Farming Chit Chat

jomoloney

whelan1 wrote: »

was thinking that also and no mask or anything on your man in the pit.... seems to be in england looking at the reg plates

think they were using sand on the cubicles and it built up in the pit, another clip there of emptying a tower with a digger , sand as well

leg wax

pakalasa wrote: »

Were these purebred BB breeding bulls?

no

vanderbadger

leg wax wrote: »

no

did the seller have to announce they were imported ?

pakalasa

leg wax wrote: »

no

Why bring them (BB Bulls) from Romania to Ireland, in the hope that some exporter would buy them to bring them back to Italy. Someone chancing their arm with an empty lorry, I suppose.
What was the quality like?

dzer2

leg wax wrote: »

i was in tullow mart yesterday and someone had a few bb bulls that were brought in from romania and ended bringing them all home,i felt like running around as he came out and going haha.

What age were they and what weight are they. Was there no bids or did he reckon he wasnt getting enough for them. Only asking as I know 4 lorry loads were brought in mid feb and were sold at 375 euro each but I am nearly sure they were purebred.

leg wax

vanderbadger wrote: »

did the seller have to announce they were imported ?

they were all declared so that they could not be thrown up later

pakalasa wrote: »

Why bring them (BB Bulls) from Romania to Ireland, in the hope that some exporter would buy them to bring them back to Italy. Someone chancing their arm with an empty lorry, I suppose.
What was the quality like?

there was nothing wrong with them

dzer2 wrote: »

What age were they and what weight are they. Was there no bids or did he reckon he wasnt getting enough for them. Only asking as I know 4 lorry loads were brought in mid feb and were sold at 375 euro each but I am nearly sure they were purebred.

400-470 kg the best made around 900 but they were around 700 average.i think who ever had them should have taken the money.u grade bulls mostly.did not take any notice of the age.

freedominacup

That's a rough bitch of an evening out there now lads:eek:

whelan1

freedominacup wrote: »

That's a rough bitch of an evening out there now lads:eek:

yup, think thats the end of my cows being out now:mad: just had 60 stale milkers out during the day, happy as larry (until this evening)

bob charles

whelan1 wrote: »

yup, think thats the end of my cows being out now:mad: just had 60 stale milkers out during the day, happy as larry (until this evening)

looks like you guys up the country are getting a taste of our medicine now, unfortunately we have been on it months and no sign of improvement

freedominacup

Anybody use that YRNO website for weather forecast? They were very accurate all summer but seem to be off the money at the moment. Wind's been howling all night sounds like it's chucking it down but their nowcast is saying strong breeze and less than one mm of rain for the next 4-5 hours as they have been for the past 24 hours.

kevthegaff

ya i use it and met eireann, its grand for ten day but they say no weather map is accurate after 5 days, its good for rainfall me finds!

bbam

I look at those but use the rainfall radar..
Its good to see whats coming in the next two/three hours..

http://www.met.ie/latest/rainfall_radar.asp


Also...
The daily forecast sticky over in the Weather forum is usually good.. MT seems to have the inside track on the weather..

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=374

just do it

The foreign weather presenter on the radio for met eireann seemingly started the forecast this morning as being ......... from Wet Eireann

leg wax

the last cow just calved all ok so on to the spring ones in feb,she was a blue and had a handy sfl heifer calf.

pakalasa

leg wax wrote: »

the last cow just calved all ok so on to the spring ones in feb,she was a blue and had a handy sfl heifer calf.

Any results back from the testing for the virus?

leg wax

pakalasa wrote: »

Any results back from the testing for the virus?

no i dont exspect anything for 2 weeks or so.

Bodacious

leg wax wrote: »

the last cow just calved all ok so on to the spring ones in feb,she was a blue and had a handy sfl heifer calf.[/Quote

Hi leg wax, I just got Munster bull
Porn delivered and I reckon I recognise the stq weanling bottom right?!

hugo29

Any one bought a sprayer recently, any advice welcome

leg wax

Bodacious wrote: »

leg wax wrote: »

the last cow just calved all ok so on to the spring ones in feb,she was a blue and had a handy sfl heifer calf.[/Quote

Hi leg wax, I just got Munster bull
Porn delivered and I reckon I recognise the stq weanling bottom right?!

it could be i have not seen it,one pic of a heifer and cow in progressive porn mag.

hugo29

Just sold couple cull cows out of shed, ever feel like you have been had, could not pay me fast enough

Bodacious

leg wax wrote: »

Bodacious wrote: »

it could be i have not seen it,one pic of a heifer and cow in progressive porn mag.

