I’m fed up with talking about the weather, but I can console myself with the fact we have grabbed every opportunity so far and progress is not too bad.Dominic Naylor: The highs and lows of livestock markets
The last month has seen a number of days spent at market. I use four different marts depending on the beasts to sell: Skipton, Thirsk, Malton and Hull. I’m very in favour of livestock markets, without which the red meat industry would certainly have gone the way of the milk sector.
As with all market selling I’ve enjoyed the highs and lows. Our surplus in-calf and bulling Holstein heifers at Skipton had a variable trade, with some in-calf heifers selling for £1,600, while others of similar breeding sold for £700. The last of our fat and store lambs sold for £70 and £56/head respectively at Thirsk and Hull.
The highs were the Christmas fatstock shows at these marts, where I entered a pen of lambs in each. I was delighted to get a reserve champion at Thirsk and a supreme champion at Hull, where auctioneer Ralph Ward knocked the lambs down at £160/head.
What makes it even better is they were by a Dutch Texel tup called ‘Womble’, which I bought half price for obvious reasons.
It would appear the ‘season of goodwill’ hasn’t reached the pig meat processors yet. To avoid a seasonal Yuletide rise in DAPP, it would seem they’ve flooded the market with cheap imports and capped home produced loads. This forces any surplus pigs to go over weight with a consequential price penalty.
The media frenzy surrounding climate change and methane emissions in livestock must also be tackled. It is the time when those vocal parties in the organic movement need to work with us in promoting this country’s excellent livestock industry, organic and conventional.
After all, two organic dairy cows producing 6,000 litres of milk produce significantly more methane than one conventional cow yielding 12,000 litres.
Well, that’s got me off the Christmas card lists of any pig processors and the Soil Association, but to everyone else involved in farming, I wish you a Merry Christmas.
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