future of dairy farming

dufferman

does anyone think there is a future in dairy farming. my father is milking 50 cows at the moment and he is getting close to retiring and he is giving me the option of taking over. im a electrician myself and because of this recession i have to look at other options. we have a very basic system, no slated tanks, small sheds, if i was serious about it i would have to invest alot of money to get things set up right but im afraid there might not be a future for it in ireland. i heard the other day that the price of milk was coming down in the spring and the cost of producing it would be more than the price u get for it.what will happen when the quota is done away with? so what do u guys think the future holds?

dufferman

oh ya, if i was to take over i would like to expand to maybe 80 cows, ideally how many acres would u need for that many cows? we currently have 95 acres. thanks for ur help

leg wax

i would take a step back and look. are u really interested in cows and all the work involved,been tied down too them. if yes then i would ask the question why did u not join the farm when u left school.a electrician was ur first choise why ???? if the farm was not big enough then for two wages think ahead will u be able to support a family of ur own.95 acres sounds like a nice size,but when quotas go its not how many cows can it carry but how much milk.

irish_bob

as bad as milk price is at the moment , cows are not all that much cheaper than last year

dufferman

leg wax wrote: »

i would take a step back and look. are u really interested in cows and all the work involved,been tied down too them. if yes then i would ask the question why did u not join the farm when u left school.a electrician was ur first choise why ???? if the farm was not big enough then for two wages think ahead will u be able to support a family of ur own.95 acres sounds like a nice size,but when quotas go its not how many cows can it carry but how much milk.

to be honest im not mad about dairy farming but i wouldnt mind gettin more involved if i thought there was going to be a good future in it, contruction in ireland is f**kt for a good few years so i have to look at other options. is there any other type of farming i could do on a farm that size?

leg wax

at this moment in time i am confused as to where dairying is going.the eu gave dairy farmers a cheque in the post 4 a number of years eg single farm payment . now at the time i was led to believe this was for compensation for a drop in milk price as milk would have to drop to world prices and that when quotas go with extra milk about thatprices would drop {supply demand}.now i see that the eu is back putting butter milk powder into storage.this compleatly confuses me ,they are paying 4 milk twice in my books.whats going to happen when quotas go all surplus milk products back into storage, why get rid of quotas.its like one of cowans men is in charge in brussels.getting back to ur oter questions any other enterprises 4 95 acres,whats over the ditch as in whats ur neighbour at,,any possiblity of renting ang increasing acerageso u can milk 150/200 cows in years to come.i got out of cows 2 years ago into suckling now ,over all money is not as good,but is a lot better per hour involved working. and had my first decent holiday last year:o

Bitten & Hisses

Some constructive criticism legwax, please lose the txtspk as it makes your posts very difficult to read.

Anyway, SFP for dairy farmers was intended to compensate for an expected decline in milk price. However, due to the laws of supply and demand, this didn't really happen and farmers got record milk prices in 2007 and to a lesser extent in 2008. At present, the milk price paid to farmers is not reflective of market returns and the co-ops are propping up said price. Realistically, dairy farmers can expect a milk price of 20 to 23 c/litre in 2009, unless the supply/demand balance swings dramatically.
Dairy markets were in a declining price situation anyway, but then the Euro strengthened against other currencies, making our exports completely uncompetitive on the global market. In fact, currency has had a bigger effect on dairy commodity prices than any other factor in the market. That said, the global credit crunch has also played its part in the whole mess.
The EU have decided to re-introduce export refunds mainly due to these currency issues. AFAIK the 2009 level of intervention was always going to be there, but I am open to correction on that. There are exceptional circumstances out there at the moment and to accuse the EU of mismanagement in this matter is unfair.
OP, you'll need scale to survive as a dairy farmer in the future. You will need to be ruthless on costs and efficiencies and will need 150% commitment to the job. If the 7-day thing is a problem for you, don't go into it. (It's one of the main reasons why I didn't go into dairying when given the opportunity) In other words, unless you wish for dairy farming to consume you completely, it's probably not for you.