Yep think they are all one Munster and PG, red lim dam and a black heifer weanling with a bit of white on the belly

jimmy G M

hugo29 wrote: »

Just sold couple cull cows out of shed, ever feel like you have been had, could not pay me fast enough

What were they like? Sucklers or dairy? I have a 5 old dolls to go to mart myself over the next week. Can I ask you what you got? I was offered €750/hd 3 weeks ago and I have a feeling I should have taken it.

Timmaay

hugo29 wrote: »

Any one bought a sprayer recently, any advice welcome

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056186055

Going to pick myself up one from Whites of portadown soon.

Durrus Boy

leg wax wrote: »

the last cow just calved all ok so on to the spring ones in feb,she was a blue and had a handy sfl heifer calf.

Legs,

How are you finding the SFL calves? Bought a few straws in the Spring but never used them yet. Was planning to use them on the tail-end of the autumn calvers to tighten things up another bit...

Cheers..

hugo29

jimmy G M wrote: »

What were they like? Sucklers or dairy? I have a 5 old dolls to go to mart myself over the next week. Can I ask you what you got? I was offered €750/hd 3 weeks ago and I have a feeling I should have taken it.

Suckers, 12 yr old Angus 750 and 3 yr old bbxfr 700

freedominacup

hugo29 wrote: »

Just sold couple cull cows out of shed, ever feel like you have been had, could not pay me fast enough

Every time I sold cull cows in the yard. Always felt I did better by finishing them.

leg wax

Durrus Boy wrote: »

Legs,

How are you finding the SFL calves? Bought a few straws in the Spring but never used them yet. Was planning to use them on the tail-end of the autumn calvers to tighten things up another bit...

Cheers..

i have not had many over the years,they are very easy calved,but not that heavy in the muscle,growth is ok. average bull sfl,great bull for someone starting out into bbs.

jomoloney

freedominacup wrote: »

Every time I sold cull cows in the yard. Always felt I did better by finishing them.

ditto, and every time I,ve finished them thought I should have sold them in the yard

bob charles

freedominacup wrote: »

Every time I sold cull cows in the yard. Always felt I did better by finishing them.

jomoloney wrote: »

ditto, and every time I,ve finished them thought I should have sold them in the yard

you guys echo my views on cull cows:)

freedominacup

bob charles wrote: »

you guys echo my views on cull cows:)

It's a motherf**ker

reilig

Durrus Boy wrote: »

Legs,

How are you finding the SFL calves? Bought a few straws in the Spring but never used them yet. Was planning to use them on the tail-end of the autumn calvers to tighten things up another bit...

Cheers..

I have a good few SFL calves every year (approx 20). They have some great benefits - they are easy calved, and don't develop the double muscle until 2 to 3 months old. The gestation period is short relative to other breeds - I have tightened up most of my cows by 1 month per year (Thats 3 months over 3 years).

One tip is not to put SFL on low cows. He's ideal for tall cows. Calves can be stumpy off low cows. He also brings a lot of red calves if there is Limousin breeding in the cows. I haven't found them to be worse sellers because of the red colour.

What I like most about SFL is the speed of growth. I sold 2 calves off 1/2 bred limousin cows last week. One born May 20th and weighing 305kg made €920. The other born June 10th was 265kg and he made €840. Both ate approximately €80 worth of creep each. You could really see the meal put condition on them. It wasn't bad for calves 5 to 6 months old. Don't think I could achieve it with any other breed.

reilig

Was reading some other forums and some newspapers and I am seeing a lot of proposals about SFP being capped. What's people's opinion on this?

Basically some people are proposing that SFP be capped at a nominal figure such as €50,000. The idea being that this should be an adequate income top up for any farmer. At the end of the the SFP is supposed to be an income top up and not something which is supposed to be invested into the farm.

Some farmers who receive in excess of this amount claim that they will go bust if their SFP is capped. But is it viable that farmers are using their SFP to keep their farm's afloat? Would it not be better to force them to downsize or change farming practices so that they could survive on the €50k SFP?

It is claimed that if a limit was set, then there would be more money to go around for everyone and the average per hectare payment would be greatly increased.

What's your opinion on it?

bogman_bass

I'm all for it. One of the ideas of CAP is to keep family farms going. we cant expect Joe public to subsidise huge opperators.

