Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.33128/s.77.1-2.1
Economic use of male calves in dairy farms
Mato Čačić
orcid.org/0000-0002-1009-8692
; Ministry of Agriculture, Sector for Livestock Production, Zagreb, Croatia
Zoran Grgić
; Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Division of Agroeconomy and Informatics, Department of Management and Rural Entrepreneurship, Zagreb, Croatia
Marija Špehar
; Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, Zagreb, Croatia
Branka Šakić Bobić
; Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Division of Agroeconomy and Informatics, Department of Management and Rural Entrepreneurship, Zagreb, Croatia
Nina Karapandža Karlović
; Ministry of Agriculture, Sector for Livestock Production, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivana Čačić
; Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Division for special plant production, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Ante Ivanković
; Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
On dairy farms a certain number of calves are either unsuitable or not needed for the replacement of the milking herd. Therefore, they are removed from breeding being sold as a surplusage. To determine the model of using male and crossbred calves in dairy farms in the milk production control system in the Republic of Croatia, 1,717 managers of dairy farms were surveyed. Most male calves were sold as suckling or young calves, and only 26.6% of the farms kept the calves for fattening up to the category of fattened beef. The average age at sale was 47 days, and 56.8% of farms sold male calves up to 30 days of age. As expected, Holstein male calves were sold earlier than male calves of other dairy breeds. The breed has a significant influence on the age at sale and price of male calves, Simmental calves were sold at the highest age and for higher prices. Large farms sell male calves earlier, and a negative correlation was found between the size of the milking herd and the age at sale (P<0.01). Male calves were sold for an average price of 332.14 €, and the selling price was affected by the breed and the length of period in which the calves were reared on the farm. The selling price and time spent on the farm of male calves differed between the regions in which the farms were located. Differences in the average selling price by county result from different breed structures and different sizes of milking herds. It was found that the economic models of the use of male calves were significantly influenced by the breed, the size of the farm and the region where the farm is located.
Keywords
dairy farms; male calves; economic use
Hrčak ID:
304124
URI
Publication date:
19.6.2023.
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