Farming Chit Chat

Timmaay

freedominacup wrote: »

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.

Yeh that's something I've considered doing. Two of our land blocks have no permanent paddock divisions, just electric fencing which isn't in great shape. We could do with upgrading and installing more cowpaths, as well as reseeding a good few of the paddocks. All of which costs money! When I do get around to the reseeding I'll try do afew paddocks together, reduce the number of paddocks to save on fencing, but put in more gaps in the laneways as such, and then just use internal electric fence divisions.

freedominacup

Timmaay wrote: »

Yeh that's something I've considered doing. Two of our land blocks have no permanent paddock divisions, just electric fencing which isn't in great shape. We could do with upgrading and installing more cowpaths, as well as reseeding a good few of the paddocks. All of which costs money! When I do get around to the reseeding I'll try do afew paddocks together, reduce the number of paddocks to save on fencing, but put in more gaps in the laneways as such, and then just use internal electric fence divisions.

The guy I'm talking about is working this system for more than 10 years maybe upto 15 at this stage and has it down to a fine art. I hadn't been on his farm for a long time, we used to be in the same discussion group but got split when Teagasc took over, but I went to a walk on his farm this year and it was impressive to see it in action. Funny one though last time I was on his place he had just sprayed a particular block for docks, first place we went on this walk was same block still same bloody dock infestation. Not really an issue on the rest of his farm but this block was giving him constant trouble.

Timmaay

Docks are another thing I'm determined to sort out next year also! Sick of seeing them in the silage the whole time at the minute! I'm getting a sprayer for the tractor in the spring, and just picked up a small one for the quad last week. The aim is to put it on the quad every week or so, and whenever I see patches emerging, spray them, once its on the quad I'll prb be out in the paddocks anyway so wont be much of an extra chore. But yep, They always seem to come out in patches! There was a ditch removed down the middle of one of our paddock years ago (like at least 40years ago!), and docks always come up right along where the ditch was!

pakalasa

leg wax wrote: »

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

In fairness, I do remember you saying a while back that you were trying the Parth cows to see if they would have more milk than the Blondes. Nothing wrong with milky cows.

gozunda

Timmaay wrote: »

Docks are another thing I'm determined to sort out next year also! Sick of seeing them in the silage the whole time at the minute! I'm getting a sprayer for the tractor in the spring, and just picked up a small one for the quad last week. The aim is to put it on the quad every week or so, and whenever I see patches emerging, spray them, once its on the quad I'll prb be out in the paddocks anyway so wont be much of an extra chore. But yep, They always seem to come out in patches! There was a ditch removed down the middle of one of our paddock years ago (like at least 40years ago!), and docks always come up right along where the ditch was!

If you spread slurry - you will get new seeding of docks every year. Dock is one plant that will go thru the cows intestine, survive for months in liquid slurry and then propagate once spread in the right conditions.

The ones coming up where the old ditch was may be because of more favourable growing conditions - diff soil profile etc

Dock likes nitrate rich acid soil. Liming to reduce pH will help grass growth and not suit dock

Best way to deal with Dock is to either spray more than once with weed killer and then spot spray each spring,

Timmaay

gozunda wrote: »

Dock likes nitrate rich acid soil. Liming to reduce pH will help grass growth and not suit dock

Hmmm ugh, I didn't know that at all, and it's most lightly a big factor so. We've avoided liming one of the blocks as we only rent it on a 1 year lease at a time, despite soil tests suggesting it needs it badly. Another reason I really need to get a long term lease on that land!

ABlur

Young farmer for sale!


http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tractors/4174922

mf240

Damn it I rang up said hed be right handy round the yard for the winter.

Some farther murphy had allready been round and paid a deposit on him.

leg wax

pakalasa wrote: »

In fairness, I do remember you saying a while back that you were trying the Parth cows to see if they would have more milk than the Blondes. Nothing wrong with milky cows.

when you guys talk about milk and and i talk about more milk we are on different planets,blonds have very little milk and i just want a little more a increase of 2 lires a day would just be perfect.

Muckit

Bizzum wrote: »

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

+1

leg wax

on another note, you all know of my small calves problem,the last calf that went to the lab has sent alam bells ringing in the dept.i have to blood test all cows that had funny calves tommorow as they think its this new virus thats in cork.time will tell.

whelan1

leg wax wrote: »

on another note, you all know of my small calves problem,the last calf that went to the lab has sent alam bells ringing in the dept.i have to blood test all cows that had funny calves tommorow as they think its this new virus thats in cork.time will tell.

jeeny. hopefully you get answers soon

pakalasa

leg wax wrote: »

on another note, you all know of my small calves problem,the last calf that went to the lab has sent alam bells ringing in the dept.i have to blood test all cows that had funny calves tommorow as they think its this new virus thats in cork.time will tell.