The "you are hurting the most productive farmers" arguement is bull****. The most productive farmers need subsidies the least. If we want to hold onto large SFP's for the big boys then a stronger arguement will have to be put forward.

Now you can argue about what the cap should be but definatly should be less than 100k

Who likes seeing Larry et al raking in huge payments? Not me!

Durrus Boy

reilig wrote: »

I have a good few SFL calves every year (approx 20). They have some great benefits - they are easy calved, and don't develop the double muscle until 2 to 3 months old. The gestation period is short relative to other breeds - I have tightened up most of my cows by 1 month per year (Thats 3 months over 3 years).

One tip is not to put SFL on low cows. He's ideal for tall cows. Calves can be stumpy off low cows. He also brings a lot of red calves if there is Limousin breeding in the cows. I haven't found them to be worse sellers because of the red colour.

What I like most about SFL is the speed of growth. I sold 2 calves off 1/2 bred limousin cows last week. One born May 20th and weighing 305kg made €920. The other born June 10th was 265kg and he made €840. Both ate approximately €80 worth of creep each. You could really see the meal put condition on them. It wasn't bad for calves 5 to 6 months old. Don't think I could achieve it with any other breed.

Cheers for that reply Reilig,

Did you ever put him on heifers? I see a 20 mth CH heifer is repeating this morning again inside so must serve her later on again:mad:. I do similar to yourself and serve CH & Lim for most of the breeding season and then swap to BB's for the tail-enders & any late repeaters. I find this allows me to serve for another 10'ish days without lengthening the calving season. I like to finish calving the autumn calvers in early Sept. as calves are hardy going into the shed ( & are left creep back out ) & we do annual herd test at end of Sept...

reilig

Durrus Boy wrote: »

Cheers for that reply Reilig,

Did you ever put him on heifers? I see a 20 mth CH heifer is repeating this morning again inside so must serve her later on again:mad:. I do similar to yourself and serve CH & Lim for most of the breeding season and then swap to BB's for the tail-enders & any late repeaters. I find this allows me to serve for another 10'ish days without lengthening the calving season. I like to finish calving the autumn calvers in early Sept. as calves are hardy going into the shed ( & are left creep back out ) & we do annual herd test at end of Sept...

I never put him on heifers, but a guy in our discussion group does and has no problems with him.

Had the vet to do a section on a cow in calf to my own CH bull late last night. She had a SFL bull last year with no problems at all. All well TG. Had a big calf off my own bull 2 weeks ago and had to put him down yesterday too because he never stood up. Hopefully I'll have more luck with the rest of them. Cows are going onto a more strict diet from today!

whelan1

let my cows back out today, kept them in yesterday as it was crap, nearly 60 in the group, have about a week left for them, they are stale milkers , only being milked once aday... have another group of fresh calvers that are housed fulltime..... great saving on silage

bbam

reilig wrote: »

Was reading some other forums and some newspapers and I am seeing a lot of proposals about SFP being capped. What's people's opinion on this?

Basically some people are proposing that SFP be capped at a nominal figure such as €50,000. The idea being that this should be an adequate income top up for any farmer. At the end of the the SFP is supposed to be an income top up and not something which is supposed to be invested into the farm.

Some farmers who receive in excess of this amount claim that they will go bust if their SFP is capped. But is it viable that farmers are using their SFP to keep their farm's afloat? Would it not be better to force them to downsize or change farming practices so that they could survive on the €50k SFP?

It is claimed that if a limit was set, then there would be more money to go around for everyone and the average per hectare payment would be greatly increased.

What's your opinion on it?

I'm all for it too.
It would allow for those who are getting pity fully small payments to get a little more and also for new entrants to be helped too.

My overall preference would be a path towards no payments but a decent margin on produce. Most "non armchair" farmers would prefer to operate in a system where work was rewarded with profit margin. Idealistic maybe, but it would be my preference.

Username John

reilig wrote: »

Was reading some other forums and some newspapers and I am seeing a lot of proposals about SFP being capped. What's people's opinion on this?

Basically some people are proposing that SFP be capped at a nominal figure such as €50,000. The idea being that this should be an adequate income top up for any farmer. At the end of the the SFP is supposed to be an income top up and not something which is supposed to be invested into the farm.

