Over 200 farmers, advisers and industry representatives attended an open day on the ABP (Anglo Beef Processors) dairy calf-to-beef demonstration farm in Carlow last Wednesday 11 September. ABP is 10 years into its dairy calf-to-beef demo farm project, operated in conjunction with Teagasc and ICBF.
The farm is located in the heart of Co Carlow and expands to 280 acres.
The farm was set up as a trial farm to identify bulls that are most suited for the dairy herd looking at the progeny’s beef production traits.
It was also hoped that the trial work completed would highlight bulls that should be used on the pedigree herd to breed the stock bulls of the future.
Over 400 calves are purchased each year from 20 different sires with 250 finished on the farm and a further 150 of the ABP-owned cattle finished in the ICBF Tully beef test centre.
The target finishing age is 19 months for heifers and 21 months for bullocks. There is also a store lamb finishing enterprise on the farm, with 680 store lambs being finished during the winter months.
Calf management
Calves are purchased in on the farm at a few weeks old with very young calves avoided. Bull calves weigh 60kg on arrival while the heifer calves weigh 57kg on arrival.
Calves are consuming 27kg of milk powder with all calves moved to once-a-day feeding once the calf is 28 days old. Calves were kept indoors for longer in 2024 due to a combination of factors.
A stronger calf going to grass eating 3kg of concentrates/day before turnout was key to avoiding summer scour syndrome according to the ABP team. It’s taking 160kg to get the calf to grass on the farm with a calf eating 2kg/day consistently before weaning and 3kg/day before turnout in mid-May.
The target is to get the calf to 130kg by mid-May and 250kg by November housing with a further 100kg of gain over winter months to get to 350kg at turnout for the second grazing season.
Figure 1 outlines the target liveweights at the different stages. Animals are housed at the end of the second grazing season for a short 50- to 70-day finish on silage and meal indoors on slats and peat-bedded lie-back areas.
The importance of making high-quality silage was stressed by the ABP team with weanlings and finishing cattle requiring high-quality silage to keep meal costs down.
Weanlings are fed 3kg of beet, 2kg of meal and ad-lib silage over the winter months. Killouts are averaging 49% to 50% for the Friesian cattle and as high as 54% for some of the continentals.
Health
The demo farm vet Liam Carroll gave a comprehensive overview of the health management on the farm and what protocols were used to keep calves and cattle healthy on the farm.
Clostridial vaccination was discussed and Liam said that it was no coincidence that we have seen higher deaths due to clostridial disease in 2024 given the problems associated with sourcing clostridial vaccine.
He also gave some advice on calf purchase, telling farmers to avoid any calves with dropped ears or general dullness at purchase time.
ABP is concerned about carcase weights dropping. John Kelly from the ABP factory in Waterford said: “We are seeing a big drop in carcase weights this year. Bullocks are back by 30kg to 35kg and heifers are back 22kg when compared with the same period as last year.”
Beef cattle are housed in August each year for a short 50- to 70-day finish indoors.
James Hickey from ABP gave a demo on handling cattle to assess the level of finish and when to draft.
He said that he was seeing a lot more carcases weighing between 220kg and 230kg. “Too many of these in the future would be a non-runner” he said.
Lack of financial detail on display
The ABP demonstration farm is an impressive operation. Any farm that rears 400 calves and only loses three is doing something right. The level of data capture on the genetics being used is also very insightful when it comes to making decisions on breeding and is throwing up some interesting results when it comes to breed comparisons.
The one major flaw in last week’s open day was the lack of financial data on display for farmers attending the event.
No matter what system of farming you employ on your farm, it has to be about the bottom line, but this wasn’t mentioned at any of the stands.
ABP demo farm beef cattle grazing.
One farmer did quiz the speakers at stand one on what profit the farm was making but it wasn’t divulged.
Stephen Connolly said: “It’s a system when it’s done well it can make you money. It’s about keeping your costs down. It’s not easy to get everything right as we have found out here.”
Has ABP got the figures done? You can bet your life, the company has them done. ABP didn’t get to where it is today by not analysing financial figures of its business. Why is it not displaying them for its demo farm?
One can only surmise that the financial figures on the calf-to-beef operation on the farm aren’t good or they would have been up for all to see.
A margin per animal or a margin per hectare was the very least that was needed for farmers to make decisions on the system.
A veterinary stand with all the details of a full bells and whistles vaccination programme was presented but, again, no health costs per calf or per hectare on display.
No meal costs per animal, no fertiliser costs per hectare, no labour costs, no land costs and not one person mentioned the elephant in the room or in the field and that was what beef price was needed to make the dairy-beef system work. Surely, the Teagasc and ICBF involvement would have insisted that financial figures be produced.
Breeds: Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, Aubrac, Limousin and Belgian Blue.Finishing ages
Heifers: 19 months.Steers: 21 months.Sheep: 680 store lambs finished on the farm.Location: Co Carlow.The ABP demo farm is 280 acres in size and home to 400 calves and 250 beef animals.Calves consume 27kg milk replacer during the rearing phase.Calves consume 160kg of meal during the rearing phase.
