Dump old to stay within beef extensification limit
Dump old to stay within beef extensification limit
SHIP the old and keep the young is the National Beef Associations advice to maintain stocking rates within extensification limits.
Concerned that producers will de-stock to meet extensification scheme criteria by selling heifer calves, NBA vice-chairman John Bell says that this could be financially damaging for suckler enterprises.
"Producers may be tempted to ship heifers quickly now that they count as 0.6 livestock units as soon as they reach six-months-old. But this is the age when they are least valuable."
Heifer finishers will pay little for stock they struggle to finish profitably, he adds. "Abattoirs impose a penalty of 10p/kg, which amounts to £30-£40 a head, for heifers with a carcass weight of less than 260kg. Finishers struggle to attain this weight and make money from heifers unless they are on an extended grazing system."
Of equal concern to Mr Bell is an erosion of potential breeding stock when heifers are sold early. "Holstein influence in dairy herds means they are less suitable as a source of suckler replacements.
"Letting suckler-bred heifers enter the beef chain means the industry could face an aged population of suckler cows and a shortage of suitable replacements in two to three years."
To keep stocking rates within extensification limits, Mr Bell urges producers to sell old and barren suckler cows. "As well as reducing stocking rates, selling older cows cuts down on the percentage of barren animals, cuts costs, and reduces adult animal registration problems for the cattle tracing scheme." *