finished annually with plans to grow the business further.

The business has been built on the back of recycled material, byproducts and a deep understanding of the supply chain, through working with Adam Buitelaar of the Buitelaar Calf group. Calves cost £100 each, and these calves are taken to 450kg liveweight at 225kg carcase weight at just over 12 months old.

Sourcing calves

The Buitelaar group sources the calves and deliver them to Gary on a fortnightly basis. “We pay a little more on this farm for calves, but the extra weight and extra power counts at the end,” said Gary.

Calves are brought to collection centres on Monday mornings and they are on the farm by Monday evening. Gary commented: “By working with the Buitelaar group, I know I won’t have sick calves or light calves. Adam knows exactly what I want and delivers it here every two weeks.”

Managing calf health on the farm during the first stage is critical to the success of the system. Calves are vaccinated for pneumonia on entry at three weeks old and again at 16 weeks old. Calves are also routinely dosed with Vecoxxan to prevent coccidiosis. Calves are bedded three times per week and batches are operated on an all-in all-out policy to prevent disease spread. All sheds are powerwashed and disinfected between batches.

“We weigh calves at every stage, and this tells us which calves are doing well and – more importantly – which suppliers’ calves aren’t thriving. We feed this info back to Buitelaars and tell them which supplier’s calves we want. This is fed back down the supply chain and will hopefully focus dairy farmers on good calf health and also on the type of calves we want.

Diets

Calves are trough-fed three litres of milk twice a day for the first four weeks, then dropped to once a day for four weeks before they are gradually weaned. During the first 12 weeks calves are also offered a dry calf pellet, before being moved on to the rearing ration.

Gary commented: “It’s important to get nutrition right in young animals when feed conversion ratios are at their best.” Calves are gradually weaned off milk and on to a moist ration NBSPCE (47-48% dry matter) over a period of 12 days. They stay on the grower ration, which has a metabolisable energy (ME) of 13 and protein of 15.4%, NBSPCE until eight months old.

“For the last four months they are fed a finisher ration of 13.2ME and 13.9% protein. The finisher ration is made up of ingredients like, biscuit meal, ethanol syrup, chocolate, bread, chips, soya hulls and maize distillers. Everything on this farm has been used by somebody else already, right down to the wood-chip bedding. This way costs are kept extremely low. At the moment the grower ration costs £160/tonne DM and the finishing ration is £150/tonne DM,” he says.

Forward price

All animals are sold on a forward contract. This provides Gary with stability, as he knows at the point of buying calves exactly what he is going to get for them at the end. Gary comments: “Having a contracted forward price gives me the confidence to grow the business.”

The secrets to his success as a profitable calf rearer and finisher are feeding a high-energy, low-cost diet, having low-cost housing and his serious attention to detail when it comes to feeding, management and health.

The verdict

Gary Allis is an astute businessman. Developing a relationship with Buitelaars has been central to the growth of the business. Everything on this farm is carried out with a keen eye on costs. No fancy sheds, no shiny machinery – just a practical, functional, profitable system. Cashflow is very important and killing 60 animals every two weeks provides cashflow stability to the business. While the market for this carcase has yet to be developed in Ireland, a lot can be taken from Gary’s system and the integrated approach to his business.

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Focus: calves 2017