“This year we have seen a record bull kill and that is the result of the calf retention of two years ago when people opted to rear calves.”
But given the general nervousness around Mycoplasma bovis it’s looking likely there will be fewer calves reared this season and the bobby kill will climb.
“And you would have to assume in two years that will flow through to bull numbers available and a shortage of bull beef,” Bunting said.
“We know there are people that may well have contemplated rearing but are now looking to opt out and that’s not so much the dairy farmers themselves but the rearers.”
Number one, they have to be mindful of confidence in the properties they are securing calves from and that’s likely to limit demand.
Number two is cost and the implications of pasteurising milk and rising milk powder costs won’t be economic for smaller finishers.
In that light, Anzco expects an increased bobby kill.
“Which is not a problem as far as processing goes but is a worry for us in two years when arguably there’s less bulls available.”
Anzco will pick up from restricted place properties operating in accordance with Primary Industries Ministry permits.
Alliance livestock and shareholder services general manager Heather Stacy said the company has a team in the field across the country with applications from farmers starting to come in.
“Some farmers are not sure, some are more, some are less, numbers are a bit hard to call at this stage.
Alliance will collect bobby calves the same as always and farms under MPI restrictions will be picked up and processed according to MPI instruction.
Silver Fern Farms is expecting little impact in its bobby kill operations because it won’t be picking up calves from properties under MPI restriction.
“We won’t be collecting calves from affected Restrict Place Notice farms to reduce complexity of pick-ups for transport routes,” sustainability and communications hed Justin Courtney said.
“It will also give confidence to our suppliers that our service won’t be a potential vector from infected stock.
“Considering the uncertainty of the season we still anticipate volumes will be in line with last season.
“Farmers will be looking at next season’s demand for replacement stock and this will be a factor in stock flows.”
LIC is making changes to its Wagyu calf collections, asking farmers to keep the calves for longer so all calves from one farm are collected in one pick-up with a clean, dedicated stock truck for each farm.
That decision, made with First Light, is a precautionary approach to minimise any biosecurity risks associated with collecting and transporting animals across different farms.
Farmers will be paid extra to help cover the increased cost of rearing.
MPI said all farms under regulatory requirements will require a permit to move bobby calves off a property.
The permit has requirements that must be met by the farmer and the transporter, in particular, a truck carrying bobbies must go directly to the processing plant and not pick up other animals at farms along the way.
The truck must be thoroughly cleaned at the plant after discharging the animals.
