Decrease numbers of calf rearers has been a growing issue as margins diminish and costs increase, and the feeder calf season this year exemplifies that.
North Island yards, and to a lesser extent those on the South Island, have hosted dairy and dairy-beef calves over the past few weeks and while changes have been made over the years on what calves are sold and how they are offered, that isn’t bringing any more buyers to the fore.
PGG Wrightson agent Neil Lyons is in the thick of calf sales in Waikato and has noted a few changes this year.
“It was an early start to the selling season in Waikato as dairy farmers started calving earlier,” he said.
“We have seen big tallies for the last few weeks and we are already well through the Friesian bulls, and the whitehead calves are starting to come out more readily.”
Last week alone more than 2000 sold via sale yards in the region and more would have moved direct from farmer to rearer but there are still more to come out and Lyons reported demand waning already.
“There are a lot of calves but not many rearers and we are starting to see those that are there filling up already.”
Read: Demand for feeder calves wavers
Lyons said that new regulations around what can come to the yards has made a big difference to the bottom end of the sales.
“We have encouraged farmers not to send in any small crossbred off-types and have turned away some trailers due to this.
“That has meant that we haven’t had those $10-$20 type calves coming through that we have seen in previous years.”
Without those calves on the market, but a softer year for prices, the smallest calves have still been selling down to $30-$40 as demand falls away rapidly and sellers meet the market.
Right now, top-end Friesian bull prices are trading around $10-$15 back on last year and demand is expected to fall away quickly.
These calves are trading at $100-$160 with the odd line pushing higher.
Hereford-Friesian traditionally sell for a premium over Friesian, and that fact hasn’t changed.
The season started off peaking at similar levels to last year as a few pens pushed past $300, yet in the previous week $230-$260 was more common.
The heifer calf market is also deflated, and the top-tier Hereford-Friesian have been trading at $100-$150 compared to $140-$200 in 2021.
Also read: Rearers exit as financial risks multiply
Concern has been aired over the years about what the future bull-beef industry is going to look like if the calves are not being reared.
And, as each year goes by and more rearers drop off, that concern only grows, yet there does not seem to be any plan in place to stem the flow. The simple fact is that Friesian bull supply will reflect the diminishing number of calves being reared and make it harder to source the older bulls to finish going forward, at a time when the number of farmers finishing Friesian bulls has significantly grown.
The equation just doesn’t add up.
This article was written by AgriHQ analyst Suz Bremner. Suz leads the AgriHQ LivestockEye team, including data collectors who are tasked with being on the ground at sale yards throughout the country. Subscribe to AgriHQ reports here.
