Farming Chit Chat

whelan1

bbam wrote: »

White frosty here, just an observation from the bed. Sunday is still a proper lie in day here, thank god.

worst frost of the last few weeks here

bbam

whelan1 wrote: »

worst frost of the last few weeks here

Rain starting now.

just do it

Folks

For a joint 40th we've decided that the 4 of us will head off for a ski holiday at the February mid-term. We've a 3.5yo and a 5yo so any suggestions or advice is welcome . Nothing booked at this stage and no real ideal where to go. Prefer to fly from Shannon if possible, but a short transfer the other side would be good too.

1chippy

ST Johanne in Austria (think thats how its spelt) best ski holiday i ever had.

freedominacup

1chippy wrote: »

ST Johanne in Austria (think thats how its spelt) best ski holiday i ever had.

How many kids on the trip with you?

1chippy

No kids, not really an issue for me, but there seemed to be a good few there, seen them while we were skiing from one bar to the other.

freedominacup

1chippy wrote: »

No kids, not really an issue for me, but there seemed to be a good few there, seen them while we were skiing from one bar to the other.

I'd say JDI would need someone whose done the trip with kids to back that rec up. Kids/no kids couldn't be a different experience. Mrs FIC and myself went to Berlin last oct 12 months to visit friends got through security in Dublin airport and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. It was too easy, no screams, no eyes on a swivel trying to keep 4 kids in view, no moments of panic because someone had momentarily disappeared we even managed to get a coffee before the flight. We went to Portugal in June and normal service was resumed. By the time we got on the plane we needed reclining seats in order to get a lie down.

jerdee

Can t help with the kids yet but my work colleague gave a few tips when we went
1. Go for high attitude fresher powder snow
2. Austria Italy only
3.1/2,board is plenty
4.pick up terminal jumpsuits for the smallies /hire

Kids get on faster than adults cause of no fear .....ducks in a line

So far soll has been thebest with excellent instructors and short drive from salzburg

keep going

tidying the tyres on the pit this morning in the rain and noticed the pit face was performing the same as a cock of hay as in the silage(wagon)is long and its sheding the rain off it.this year instead of trying to keep a straight face im angling it at about 60 degrees as im finding it easier to pull out the grabs this way plus taking smaller grabs-less tearing

dzer2

just do it wrote: »

Folks

For a joint 40th we've decided that the 4 of us will head off for a ski holiday at the February mid-term. We've a 3.5yo and a 5yo so any suggestions or advice is welcome . Nothing booked at this stage and no real ideal where to go. Prefer to fly from Shannon if possible, but a short transfer the other side would be good too.

Feb mid term is the most expensive time to go apart from the new year.:( If you could go any other time it will be half the price.:D Other than that we head to Kitzbuhel can fly into memmengin germany hire a car and drive. There are loads of hotels and apartments in the town. The ski school will take the 2 kids from 9.30 to 3.30 through lunch and if your a few minutes late it wont be a problem.:D We normally go in mid january there are 7 in the family, we go the apartment route and cook and feed ourselves myself and the twins can ski so there is only lessons for 3 and creche for the baby. The all in cost is around 3.5k for the week and when the baby is capable to ski it will reduce the cost bya few hundred euro. Anyway if you have loads of dosh there is a skiing section in the sports section of boards.:D

Just another thing if its the first time the gear in lidl would do And be tough on the kids make them stay in the class and walk away the staff are brilliant with the kids.

Muckit

Have ye seen any of these yet lads??

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e4yawdyuqP8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xTrSJDv3Joo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Muckit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0UDMH9WWRA&list=UUM6GMjuayptLCJHVpJzYyBA&index=2&feature=plcp

Bizzum

Muckit wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0UDMH9WWRA&list=UUM6GMjuayptLCJHVpJzYyBA&index=2&feature=plcp

Bet ya to it Muckit:D. I put that link up here last night week!

Tommy is a good one! Tommy's shtone mad for shpeed:D

Muckit

Bizzum wrote: »

Bet ya to it Muckit:D. I put that link up here last night week!

Tommy is a good one! Tommy's shtone mad for shpeed:D

OOps! Missed that Bizzum. They're very funny!!!

bogman_bass

Bizzum wrote: »

Bet ya to it Muckit:D. I put that link up here last night week!

Tommy is a good one! Tommy's shtone mad for shpeed:D

you think thats funny? wait till you hear 3 german lads quoting it! now thats funny! they sounded dutch

just do it

1chippy wrote: »

No kids, not really an issue for me, but there seemed to be a good few there, seen them while we were skiing from one bar to the other.

