Opportunity in rearing bull calves

Bull calves are one answer to the North Island's huge shortage of stock but farmers have only a small window of opportunity to contract calves before it is too late, an independent agent warns reports Country-wide. Napier-based Ross Dyer says there's also a brief window to buy autumn-reared bull calves at 100kg. "If the decision to contract bulls is not made by early August, the industry has missed the boat." He says farmers have their heads in the sand if they believe they will still be able to buy replacements. Agents can already see the demand for stock, but no animals are available for sale. Farmers set up to farm bulls have few alternative options at the moment, he says. There is a lack of tradable beef steers and heifers, dairy heifers won't be grazed out this year, and who will want the grass. "Sheep are not an option on most bull units but they are short in supply, too." Dyer says farmers wanting to farm bulls will have to allocate some of their farm to growing out calves. It's a safety factor to protect their supply. "Bull calves seem to be one of the few ways out of this hole." Look here for Poukawa's  up dated  calf rearing report. Droughts, dropping ewe numbers, dairy conversions and maize silage contracts have all played a part in creating a shortage of stock. And this year's cold winter has forced farmers to reduce winter stocking numbers and kill out at lesser weights. "The drought in 2008 saw bulls killed on a regular basis at 200kg, and in the last three years 30% fewer bull calves have been reared each year." Since 2006, breeding cow numbers have dropped an average of 7% each year, with a faster fall in the past two years because of droughts. "We have lost in excess of 200,000 cows from the North Island alone over the past few years, with a lot of cows slaughtered or died on farms in the Central North Island region."