Some farmers who receive in excess of this amount claim that they will go bust if their SFP is capped. But is it viable that farmers are using their SFP to keep their farm's afloat? Would it not be better to force them to downsize or change farming practices so that they could survive on the €50k SFP?

It is claimed that if a limit was set, then there would be more money to go around for everyone and the average per hectare payment would be greatly increased.

What's your opinion on it?

My opinion - I don't know
I don't really like the idea of setting limits or caps like this...

I can see the logic that "the average per hectare payment" could increase, as there would be more money to be spread around if it was taken off...

But I think the SFP should be tied to the level of production somehow, even if you are a big operator. Otherwise, why not just take the big pot of SFP, and divide by the number of farmers in the country and we all get an equal share?

I have read the argument raised here often that farmers would "give up the SFP, if they received an adequate price for their output"
Is this policy of capping, saying "Once you get to a certain level of output, we don't think you deserve an adequate price for your cattle..."

I think a better system would be a sliding scale of payments - so if its based on a per hectare payment... you get so much for the first say, 20 hectares, then less for the 20, less again for the next 20... etc...
It would allow a higher payment to smaller operators, but also not "cap" people who are trying to expand and make good money... It would seem a fairer way to do it to me...

But of course I don't think this will happen...

And I always think of Tipp man's comment to a post I put a while back related to the SFP "Fair is not always equal"

reilig

Username John wrote: »

I have read the argument raised here often that farmers would "give up the SFP, if they received an adequate price for their output"
Is this policy of capping, saying "Once you get to a certain level of output, we don't think you deserve an adequate price for your cattle..."

That was my argument. Capping the SFP has nothing to do with the price that you receive for your animals. SFP is supposed to be an income supplement. Farmers are not supposed to spend it on running their farm because this causes below cost production but many do.

I think the argument of what I posted above looks at the SFP as an income supplement. Is €50k not enough of an income supplement for farmers to receive?

JohnBoy

I think I'm more in favour of the sliding scale than a "relatively" low cap.

A sliding scale that peters out to almost, but not quite nothing, with more targeted modernisation and infrastructural schemes would in my mind be a better use of the money.

You help the little guy get a decent wage from it and you allow everyone a chance to improve their infrastructure in ways that can help grow their businesses and deliver environmental benefits too

bbam

Of course major changes in the SFP would have implications for non farming folk too.
Although few non farmers like to admit it the SFP has subsidised the price of food in the EU. Any major redistribution would have a knock on effect on food prices.
If a major finisher has his SFP cut from €150k to the new cap of €50k. Surely he will need to negotiate better prices in the factory, and they in turn pass this extra cost on to the customer.

towzer2010

reilig wrote: »

I think the argument of what I posted above looks at the SFP as an income supplement. Is €50k not enough of an income supplement for farmers to receive?

Dead right reilig. €50k is a serious income supplement and this idea of the most productive farmers being affected is a red herring. It they are meant to be the most productive and still need more that 50k then that is a complete contradiction.

Anyway why should what my Dad produced be the basis of what I get 10 years later? I know at least 3 farmers that are getting a huge SFP and none of them can be considered to be actively farming anymore.

A level playing field is what is needed going forward and forget about who got what in the past.

just do it

bbam wrote: »

Of course major changes in the SFP would have implications for non farming folk too.
Although few non farmers like to admit it the SFP has subsidised the price of food in the EU. Any major redistribution would have a knock on effect on food prices.
If a major finisher has his SFP cut from €150k to the new cap of €50k. Surely he will need to negotiate better prices in the factory, and they in turn pass this extra cost on to the customer.

Whilst I agree, red meat is already costly. Look at your dinner plate with meat, spuds and 2 veg (carrots and parsnips). Good meat €2-3, spuds €0.30, veg €0.50. How much more of a premium can you put on red meat without affecting sales?

Suckler

Username John wrote: »

I have read the argument raised here often that farmers would "give up the SFP, if they received an adequate price for their output"

This is a dangerous statement for farmers to make. Adequate price does not neccessarily mean you'll end up with cash in the bank after all is paid in/out.

I think there'd be a huge market adjustment that would be the demise of the small to medium farmer as they might not be able to compete with the bigger producers. Demand might be a saving grace.

For example: if SFP is taken away:
Farmer A, B & C is producing at €2.50 per Kg after all payments in and out;
Will they be able to compete with farmer D, a bigger operator who can produce at €1.50 per Kg because of economys of scale.