Been there and done that but those days are now over!

jerdee wrote: »

So far soll has been thebest with excellent instructors and short drive from salzburg

Haven't looked at Soll yet but it's an option. There's a lot of resorts in a small area around there.

dzer2 wrote: »

Feb mid term is the most expensive time to go apart from the new year.:( If you could go any other time it will be half the price.:D Other than that we head to Kitzbuhel can fly into memmengin germany hire a car and drive. There are loads of hotels and apartments in the town. The ski school will take the 2 kids from 9.30 to 3.30 through lunch and if your a few minutes late it wont be a problem.:D We normally go in mid january there are 7 in the family, we go the apartment route and cook and feed ourselves myself and the twins can ski so there is only lessons for 3 and creche for the baby. The all in cost is around 3.5k for the week and when the baby is capable to ski it will reduce the cost bya few hundred euro. Anyway if you have loads of dosh there is a skiing section in the sports section of boards.:D

Just another thing if its the first time the gear in lidl would do And be tough on the kids make them stay in the class and walk away the staff are brilliant with the kids.

Well we booked flights into Memmingen this evening as they were alot cheaper than the other airports and said we'd book them and research the resorts later. Took 4 hours this evening just to make that decision!

We'll be looking at self-catering so a small apartment would suit. The transfer seems to be an issue and whilst hiring a car is more expensive, it may be the only option given the age of the kids.

And funnily enough I was in Aldi earlier and there was ski gear on sale and took it as a sign. The kids now have ski suits and gloves:D. I'm with you when it comes to dropping the kids at the class. Once your out of sight they fall in with what ever the instructor says. Same thing as at the creche, best thing is to drop and dash, hanging around only provokes acting up . Can you recall which ski school you went to? On the Kitzbuhel website they list all the ski schools and it is hard to get a feel for them. We will be booking in advance as we're arriving late on Sunday and have only booked for 4 days skiing.

So we're committed which is half the battle, looking forward to it now:)

pakalasa

Had to laugh at this;
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/beefcattle/4260372

wesleysniper38

Teagasc

almost 2 years ago I came to the end of my REPS 3 and also the end of my contract with Teagasc. After being bandied about to 3 different advisors I decided to go to a private contractor who did my AEOS and things are hunky dory so far.
However, at a function last weekend, I met an acquaintance from Teagasc. He was my first advisor, now promoted. (nice guy in fairness)
He knew all about my 2012 SFP details, stocking rates and AEOS participation etc. and the entitlements I bought and sold.
I was flummoxed to know how he was aware of all this...? Can these guys access any farmers information on the Dept system?

Its not top secret or anything but I dont see how its any of their business anymore...

Muckit

pakalasa wrote: »

Had to laugh at this;
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/beefcattle/4260372

Looks a nice animal. Good with kids too

naughto

wesleysniper38 wrote: »

Teagasc

almost 2 years ago I came to the end of my REPS 3 and also the end of my contract with Teagasc. After being bandied about to 3 different advisors I decided to go to a private contractor who did my AEOS and things are hunky dory so far.
However, at a function last weekend, I met an acquaintance from Teagasc. He was my first advisor, now promoted. (nice guy in fairness)
He knew all about my 2012 SFP details, stocking rates and AEOS participation etc. and the entitlements I bought and sold.
I was flummoxed to know how he was aware of all this...? Can these guys access any farmers information on the Dept system?

Its not top secret or anything but I dont see how its any of their business anymore...

i would be thinking yes its like the system they have for the socail welfare instead of a pps number they be going by your herd number

dzer2

Fraser5rw

just do it wrote: »

Been there and done that but those days are now over!


Haven't looked at Soll yet but it's an option. There's a lot of resorts in a small area around there.


Well we booked flights into Memmingen this evening as they were alot cheaper than the other airports and said we'd book them and research the resorts later. Took 4 hours this evening just to make that decision!

We'll be looking at self-catering so a small apartment would suit. The transfer seems to be an issue and whilst hiring a car is more expensive, it may be the only option given the age of the kids.

And funnily enough I was in Aldi earlier and there was ski gear on sale and took it as a sign. The kids now have ski suits and gloves:D. I'm with you when it comes to dropping the kids at the class. Once your out of sight they fall in with what ever the instructor says. Same thing as at the creche, best thing is to drop and dash, hanging around only provokes acting up . Can you recall which ski school you went to? On the Kitzbuhel website they list all the ski schools and it is hard to get a feel for them. We will be booking in advance as we're arriving late on Sunday and have only booked for 4 days skiing.

So we're committed which is half the battle, looking forward to it now:)

Sorry about being so long getting back to you The ski school we use is Rote Teufal. What week are you going as they have a package called snow fun where you get your ski pass included with the apartment this gets you a 20% discount on lessons, ski hire and locker hire. You can get into the aqua arena for half price. Fraser runs apartmentmanagers.at you can look at the apartments.

