Billy Wolfe, Ballydehob, west Cork

“I would like to see a future in this and just started dairy calf-to-beef this year as I got out of cows this year. I came here today to learn about facts and figures and see if there’s any optimism in this industry. I want to see what my calves are like in comparison to the demonstration farm. I bought a number of calves in the mart but the majority were from dairy farms – mostly Angus and a few Herefords. We plan to finish all the calves.”

L-R: Billy Wolfe, Ballydehob, Cork, and Donal McCarthy Ballydehob, Co Cork.

Donal McCarthy, Ballydehob, west Cork

“I’m here as a dairy farmer to see if can we improve the quality of the beef calf for the rearers. We aim to pick sires with good EBI and genetics to try get the best possible calf that will finish well. Teagasc never thought of the calf situation and never thought the cow has to produce a calf every year in order to milk. The use of sexed semen is only eliminating Friesian bull calves and is more of a cost to farmers.”

David Lonergan, Mullinahone, Co Tipperary.

David Lonergan, Mullinahone, Co Tipperary

“A lot of lads are getting out of milk as they’re not getting much out of the milk with the cost of everything.

“The calf market is on the ground. You could buy good calves for €10 or €20 months ago, there will be a lot of weanlings for sale in November which will be good value as you don’t have the cost of milk replacer.”