Fook!

tanko

That's terrible news. How many of these calves have you had so far?

kboc

leg wax wrote: »

on another note, you all know of my small calves problem,the last calf that went to the lab has sent alam bells ringing in the dept.i have to blood test all cows that had funny calves tommorow as they think its this new virus thats in cork.time will tell.

are ye jokin?

Bizzum

Worrying times Legwax. I hope you reach a satisfactory resolution. No matter how unpalatable, it's vital to get to the bottom of the issue. Best of luck.

Juniorhurler

Bizzum wrote: »

Worrying times Legwax. I hope you reach a satisfactory resolution. No matter how unpalatable, it's vital to get to the bottom of the issue. Best of luck.

+1. Hopefully we will still be seeing scania loads of quality blues for Davey to shift.

leg wax

tanko wrote: »

That's terrible news. How many of these calves have you had so far?

kboc wrote: »

are ye jokin?

10 calves in the last year or so ,and no not jokin.the last calf was born 2 weeks ago normal body ,really short legs and her spine was all twisted.

just do it

redzerologhlen wrote: »

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

Did you go with one of the local lads listed or the wexford crowd?

just do it

Bizzum wrote: »

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.

"An ounce of breed'n beats a pound of feed'n"

just do it

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

I set one up this year and felt it helped out given the wet year that was in it. The roadways are crucial so that each paddock leads back to the shed. It will be next year before I get a full year out of it though.

I looked at what freedominacup is referring to but everything I do is all about minimising time I need to spend on the farm. Strip grazing requires constant moving of the forward and back fence and I've neither the time nor patience for that! Sure if I was full-time that would be a different story.

Regarding the size of padock you'll have to give us a bit more info. What's your farming system, what size group are you looking at?

just do it

Kovu Murr wrote: »

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

Jeez Kovu, how much work are you talking about each day? Now that all my stock are in I spend between 20-40mins farming each week day and jobs like dosing etc are for the weekend.

Now if only I could find some way of only having the cows calf at the weekend?:D

just do it

ABlur wrote: »

Young farmer for sale!


http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tractors/4174922

I hope that young fella knows he's up on d'net. I don't mean to get morbid but a few lads around here have hung up their boots early this year and stuff like this could trigger something in a sensitive type. On the other hand he looks like a lad that's up for a good laugh and will see the funny side of it

just do it

leg wax wrote: »

on another note, you all know of my small calves problem,the last calf that went to the lab has sent alam bells ringing in the dept.i have to blood test all cows that had funny calves tommorow as they think its this new virus thats in cork.time will tell.

That's the new schmallenberg virus they're worried about see here. Jeez legs I hope you've seen the end of it. Have you many more to calf around now? From what I've read on it the cows pick it up from biting insects in early pregnancy so if it is it, it actually came into your farm months ago.

What ever it is, I wish you the best. It's hard enough to make a profit without the likes of this thrown into the mix.

just do it

What's going on? A few weeks ago lads were complaining it has gotten too quiet on here and all of a sudden its taken me 45min to read through this one thread and pen a few replies!;)

hugo29

Have 30 acres beside each other of which i used to hold 12 for silage,will move silage ground, want to spend less time moving cows on road as farm is fragmented, want to split into 2 six acre paddocks with week grazing on each and 6 three acre paddocks which have to last 2 weeks between them, plan to hold 13 cows and bull on these, culls and heifers elsewhere

whelan1

just do it wrote: »

I hope that young fella knows he's up on d'net. I don't mean to get morbid but a few lads around here have hung up their boots early this year and stuff like this could trigger something in a sensitive type. On the other hand he looks like a lad that's up for a good laugh and will see the funny side of it

couldnt agree more, my eldest lad - only 11- is now being refered to counselling following internet bullying, now theres 1 side of me that says he shouldnt be on the internet but the other half says that the boy causing all the trouble has no idea the hurt and pain he has caused to another child, kids can be so hurtful without thinking

hugo29

this internet bullying is getting out of hand, can i ask what sort of stuff they say, i hope it sorts it self out for you, i am interested as a parent who will prob face the same thing, did you monitor the computer or was your kid grounded enough to come to you

bob charles

are allot of kids just getting soft and are now dealing with these things themselves. have there social skills disappeared with the use of all the latest communications. all learning nowadays is based around introverts where when I was a little boy we were all brought up as independent extraverts

whelan1

hugo29 wrote: »

this internet bullying is getting out of hand, can i ask what sort of stuff they say, i hope it sorts it self out for you, i am interested as a parent who will prob face the same thing, did you monitor the computer or was your kid grounded enough to come to you

luckilly my son tells me everything- sometimes too much- this lad told him no one liked him and more or less that he was better off dead:eek::eek::eek: now i had monitored the computer but i cant be there 24/7 so now, 10 minutes a day on fb, no messages allowed, i have his password and can go through everything anymore trouble and he's off it....