Hope this helps.

Muckit

Just back from the vets. Bought 8 weanlings on Saturday. One not eating and eyes a little sucken... early stages of viral pneumonia was the diagnosis.

He said a lot of severe cases of it this year and a lot of sudden deaths in apparently fairly healthy cattle. Made me think of Chippy1 straight away.

Manoffeeling

Muckit wrote: »

Just back from the vets. Bought 8 weanlings on Saturday. One not eating and eyes a little sucken... early stages of viral pneumonia was the diagnosis.

He said a lot of severe cases of it this year and a lot of sudden deaths in apparently fairly healthy cattle. Made me think of Chippy1 straight away.

Heavy frost required big time.

just do it

dzer2 wrote: »

Fraser5rw


Sorry about being so long getting back to you The ski school we use is Rote Teufal. What week are you going as they have a package called snow fun where you get your ski pass included with the apartment this gets you a 20% discount on lessons, ski hire and locker hire. You can get into the aqua arena for half price. Fraser runs apartmentmanagers.at you can look at the apartments.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that:). I posted over on the winter sports thread as well after booking the airline tickets last night and someone came up with the suggestion of a German resort Obertsdorf which is only 1hr from memmingen airport by train. Given the age of the kids that sure beats a 5hr train ride and again given their age the quality of the resort is a bit irrelevant. There's a long thread on the resort that I've yet to read but sounds promising.

We may yet go for Kitzbuhel but it's a matter of either 5hrs by train or hire a car which will come to a minimum of €300. I've skiied alot over the course of a decade (including one stint of 6wks in Val d'Isere) a decade ago (hikes!) but the criteria for this holiday aren't about the number of black runs, variety of slopes, or quality of off-piste. This is more about the kids learning and me enjoying my wife learning to snowboard having only skied for 3 days previously and 1 day's snowboarding (and be god she will learn as she's a fairly determined sort!).

JohnBoy

wesleysniper38 wrote: »

Teagasc

almost 2 years ago I came to the end of my REPS 3 and also the end of my contract with Teagasc. After being bandied about to 3 different advisors I decided to go to a private contractor who did my AEOS and things are hunky dory so far.
However, at a function last weekend, I met an acquaintance from Teagasc. He was my first advisor, now promoted. (nice guy in fairness)
He knew all about my 2012 SFP details, stocking rates and AEOS participation etc. and the entitlements I bought and sold.
I was flummoxed to know how he was aware of all this...? Can these guys access any farmers information on the Dept system?

Its not top secret or anything but I dont see how its any of their business anymore...

If it's something you really want to take further then you would need to talk to the data protection comissioner. it may be a breach of data protection legislation and once you lodge a complaint I dont think you have any say in what happens and you may get the guy in a lot of trouble

Bleating Lamb

naughto wrote: »

i would be thinking yes its like the system they have for the socail welfare instead of a pps number they be going by your herd number

This is a bit like the ridiculous and unfair situation where the factories and their agents can go online and watch ages of cattle of farmers who kill with them.I know of one fairly big finisher who was killing a load of bullocks lately in one factory....agent harassed/questioned him on where he had killed his previous load as he had seen them gone off system.Surely this is a breach of a farmers privacy!!!.Farmer had killed previous load for better price per KG elsewhere at time.

wesleysniper38

JohnBoy wrote: »

If it's something you really want to take further then you would need to talk to the data protection comissioner. it may be a breach of data protection legislation and once you lodge a complaint I dont think you have any say in what happens and you may get the guy in a lot of trouble

Fair enough but I wouldn't take it that far. This is Ireland after all..!
Just curious to know if they can access such information without consent or prior knowledge.

Rovi

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Manoffeeling

Rovi wrote: »

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Tis Monday night. Too much beer coupled with sexual frustration after the weekend. They'll be grand in the morn.

jomoloney

Muckit wrote: »

Just back from the vets. Bought 8 weanlings on Saturday. One not eating and eyes a little sucken... early stages of viral pneumonia was the diagnosis.

