This is a subscriber-only article
An independent observer (from a strictly non-farming background) would take one look at my benchmarking results and ask why the entire land area wasn’t devoted to rearing dairy heifers.
According to the past year’s figures, this spinoff enterprise from the world of dairying has shown the beef cattle and sheep a clean pair of heels and has galloped off with all the prizes.
Of course, I would respond by explaining that it’s not as straightforward as just drawing conclusions from lines of numbers on sheets of paper, but nonetheless the difference in pounds, shillings, and pence is stark.
Farmer Writes: Stark difference in livestock margins.
Relatively speaking, the sheep fell back from the dizzy heights achieved in the previous year, the beef cattle showed a huge improvement in profitability, and the dairy heifers remained level and consistent in much the same way as the pullet rearing (which, by the way, is not benchmarked).
This constant financial drip is something that should not be underestimated. The regularity and certainty of incoming revenue from the poultry and heifer-rearing represents the polar opposite of buying expensive store cattle and the long-standing associated business technique of crossing your fingers and hoping for a strong end price. When you compare the two business models, the contrast is staggering.
After all costs have been taken off (including conacre), the sheep left a net profit of £29/head (£222/ha), beef cattle £76/head (£207/ha), and the dairy heifers £286/head (£528/ha).
Stocking rate
If a young and enthusiastic person from CAFRE came out to advise me (thank heavens my adviser has been round a few more corners) he or she would undoubtedly shriek in horror at my low stocking density.
At a mere 1.55 CE/ha, this farm could be viewed as just cruising along. However, I remain committed (more than ever) to running a system that involves as little hassle as possible, and the current model has plenty of slack for those wet, dry, or exceptionally cold spells when grass doesn’t do exactly what the textbooks suggest.
In addition, I can’t help wondering if the future might centre around lowered stocking levels to meet the tsunami of environmental restrictions that will sweep in our direction.
I am also fully aware of the risks associated with too much commitment to heifer rearing. If the supplying and associated herd has a TB breakdown, movement restrictions are inevitable.
This has the potential (depending how long they are closed up) to delay calves moving on to the rearing premises. This has already happened to me, and in 2018, arrival of young calves was postponed by more than two months.
About three years ago, there was much chatter about this whole heifer-rearing lark. It was claimed that dairy farmers were increasingly looking for contractual arrangements regarding young heifers, which would let them concentrate on milking more cows. And all that remained was to convince beef farmers to sell their souls and allow these misshapen animals on to their land. In reality, a more sobering picture has emerged.
Anecdotal evidence suggests a lengthy list of beef farmers are fed up making no money and would like to rear dairy heifers. However, this enthusiasm has not been matched from the other end, and surprise surprise, money seems to be the main sticking point.
The industry-recommended amount of money/head/day has not been met with universal approval, and many dairy farmers think it is far too generous.
All I can say on the subject is that I was approached by a forward-looking outfit, who suggested a certain amount. They didn’t think they could rear them for much less and wanted to pay me enough that the heifers were well cared for.
However, after almost 10 years of benchmarking my beef cattle, I think I’d have agreed to rear crocodiles if there was a guaranteed monthly income.
SHARING OPTIONS: