Many dairy farmers are facing a familiar squeeze: milk prices remain under pressure while input costs stay stubbornly high. At the moment though, the beef price is exceptionally high!
Taken together, these two factors mean now may be a good time to take a more pro-active approach to culling decisions within your herd. When milk price is poor, every cow needs to be earning her place. Low yielding, problem or borderline animals quickly eat away at your profitability through feed costs, labour, medicines and lost opportunity. Holding onto cows that are underperforming in the hope that milk price will improve can quietly drain cash and reduce overall herd efficiency. In contrast, the current beef market offers a valuable opportunity. Cull cow prices are high, meaning animals leaving the herd can generate a stronger-than usual return. This can help offset the financial impact of lower milk prices and free up cash flow at a critical time. Pro-active culling also reduces pressure on housing, forage stocks and labour, which will be particularly valuable if we end up with a late turn-out or poor grass-growing season. Fewer, more productive cows often translate into improved average yields, better health metrics and lower costs per litre. Don’t misunderstand here, I’m not suggesting that we should be ‘culling our way out of problems’ as that road often leads to disappointment, but many problems (such as lameness, mastitis/cell counts, Johnes, poor fertility and even TB) require the removal of ‘problem cows’ as well as addressing other factors.
While culling decisions should always be made carefully and with the long term herd strategy in mind, the current combination of weak milk price and strong beef price makes this a sensible moment to review the herd and act decisively where needed.
Written By Pete Siviter, Veterinary Surgeon
