Farming Chit Chat

bbam

whelan1 wrote: »

husband slipped on the low loader the other day, was complaining all weekend:rolleyes: anyways went to vhi clinic today and he broke a rib!

I broke two ribs years ago. He's in for a few weeks of pain so.

Muckit

reilig wrote: »

I am feeding for export though

A lot of lads get mixed up between 'export' and 'pride'.

pakalasa

just do it wrote: »

works out the same as rellig then without the hassle of all that extra feeding

I wouldn't say that. I think if you have good export types, then all meal will go into muscle and shape. If you have big growthy char types then the irish guy buying them doesn't want to be paying for condition they are going to loose over the winter anyway.
The problem is when you 'upgrade' the cows, they produce better shaped weanlings but you have to feed more meal to compensate for less milk. You'd wonder if you are gaining anything. Bigger cows and more poaching aswell.

Dozer1

Anyone going to Ennis tomorrow for those PB Limousin's selling that are advertised on DD, wouldn't mind going but work calls I'm afraid. be interesting to see what trade is like for these animals, it must be tougher than last year.

Black Smoke

pakalasa wrote: »

I wouldn't say that. I think if you have good export types, then all meal will go into muscle and shape. If you have big growthy char types then the irish guy buying them doesn't want to be paying for condition they are going to loose over the winter anyway.
The problem is when you 'upgrade' the cows, they produce better shaped weanlings but you have to feed more meal to compensate for less milk. You'd wonder if you are gaining anything. Bigger cows and more poaching aswell.

Reilig, posted he got just over €5k cheque for 5 animals. That's €1k 'ish each on average. Take away the €150, it's €850 ish on average.

It seems to me, that you are getting around the same on average after your €20 meal cost is stripped out.

Where is the "premium", for export class in that exercise?

tismesoitis

leg wax wrote: »

tis take some photos before they go so we can compare prices down here.:rolleyes:

wil do legs. i'l snap them in d mornin b4 we drop them over.

leg wax

tismesoitis wrote: »

wil do legs. i'l snap them in d mornin b4 we drop them over.

brill ,if we all did this we could all compare prices with the animal ,like the pic of the wh cow before she was killed,i thought that was a great little thread with a final out come.best of luck ,must get up that side to the mart.

tismesoitis

Black Smoke wrote: »

So, you can get a return on meal feeding of between 200% and 300%:rolleyes:
Jayzuz, if Larry Goodman were to read this ........................... :eek:

what i'm sayin is if i spend 100 euro on meal it'l add between 200 and 300 euro to the selling price of the calf . so the answer to ur question is yes easily 200% return and on some animals the 300%. I'l be expecting close to if not over €1000 avg on the 5 animals tomorrow night oldest is 10.5 mts old youngest wont be 9mts til 27th of this month.if they had no meal i think €800 would be closer to my expectations....Maybe you should try it b4 throwing in the :rolleyes:

jomoloney

reilig wrote: »

I sold 5 weinlings over the weekend. April and May born. They ate €150 of meal each since the end of July. 3 bulls, 2 heifers. I have over €5000 in the cheque.

what weights were they?

meal costs aside that's great money for Apr/May calves

reilig

jomoloney wrote: »

what weights were they?

meal costs aside that's great money for Apr/May calves

CH Bull 395kg Eur 1220
BB Bull 360kg Eur 1185
BB Bull 340kg Eur 1040
BB Heifer 340kg Eur 970
BB Heifer 320kg Eur 955

If you bring unfed BB's to the mart you'll get feck all for them.

At the end of the day its not all about what you get for them, its how much they cost you to get them to that stage. I know people who feed a lot more than me and get a lot less per head on average. Some people even feed meal to suckler cows - and not as a supplementary ration!!

You also have to produce animals for the market that you intend selling into and take the good years with the bad!!

pakalasa

What kind of cows have you Reilig? Were they all by AI or bull?

GoodMan55985

reilig wrote: »

CH Bull 395kg Eur 1220
BB Bull 360kg Eur 1185
BB Bull 340kg Eur 1040
BB Heifer 340kg Eur 970
BB Heifer 320kg Eur 955

I know people who feed a lot more than me and get a lot less per head on average. Some people even feed meal to suckler cows - and not as a supplementary ration!!

