Uncertain season ahead for calf rearers

Gerald Piddock MARKETS Livestock

CALF rearers are facing another challenging season as high input costs and potentially reluctant purchasers mean the likelihood of yet another razorthin profit margin for those selling Friesian bull or dairy beef calves.

Looking at the season ahead, Paul Muir from On-Farm Research, based at the Poukawa Research Farm in Hawke’s Bay, said while calf milk replacer (CMR) costs have fallen slightly, meal prices are up and labour costs have risen, too.

The saleability of the reared calves also has question marks with a falling beef schedule due to lack of demand from China. This drop in price could soften demand – but a lot depends on what happens between now and the end of the year when the calves are sold, he said.

“Rearing costs are up on last year, mostly because of small increases in costs across the board. Everything’s sneaked up a bit. My feeling is that the costs of rearing are up 5-10%.”

While prices for four-day-old calves in Waikato are good – $145 in Waikato and $123 in Tirau – he said he doubts this will last when supply hits its peak in August.

Waikato Federated Farmers dairy chair Matthew Zonderop shared this sentiment, saying while the market is buoyant at the moment, in general it begins to fade by the end of July when prices slump and the calf buyers become more particular about what they are buying.

“With the increase in rearing costs, in particular wages up