Getting a fair price doesn't mean that you get what you put in + profit. Would Farming in Ireland withstand this type of competitive market and market correction?

I know we'd be runnning a hobby farm and only selling a few bales to keep the grass down.

bbam

Well you can be sure that the costs won't go down if the SFP was reduced. Neither will the factories/supermarkets take a cut in their profits. Joe public benifets from subsidised food through the CAP system, major changes to ye CAP will filter down to either a jump in cheap n nasty imports or a price hike in basic foods.

Another problem with the current SFP system is that it has zero credibility with Joe Public, there is near no link to current farm production levels. It is hard to keep people on side when their tax money is being spent on an antiquated sub system. It needs to be linked directly to the annual production on farm.

Suckler

bbam wrote: »

Well you can be sure that the costs won't go down if the SFP was reduced. Neither will the factories/supermarkets take a cut in their profits.

Exactly. This was why I was playing devils advocate a bit. Take this year - fodder prices will be up and expected expenditure for housing animals will be up ( not including how long they could be in for in early 2013). Will farmers be able to cope with the fluctuations without SFP to fall back on if they are producing at a higher cost but getting market rates?

bbam wrote: »

Joe public benifets from subsidised food through the CAP system, major changes to ye CAP will filter down to either a jump in cheap n nasty imports or a price hike in basic foods.

True but will this lead to a drive of cheaper imports?

bbam wrote: »

Another problem with the current SFP system is that it has zero credibility with Joe Public, there is near no link to current farm production levels. It is hard to keep people on side when their tax money is being spent on an antiquated sub system. It needs to be linked directly to the annual production on farm.

This is key to the revamp of the SFP.

towzer2010

bbam wrote: »

...... there is near no link to current farm production levels. It is hard to keep people on side when their tax money is being spent on an antiquated sub system. It needs to be linked directly to the annual production on farm.

I agree. In my case there is no link at all. I wasnt farming in the reference years. How could anyone looking in from outside understand a system where you are paid on stocking rates 10 years out of date

Username John

reilig wrote: »

I think the argument of what I posted above looks at the SFP as an income supplement. Is €50k not enough of an income supplement for farmers to receive?

Hi Reilg,

Is 50k not enough - ha ha, I'd love to have a SFP of 50k
In my mind, 50k is a lot of money...

But every number is relative...
If they capped it at 10k, and did more redistribution, then I would still be very happy, maybe even happier - as I have no chance of ever getting near 50k...
So everyone will have a different number...

But... your point is valid, that 50k is a good wage / salary for someone to get... (from farming )

reilig wrote: »

That was my argument. Capping the SFP has nothing to do with the price that you receive for your animals. SFP is supposed to be an income supplement. Farmers are not supposed to spend it on running their farm because this causes below cost production but many do.

A supplement to what though?
To the price you get for your cattle?
Or the money you make from each hectare of land?
Or just an amount of money you should get when farming, if so, should we all get the same amount?

I dunno...
I guess I agree with the idea of a limit, but this is cos it would benefit me, and maybe benefit the majority or people, but I don't agree with setting limits like this in principal...

reilig

Username John wrote: »

Hi Reilg,




A supplement to what though?
To the price you get for your cattle?
Or the money you make from each hectare of land?
Or just an amount of money you should get when farming, if so, should we all get the same amount?

I dunno...
I guess I agree with the idea of a limit, but this is cos it would benefit me, and maybe benefit the majority or people, but I don't agree with setting limits like this in principal...

SFP is a supplement for farmers wages. It is paid by the EU in recognition that Farmers sell their produce (Cattle, sheep etc) with low margins. This supplement is supposed to compensate them for this. The supplement is paid to ensure adequate supplys in Europe at prices that average European buyers can afford. It is paid to ensure food availability and price stability.

It is only fair that farms with 10 hectares receive less than those with 100 hectares and as it is set up now, this is what happens in most cases. I don't agree that everyone should receive the same amount - those who have bigger farms should receive more than those with smaller farms, but why should any farmer need more than €50k as an income supplement?

However, there are farmers and businesses out there with low levels of production who receive in excess of €500k. This payment is based on what they did in the past - not what they are doing now. Capping the amount that these people receive would mean more money to distribute to smaller or more active farmers.

hugo29

seeing as we are on the subject

how much are entitlements to buy, purchased 16 acres there week ago

would one chance the low value in the hope they level up to the national average or just get the national average value ones now