John Joyce: How good data tips the scales in the beef farmer’s favour

Weighing cattle replaces the guesswork with accurate data for important management decisions.

John Joyce

April 11 2021 01:20 PM

The TAMS II funding has by and large passed me by for one reason or another. On the building side I figured it over-complicated the process and increased the cost of the project to comply with the added specification.

However, I did apply for some of the smaller, once-off funding for sheep fencing, a calf dehorning crate and a cattle weighing scale. The cattle scales was the one I was most interested in.

For years we have being weighing lambs on the farm for general performance recording and to ensure they have the correct carcase weight for the factory. This maximises returns making sure we don’t have lambs on the farm longer than they should be.

More and more farmers are now weighing their cattle to judge live weight gain. The BEEP scheme has highlighted the suckler cow/calf ratio for participants, myself included. It showed up the non-performers in the herd with some very heavy cows possibly rearing a light weanling.

I recently took delivery of a Tru-Test Datamar scales. It is a straightforward piece of equipment with the tray sitting on two load bars and will fit in a standard crush. It has a Bluetooth feature that can be linked to the phone to record the weights as the job is being done.

It is a big investment, but it is a item that if washed and stored away properly when not in use should last for years.

It should also pay for itself from the savings on performance targets the results deliver.

Many readers will say that scales can be rented from the local co-op for €50 a day and that it is very good value at that.

They would be correct. I have used the co-op services for the last number of years and it is a great service, but it is useful sometimes to have your own equipment on site and use it as often as possible.

Guesswork

Weighing replaces the guesswork with accurate data which in turn can be used to make important management decisions.

The data ensures the animals are sold at a suitable weight and also helps in monitoring reproductive performance.

This is what the BEEP scheme was designed for and the data helps make breeding decisions to maximise herd performance for the future.

Weighing livestock regularly can also show up an illness in the herd though lack of thrive. I recall one summer when we had problems with rumen/ stomach fluke.

If these cattle had been weighed during the grazing season we would have been aware of the problem sooner.

I am mostly looking forward to weighing the cattle before they go to the factory. For the last number of years I have been trying to improve my skills in judging the grades and fat score of the animals before they go to the factory by noting the figures on paper and comparing them with the kill-sheet when it returns.

With the scales, I will be able to get a full kill-out percentage on all the different type of animals from the young bulls to the cull cows. This should show up the best type of animal, breed type or cross that I can produce to maximise the kill-out of the carcasses.

Factory results

This all sounds very basic, but it is something most of us are not doing. Many is the conversation you hear about farmers not being happy with the factory results for their cattle in a factory, but this can be due to overestimating the live weight of these animals before they are killed. Or poor kill-out results off grass could be linked with no meal in the diet.

The weighing data is also a useful tool if selling animals privately. Both parties can be present and be happy with the readings. Again marts can provide this service, but animals have to be transported there and it can be a while before these animals are weighed on the day. It can be quite stressful on the animal and in my experience, they can lose 10 to 15kgs very easily on the journey.

Finally, as I have applied for the BEEP 2 scheme this year, I will be able to weigh different batches at different time when it suits. This is because the cows calve in two different groups and are located at a few sites throughout the grazing season.

If I get as much use out of the cattle scales, as I have done with the lamb weighing scales it will be money well spent.

John Joyce farms in Carrigahorig, Co Tipperary