freedominacup

whelan1 wrote: »

couldnt agree more, my eldest lad - only 11- is now being refered to counselling following internet bullying, now theres 1 side of me that says he shouldnt be on the internet but the other half says that the boy causing all the trouble has no idea the hurt and pain he has caused to another child, kids can be so hurtful without thinking

Is it a kid from his school that's involved? If so is it a continuation of the same sort of thing happening in the playground? If something is happening in school I'd be dragging the school into it, I'd be looking for sanctions from the school. The school is obliged to have an anti-bullying program/strategy in place. Get a copy of it and make them stick to it. There's a possibility they will try to move your son on as it's easier to deal with the victim than the bully, suspension proceedings and esp expulsion proceedings often end up in court.

I was on the wrong end of this s**t as a child, I covered it up for years until I ended up being seriously assaulted by a gang in a classroom. Looking back I think the teachers were aware to some degree I was getting a hard time but didn't intervene as it was easier not to. After I was assaulted the ballgame changed utterly, absolute panic stations because if there was a likelyhood of a court case it would have been instigated by my family. Bullies were sanctioned to what degree I never found out but while I never had a particularly enjoyable time in school afterwards the grief was 99% gone. Point being if you're going to the school be prepared to bring the pain. Make it abundantly clear that you will be trouble until they sort out the problem. Point out that you are self-employed, that you make your own hours and that the principal better clear a couple of hours a day every day for dealing with you until the bullying is sorted. Best of luck with it but keep after it.

whelan1

bob charles wrote: »

are allot of kids just getting soft and are now dealing with these things themselves. have there social skills disappeared with the use of all the latest communications. all learning nowadays is based around introverts where when I was a little boy we were all brought up as independent extraverts

i said something similar to the principal, she said in your day there was no internet, we can not monitor what is being said on the internet, playground stuff can be tackled but what is said on the internet on a friday night stays in a kids mind til monday til they can deal with it

whelan1

freedominacup wrote: »

Is it a kid from his school that's involved? If so is it a continuation of the same sort of thing happening in the playground? If something is happening in school I'd be dragging the school into it, I'd be looking for sanctions from the school. The school is obliged to have an anti-bullying program/strategy in place. Get a copy of it and make them stick to it. There's a possibility they will try to move your son on as it's easier to deal with the victim than the bully, suspension proceedings and esp expulsion proceedings often end up in court.

I was on the wrong end of this s**t as a child, I covered it up for years until I ended up being seriously assaulted by a gang in a classroom. Looking back I think the teachers were aware to some degree I was getting a hard time but didn't intervene as it was easier not to. After I was assaulted the ballgame changed utterly, absolute panic stations because if there was a likelyhood of a court case it would have been instigated by my family. Bullies were sanctioned to what degree I never found out but while I never had a particularly enjoyable time in school afterwards the grief was 99% gone. Point being if you're going to the school be prepared to bring the pain. Make it abundantly clear that you will be trouble until they sort out the problem. Point out that you are self-employed, that you make your own hours and that the principal better clear a couple of hours a day every day for dealing with you until the bullying is sorted. Best of luck with it but keep after it.

school have been brilliant, couldnt fault them really , its the boys parents that are the real disaster in all this....

pakalasa

There was a programme on bullying last night on RTE. Sad really. The internet opens up a whole new world for this sort of thing.
I watched it last night and I couln't help but think of a guy in our secondry school who got bullied so bad, the whole year was spoken to about it. He was mad into computers, so all the usual 'computer nerd' name calling stuff. He ended up going to the same uiversity as myself. At graduation, he was the last person to be called up. He got an award for the highest points across all the courses. He also had a PhD lined up in Oxford University. This was before computers really took off. I often wonder what all the little sh1ts that were teasing him are at now.

Just googled him. He's on Wikipedia now

freedominacup

whelan1 wrote: »

school have been brilliant, couldnt fault them really , its the boys parents that are the real disaster in all this....