Rellig do mind me asking you said you sold at the weekend, was that in Dowra. Also about people feeding more than you do and getting a lot less, what in your opinion are they doing wrong? Is it cows they have, grassland management. Just trying to improve my weanlings for sale at end of the year so interested on your thoughts since you getting top prices. thanks

tismesoitis

reilig wrote: »

CH Bull 395kg Eur 1220
BB Bull 360kg Eur 1185
BB Bull 340kg Eur 1040
BB Heifer 340kg Eur 970
BB Heifer 320kg Eur 955

If you bring unfed BB's to the mart you'll get feck all for them.

At the end of the day its not all about what you get for them, its how much they cost you to get them to that stage. I know people who feed a lot more than me and get a lot less per head on average. Some people even feed meal to suckler cows - and not as a supplementary ration!!

You also have to produce animals for the market that you intend selling into and take the good years with the bad!!

jasus just realised they apr may calves thats some goin!!! u well over €3 a kg on some there we'l be happy with 2.40 -2.50!!

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

What kind of cows have you Reilig? Were they all by AI or bull?

Kind of doing a little experiment at the moment with my wife's herd. She has 7 pedigree limousin cows - all carefully chosen to come from a line of milk. All calves were off ai - easy calving bulls, mostly sfl. We are thinking about moving a good proportion of the cows to pedigree, but will have to wait to see how finances work out. The CH calf was off a stock bull - we just couldn't get the cow to hold to ai - she was supposed to be an autumn calver

whelan1

anyone notice a serious amount of people on this forum the last few days? last night at one stage there was over 150 people, 45 of them registered

pakalasa

whelan1 wrote: »

anyone notice a serious amount of people on this forum the last few days? last night at one stage there was over 150 people, 45 of them registered

I noticed that alright. That's you and your Chit Chat...:D

bogman_bass

Its the place to be!

GoodMan55985

whelan1 wrote: »

anyone notice a serious amount of people on this forum the last few days? last night at one stage there was over 150 people, 45 of them registered

I suppose it shows good for the forum, lots of people happy with advice given and received on farming issues. Maybe more people are talking about the forum to farmers they know and they joining up in turn. Noticed a lot of new users registered in the last month or two

reilig

GoodMan55985 wrote: »

Rellig do mind me asking you said you sold at the weekend, was that in Dowra. Also about people feeding more than you do and getting a lot less, what in your opinion are they doing wrong? Is it cows they have, grassland management. Just trying to improve my weanlings for sale at end of the year so interested on your thoughts since you getting top prices. thanks

Calves were advertised on the IFJ last thursday and the buyer came on saturday. We weighed them and he offered individual prices. Then we did a bit of haggling

The guy mentioned above who sold in Ballybay is a typical example of getting less in return. Muckit mentioned above about the difference between export and pride. Certainly there is a big difference, however you need to have pride in what you do in order to get the best return. You need to keep the best cows that you can, have the best grassland management system that you can, dose the best that you can and ultimately produce the best animals that you can. I feed meal because I feel that it gives a great return - not just in pride, but money in my pocket. I'm forward feeding calves on grass through a creep gate. I'm making sure that most cows have a good body condition score before they are housed so that they don't have to be fed meal on the slats.

What are people doing wrong? They are not interested in making money - instead they are happy to raise calves and sell them for less than they cost to raise. Many people on this forum don't agree with me, but its the truth.

A lot of small things done right will help to improve profits. You don't have to be selling calves at big prices to be making a profit if you have low costs for keeping cows.

I'm no expert, nor does getting a good price for a few calves make me one. I'm doing my own thing. I have to learn, sometimes I have to fail to learn, sometimes things will work out and I'll follow that line.

reilig

GoodMan55985 wrote: »

Noticed a lot of new users registered in the last month or two

And a couple coming back to us with new usernames

ABlur

whelan1 wrote: »

anyone notice a serious amount of people on this forum the last few days? last night at one stage there was over 150 people, 45 of them registered

Its the long winter nights what else can you do?!

just do it

reilig wrote: »

CH Bull 395kg Eur 1220
BB Bull 360kg Eur 1185
BB Bull 340kg Eur 1040
BB Heifer 340kg Eur 970
BB Heifer 320kg Eur 955

seriously good weight gain, particularly for the year that was in it. an average of around 1.45kg/day

adne

reilig wrote: »

€20 is 2 bags of weinling crunch @ €10 per bag - 50kg of meal

I had my weinlings in bunches of 8 and they were getting 1 full bag (25kg per day).

I am feeding for export though - all are BB or CH.