Over 200 farmers, advisers and industry representatives attended an open day on the ABP (Anglo Beef Processors) dairy calf-to-beef demonstration farm in Carlow last Wednesday 11 September. ABP is 10 years into its dairy calf-to-beef demo farm project, operated in conjunction with Teagasc and ICBF.
The farm is located in the heart of Co Carlow and expands to 280 acres.
The farm was set up as a trial farm to identify bulls that are most suited for the dairy herd looking at the progeny’s beef production traits.
It was also hoped that the trial work completed would highlight bulls that should be used on the pedigree herd to breed the stock bulls of the future.
Over 400 calves are purchased each year from 20 different sires with 250 finished on the farm and a further 150 of the ABP-owned cattle finished in the ICBF Tully beef test centre.
The target finishing age is 19 months for heifers and 21 months for bullocks. There is also a store lamb finishing enterprise on the farm, with 680 store lambs being finished during the winter months.
Calf management
Calves are purchased in on the farm at a few weeks old with very young calves avoided. Bull calves weigh 60kg on arrival while the heifer calves weigh 57kg on arrival.
Calves are consuming 27kg of milk powder with all calves moved to once-a-day feeding once the calf is 28 days old. Calves were kept indoors for longer in 2024 due to a combination of factors.
A stronger calf going to grass eating 3kg of concentrates/day before turnout was key to avoiding summer scour syndrome according to the ABP team. It’s taking 160kg to get the calf to grass on the farm with a calf eating 2kg/day consistently before weaning and 3kg/day before turnout in mid-May.
The target is to get the calf to 130kg by mid-May and 250kg by November housing with a further 100kg of gain over winter months to get to 350kg at turnout for the second grazing season.
Figure 1 outlines the target liveweights at the different stages. Animals are housed at the end of the second grazing season for a short 50- to 70-day finish on silage and meal indoors on slats and peat-bedded lie-back areas.
The importance of making high-quality silage was stressed by the ABP team with weanlings and finishing cattle requiring high-quality silage to keep meal costs down.
Weanlings are fed 3kg of beet, 2kg of meal and ad-lib silage over the winter months. Killouts are averaging 49% to 50% for the Friesian cattle and as high as 54% for some of the continentals.
Health
The demo farm vet Liam Carroll gave a comprehensive overview of the health management on the farm and what protocols were used to keep calves and cattle healthy on the farm.
Clostridial vaccination was discussed and Liam said that it was no coincidence that we have seen higher deaths due to clostridial disease in 2024 given the problems associated with sourcing clostridial vaccine.
He also gave some advice on calf purchase, telling farmers to avoid any calves with dropped ears or general dullness at purchase time.
ABP is concerned about carcase weights dropping. John Kelly from the ABP factory in Waterford said: “We are seeing a big drop in carcase weights this year. Bullocks are back by 30kg to 35kg and heifers are back 22kg when compared with the same period as last year.”
Beef cattle are housed in August each year for a short 50- to 70-day finish indoors.
James Hickey from ABP gave a demo on handling cattle to assess the level of finish and when to draft.
He said that he was seeing a lot more carcases weighing between 220kg and 230kg. “Too many of these in the future would be a non-runner” he said.
Lack of financial detail on display
The ABP demonstration farm is an impressive operation. Any farm that rears 400 calves and only loses three is doing something right. The level of data capture on the genetics being used is also very insightful when it comes to making decisions on breeding and is throwing up some interesting results when it comes to breed comparisons.
The one major flaw in last week’s open day was the lack of financial data on display for farmers attending the event.
No matter what system of farming you employ on your farm, it has to be about the bottom line, but this wasn’t mentioned at any of the stands.
ABP demo farm beef cattle grazing.
One farmer did quiz the speakers at stand one on what profit the farm was making but it wasn’t divulged.
Stephen Connolly said: “It’s a system when it’s done well it can make you money. It’s about keeping your costs down. It’s not easy to get everything right as we have found out here.”
Has ABP got the figures done? You can bet your life, the company has them done. ABP didn’t get to where it is today by not analysing financial figures of its business. Why is it not displaying them for its demo farm?
One can only surmise that the financial figures on the calf-to-beef operation on the farm aren’t good or they would have been up for all to see.
A margin per animal or a margin per hectare was the very least that was needed for farmers to make decisions on the system.
A veterinary stand with all the details of a full bells and whistles vaccination programme was presented but, again, no health costs per calf or per hectare on display.
No meal costs per animal, no fertiliser costs per hectare, no labour costs, no land costs and not one person mentioned the elephant in the room or in the field and that was what beef price was needed to make the dairy-beef system work. Surely, the Teagasc and ICBF involvement would have insisted that financial figures be produced.
Breeds: Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, Aubrac, Limousin and Belgian Blue.Finishing ages
Heifers: 19 months.Steers: 21 months.Sheep: 680 store lambs finished on the farm.Location: Co Carlow.The ABP demo farm is 280 acres in size and home to 400 calves and 250 beef animals.Calves consume 27kg milk replacer during the rearing phase.Calves consume 160kg of meal during the rearing phase.
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