Contract heifer rearing a vital resource

06-07-2020 | Breeding | Article

Having someone else rear the replacement heifers not only releases a lot of time for the farmer and housing demand, the practice can also be essential on some farms trying to keep their farms under Nitrates Directives quotas. Photo: Chris McCullough

Rearing dairy heifer replacements represent significant costs for a dairy farmer therefore it makes logical financial sense to have another farm contract rear them. Experts have calculated that, on average, using grazing systems it can cost around UK£1,800 per head to rear them. Research has shown that this figure can be reduced by managing the animals to calve down at 2 years old, at between 540kg and 580kg liveweight. In addition to the baseline variable costs, the rearer will have to factor