I'm glad the school have been helpful, not much surprise that the boy's parents haven't been much cop. Anyone around handy @ the oul IT maybe know a guy who could make unpleasant things happen to internet connections and devices. Slow the f**ker down a bit if nothing else.

jomoloney

we are blessed that we have a fantastic female community garda in this area, who lets say often goes beyond the call of duty & deals with issues in her own particular way

hugo29

what technology has to answer for eh, what happened to gettin a bit of grief in the yard and teachers sorting it out and that was it end off,

my yound lad at 2 and half as well as a few of his friends was getting bullied in play school (yes play school) by an out of control 3 year old, creche turned blind eye and we only found out when he told us himself, i mean do these people not understand if you dont catch this in time it gets worse,

there has to be a way of stopping this on net, little sh!ts

bob charles

pakalasa wrote: »

Just googled him. He's on Wikipedia now

and your still stuck on boards:D

whelan1

hugo29 wrote: »

what technology has to answer for eh, what happened to gettin a bit of grief in the yard and teachers sorting it out and that was it end off,

my yound lad at 2 and half as well as a few of his friends was getting bullied in play school (yes play school) by an out of control 3 year old, creche turned blind eye and we only found out when he told us himself, i mean do these people not understand if you dont catch this in time it gets worse,

there has to be a way of stopping this on net, little sh!ts

would you believe this has been going on since junior infants, 8 full years, i know the mother well and she knows what he is like, but, "its very hard to give out to him":eek::eek: like ffs deal with your kids,sad part is my daughter and their daughter are best friends .... she says its second child syndrome, other people have said for my son to give your man a box, but he's not like that . he's a softie

whelan1

jomoloney wrote: »

we are blessed that we have a fantastic female community garda in this area, who lets say often goes beyond the call of duty & deals with issues in her own particular way

i am done trying to talk to the mother , so if school cant sort it out i will be going to the guards, if he's like this now what will he be like in a few years time

hugo29

actually i am with the smack in the head group, its not good to advocate violence but as kenny rodgers said "sometimes you have to fight to be a man"

my yound lads grandfather taught him how to pretend he was going to smack the bully (we did not even know until my lad showed me), my lad was also a softie but it seemed to work

if the mother (or father) wont step up to the mark and sort it out then yes you have to do whats best for your kid, if that upsets the other parents so be it

redzerologhlen

just do it wrote: »

Did you go with one of the local lads listed or the wexford crowd?

Ordered the gates local alright but murphy concrete were the only ones I could find doing the concrete troughs in 550 gallon.

whelan1

just watching las tnights bullyproof on rte player, hard stuff to watch:(

Muckit

No offence lads, but God between poor chippy1's and Whelan1's misfortunes, this thread is gone more like Primetime than 'chit chat' !

adne

Muckit wrote: »

No offence lads, but God between poor chippy1's and Whelan1's misfortunes, this thread is gone more like Primetime than 'chit chat' !

Chippy1 did your vet come back yet with the reason the cattle were dying ??

whelan1

another thing i noticed in mart yesterday was the very low value of hereford cattle, one fella had angus and white head heifers and the was difference of up to €300 on the bidding of same weight animals:eek: why is this? the bidding on the angus was mad compared to the wh

Juniorhurler

whelan1 wrote: »

another thing i noticed in mart yesterday was the very low value of hereford cattle, one fella had angus and white head heifers and the was difference of up to €300 on the bidding of same weight animals:eek: why is this? the bidding on the angus was mad compared to the wh

Because bar as a recipient to calve an embryo no whitehead will ever calve in my pen. A lot of other Suckler farmers around here feel the same too. Angus heifers will be bought as breeding stock, imo that is the difference.

simx

whelan1 wrote: »

another thing i noticed in mart yesterday was the very low value of hereford cattle, one fella had angus and white head heifers and the was difference of up to €300 on the bidding of same weight animals:eek: why is this? the bidding on the angus was mad compared to the wh

what kg? price? did herefords make?

if i wanted bulling heifers and they were of good quality id be trying them some of the best weanlings here are off hereford cows, takes little to keep them i think they are good cows, one hereford heifer here at moment had calf about month ago from a lim bull and i cant wait to see him this time next year hes doing exceptionally well

Juniorhurler

simx wrote: »

what kg? price? did herefords make?

if i wanted bulling heifers and they were of good quality id be trying them some of the best weanlings here are off hereford cows, takes little to keep them i think they are good cows, one hereford heifer here at moment had calf about month ago from a lim bull and i cant wait to see him this time next year hes doing exceptionally well

I aim for the shipping trade though and off hereford cows you wont make that.

whelan1

afair 400kg, hereford making from 650 -800 , aa up to 1000... didnt write anything down but it was very noticable the price difference