Contracts are the number one thing in the calf rearing business reports Country-Wide. That's the message from Steve Drake, whose Hawke's Bay-based business last year sourced just over 4000 calves from Waikato dairy farmers. "It's important to get things contracted because it's a fickle industry. I would go as far as to say that the whole meat industry needs to be looking at forward contracts." He can't understand while there are futures trades for all kinds of products in the United Staes, why our meat companies can't guarantee farmers future prices. "I think they can; they just don't want to." He says the only industry with more uncertainty is the apple industry. This coming spring it will be especially important to have contracts, as 100kg calves will be in short supply. Last year the bobby kill was up 28% across the country, which indicates that there were far fewer calves reared. "There is a shortage of stock, and if finishers don't make arrangements for the coming season, they could be farming empty paddocks. As the East Coast restocks from two droughts, the demand will be strong," he says. The rearers who were burnt last year in the spec market are very unlikely to rear again this year, he says. Last year a lot of people had to dump calves on the market because of the dry October and November on the East Coast. They couldn't sell the calves, and got burnt as a result. Steve says 600 of the 828 calves he reared last spring were contracted through Ross Dyer Livestock. Ross has contracts which are binding on both parties, and works pre-season to ensure both parties requirements are met, and can plan accordingly.
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