How long did you feed them at this rate reilig?

reilig

adne wrote: »

How long did you feed them at this rate reilig?

From about 20 september to last week. They were weined at that date because ground was wet and cows were doing a lot of poaching. The calves then had full access to good grass after this. Weining early definitely paid this year (for me).

just do it

Reilig
Have you weighed the cows?

Bizzum

reilig wrote: »

You need to keep the best cows that you can, have the best grassland management system that you can, dose the best that you can and ultimately produce the best animals that you can. I feed meal because I feel that it gives a great return - not just in pride, but money in my pocket. I'm forward feeding calves on grass through a creep gate. I'm making sure that most cows have a good body condition score before they are housed so that they don't have to be fed meal on the slats..

Much the same with ourselves.
A bad one, be it cow or calf, will eat as much as a good one. A weanling particularly a bull calf will benefit from meal. Some lads go over the top and feed middling calves high levels of ration in an effort to boost weight gain, and cover any deficiency, quality wise the calf may have. We all see them up and down, weanlings nearly fit to kill coming off cows.
Our own Chx weanlings tend to be big growthy heavy calves with nice shape(thats the aim anyway!) they need the bit of ration to reach their potential, but I think they do perform well on it.

Bizzum

whelan1 wrote: »

anyone notice a serious amount of people on this forum the last few days? last night at one stage there was over 150 people, 45 of them registered

I noticed that myself. I wondered had it anything to do with lads being logged on via smartphones the whole time?

bbam

Bizzum wrote: »

I noticed that myself. I wondered had it anything to do with lads being logged on via smartphones the whole time?

No need to be supprised. It has everything a geek farmer needs.
Close to DoneDeal, pictures of savage stock, tractor talk, machinery talk, lads with experience of all sectors of farming willing to share their experience.
All we need is a lonley hearts matchmaker thread and were set. Maybe Whelan could kick that off too

poor farmer

bbam wrote: »

No need to be supprised. It has everything a geek farmer needs.
Close to DoneDeal, pictures of savage stock, tractor talk, machinery talk, lads with experience of all sectors of farming willing to share their experience.
All we need is a lonley hearts matchmaker thread and were set. Maybe Whelan could kick that off too

What about an agony aunt

whelan1

poor farmer wrote: »

What about an agony aunt

dear frankie ( for anyone who is old enough to remember:D)

whelan1

was in big pet shop last night, €7.99 for 4kg bag of straw:eek::eek: €6.99 for a 4kg bag of sawdust..... think it would be a good line of business to go in to

redzerologhlen

On the phone all morning pricing troughs and gates. Have a 550 gallon concrete trough coming from wexford and 2 traditional style burren gates in the post now...€870 poorer too

JohnBoy

What's a burren style gate?

redzerologhlen

JohnBoy wrote: »

What's a burren style gate?

Scroll down through the link to where it says download pics of gate, sorry I dont know how to attach it.

http://www.burrenlife.com/phase-ii-resources.php

JohnBoy

Ahh, nice, I likes a good gate.

redzerologhlen

JohnBoy wrote: »

Ahh, nice, I likes a good gate.

They are nice alright, €200 a pop for 10ft's with posts so they werent too dear either.

JohnBoy

No, that's not too shabby for something that's probably not being mass produced by someone like gibneys.

whelan1

was at the mart there now, serious difference in the meal fed weanlings and those that arent, i thought under the scws weanlings are to be fed meal before weaning

Black Smoke

whelan1 wrote: »

was at the mart there now, serious difference in the meal fed weanlings and those that arent, i thought under the scws weanlings are to be fed meal before weaning

You would be surprised, how many SCWS calves, come into the marts, which have not even been weaned, not to mention fed meal.

leg wax

whelan1 wrote: »

was at the mart there now, serious difference in the meal fed weanlings and those that arent, i thought under the scws weanlings are to be fed meal before weaning

20 euros of meal is the new way to save and make money, only joking lads.:D

Black Smoke

leg wax wrote: »

20 euros of meal is the new way to save and make money, only joking lads.:D

It's an effective savings plan, when the cow does what she was initially designed to do. Produce milk:cool:
Isn't that what the last update we got from the smart boys in Derrypatrick told us. Milk in the cow = weight on the calf! Isn't that what we learned as little boys all those years ago. Nowadays, we need a whole team of researchers and so on, working in D'patrick and ICBF to tell us the same thing.

freedominacup

redzerologhlen wrote: »

