A beef farmer in this country cannot be expected to take an animal that nobody else wants and expected to make money out of it, TJ Sullivan, chair of Carbery has said.

Speaking at Dairy Day on bull calves, he said it’s about having a good healthy animal presentable for sale.

“The other side of that is, whoever buys that animal they need to be presented with something that they can make money out of as well.

“If the animal is healthy and in good condition there’s an opportunity for the other person to make money out of it, which is good for the dairy industry, good for the beef industry, good for everybody,” he said.

Aurivo co-op chair Pat Duffy said that Irish farmers have a wonderful story to tell, but warned that a “very small minority” has the potential to paint a very bad picture of the industry.

“One mistake by an Irish farmer could damage the whole industry irreparably,” he said. His comments were echoed by Dairygold chair John O’Gorman who said 99% of farmers are doing an excellent job on calf rearing and that needs to be recognised.

“There is a very small percentage that would be putting the industry at risk, it takes generations to build a reputation, which can be destroyed in five seconds,” he said.

Bobby calf warning

Irish dairy farmers were also told that they need to learn from mistakes made by the New Zealand dairy industry on the issue of the euthanasia of low-value dairy bred bull or “bobby calves”.

John Penno co-founder of New Zealand’s Synlait warned Ireland to develop a strategy for managing dairy bred bull calves that meets with consumer expectations.