On the phone all morning pricing troughs and gates. Have a 550 gallon concrete trough coming from wexford and 2 traditional style burren gates in the post now...€870 poorer too

Unless you're dealing with v.large numbers those big troughs can be a real nuisance. They're f**kers to keep clean as much as anything else. If you empty them to clean them you'd want a very good flow to get them re-filled before stock come. Vermin seem to love them. I'm fed up finding skeletons of birds and what looked like on more than one occasion a small badger in them. Larger pipes and a more powerful pump are a better investment. IMO

bob charles

since I got up early this morning it hasnt stopped raining here. thursday is forecast dry though:)

hugo29

any one set up paddock system, going to set up this year if it ever stops raining, what size would you go for, was thinking 3 acre blocks

Black Smoke

bob charles wrote: »

since I got up early this morning it hasnt stopped raining here. thursday is forecast dry though:)

Same here:( In fact, since about 12 June, it's been pretty much raining non stop.
Have absolutely made firm resolution, to sell as much stock as possible in the next few weeks. Enough to make fodder on hand last till late April. If this weather continues into next spring ............... :eek::eek::eek:

redzerologhlen

freedominacup wrote: »

Unless you're dealing with v.large numbers those big troughs can be a real nuisance. They're f**kers to keep clean as much as anything else. If you empty them to clean them you'd want a very good flow to get them re-filled before stock come. Vermin seem to love them. I'm fed up finding skeletons of birds and what looked like on more than one occasion a small badger in them. Larger pipes and a more powerful pump are a better investment. IMO

Its to go in a bit of winterage on the side of a mountain that has no water in dry weather, the nearest water scheme or even half reliable water source is a few miles down hill so pumping is out of question im afraid. Was hoping it would hold enough water for a few days if we got a frost or dry spell however unlikely that is in this country and was warned by a few people to stay away from the bigger jfc'c because they spread with time. Have you had any break with from freezing? Thats what was worrying me the most about it.

freedominacup

hugo29 wrote: »

any one set up paddock system, going to set up this year if it ever stops raining, what size would you go for, was thinking 3 acre blocks

Best grassland farmer i know has vitually no paddocks. He has a comprehensive network of roadways and watertroughs. All bounds ditches and all roadways are fenced. There are gaps every roughly 50 metres but little or no internal divisions. Many of his sections would be more than 10 acres for a 60 cow herd. He allocates grass using strip wires front and back. Never "stops" silage simply skips areas that get too strong and cuts them immeadiately for bales. Because of this he doesn't top either as all of the farm will be cut for silage at some point in the year. I think a lot of paddocks might actually make your management harder if you're not used to them. A system like this might give you more flexability to allocate grass according to the number and type of stock.

Rough rule of thumb 1 acre @ 2000kg cover is roughly the requirement for 50 average dairy cows at peak yields for 24 hours. So your 3 acre paddocks would do 150 cow herd at peak growth and peak demand for 24 hours. Don't know what numbers or type of stock you're dealing with.

Kovu

Horrible misty rain here all day too, the auld lad is on a blood pressure moniter for 24 hours so I'm at all the work for yesterday & today. He picked great weather to send me out!:P

leg wax

Black Smoke wrote: »

It's an effective savings plan, when the cow does what she was initially designed to do. Produce milk:cool:
Isn't that what the last update we got from the smart boys in Derrypatrick told us. Milk in the cow = weight on the calf! Isn't that what we learned as little boys all those years ago. Nowadays, we need a whole team of researchers and so on, working in D'patrick and ICBF to tell us the same thing.[/QUOTE do i really want to get into this one:rolleyes:

freedominacup

redzerologhlen wrote: »

Its to go in a bit of winterage on the side of a mountain that has no water in dry weather, the nearest water scheme or even half reliable water source is a few miles down hill so pumping is out of question im afraid. Was hoping it would hold enough water for a few days if we got a frost or dry spell however unlikely that is in this country and was warned by a few people to stay away from the bigger jfc'c because they spread with time. Have you had any break with from freezing? Thats what was worrying me the most about it.

I wouldn't really know much about freezing. My eldest lad was 9 before he made his first snowman in 2010. I had never seen frost on an electric fence wire before I went to Multy to do the cert. If we were a mile further south we'd be fishing not farming so my opinions on cold wouldn't be worth listening to. If you're getting the trough for a use like that then you'd surely be unlikely to have the problems I outlined but I'd empty it at the end of the winter and disconnect it.