He said a lot of severe cases of it this year and a lot of sudden deaths in apparently fairly healthy cattle. Made me think of Chippy1 straight away.

thought a weanling was a bit slow this morning, but got up & grubbed ok, much the same this pm but hair on backline would indicate a raised temp.

decided to take him from the slats and nearest holding gate was in the calving pens, was trying to push him into the gate and he lunged back & I got his rump in the ribs , reckon I have a at least one fractured rib

anyhow gave your man a shot & watching him on camera now he is chewing the cud , reckon he will be better before I will.

naughto

bob charles

I was alway since early morning but the water lying about is crazy, shipped another inch, when will it end. Had to calve a so called maiden heifer when I got home to make matters worse

whelan1

a bit of a moan, as ye know have a guy on 3 day week, this week its mon, wed and friday- text him this on a sunday morning.... anyways he is supposed to be in at quarter to 7... he arrived in yesterday morning at 8.20:eek: i was just starting the washing in the milking parlor, now to say i was livid was an understatement, my husband is away so i am looking after kids and farm... if i'd known this fella was going to be late i would have started earlier... his excuse was that he had been out drinking:mad: now in my book for 3 mornings it would not kill him to be on time, especially when milking is concerned, he was also late a month ago but my husband rang him that morning and woke him up.... not very reliable... i wanted to sack him yesterday but my husband said you cant sack someone so close to christmas, so i havent spoken to this lad at all since yesterday morning when i gave him an earful.....tbh he looked like he was dying all day:p

whelan1

Rovi wrote: »

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[/MOD]

ah feck missed that

bob charles

whelan1 wrote: »

a bit of a moan, as ye know have a guy on 3 day week, this week its mon, wed and friday- text him this on a sunday morning.... anyways he is supposed to be in at quarter to 7... he arrived in yesterday morning at 8.20:eek: i was just starting the washing in the milking parlor, now to say i was livid was an understatement, my husband is away so i am looking after kids and farm... if i'd known this fella was going to be late i would have started earlier... his excuse was that he had been out drinking:mad: now in my book for 3 mornings it would not kill him to be on time, especially when milking is concerned, he was also late a month ago but my husband rang him that morning and woke him up.... not very reliable... i wanted to sack him yesterday but my husband said you cant sack someone so close to christmas, so i havent spoken to this lad at all since yesterday morning when i gave him an earful.....tbh he looked like he was dying all day:p

having drink on board while operating machinery, is a good enough reason to sack anyone.

whelan1

bob charles wrote: »

having drink on board while operating machinery, is a good enough reason to sack anyone.

am thinking of a written warning, have already given him 2 verbal warnings- once where he forgot to feed the cows:eek: and another where he broke the pto shaft of the keenan feeder as he didnt have the arms down ( which i have drummed into him at this stage)

bob charles

whelan1 wrote: »

and another where he broke the pto shaft of the keenan feeder as he didnt have the arms down ( which i have drummed into him at this stage)

I would have myself fired, if going on that one :rolleyes:

pakalasa

whelan1 wrote: »

...he broke the pto shaft of the keenan feeder as he didnt have the arms down ...

How does that happen?

dzer2

just do it wrote: »

Thanks for that:). I posted over on the winter sports thread as well after booking the airline tickets last night and someone came up with the suggestion of a German resort Obertsdorf which is only 1hr from memmingen airport by train. Given the age of the kids that sure beats a 5hr train ride and again given their age the quality of the resort is a bit irrelevant. There's a long thread on the resort that I've yet to read but sounds promising.

We may yet go for Kitzbuhel but it's a matter of either 5hrs by train or hire a car which will come to a minimum of €300. I've skiied alot over the course of a decade (including one stint of 6wks in Val d'Isere) a decade ago (hikes!) but the criteria for this holiday aren't about the number of black runs, variety of slopes, or quality of off-piste. This is more about the kids learning and me enjoying my wife learning to snowboard having only skied for 3 days previously and 1 day's snowboarding (and be god she will learn as she's a fairly determined sort!).

we hired a car through the ryanair website for 220 euro fo r7 days and cones with snow tyres,:D Kitzbuhel is 2 and a half hours by car. If the little one doesnt take to the skiing there is a creche in reith that is good and cheap:)

bbam

whelan1 wrote: »

am thinking of a written warning, have already given him 2 verbal warnings- once where he forgot to feed the cows:eek: and another where he broke the pto shaft of the keenan feeder as he didnt have the arms down ( which i have drummed into him at this stage)

I'll put my manager/HR hat on.
If you want to keep things in the straight then the "verbal" warnings need to be documented. Otherwise it could be thrown up that the verbals weren't given.
The usual would be verbal, written, final and the the gate.
However, issues of "gross misconduct", such as drunk at work or under the influence at work could go straight to a final warning.
Summary dismissal on the spot would be for theft, safety violations or major misconduct such as striking someone. Otherwise it can be very hard to defend if a person wanted to be equard.
If you are giving someone the gate, call it "summary dismissal" ie dismissed pending a review of what happened, that way it can't be argued you did it in the heat of the moment. The review can be at your kitchen table with your self and the hubby with the fella present, if he wants.

hugo29

Rovi wrote: »

[MOD]

Some bickering has been deleted, play nice!

[/MOD]

what, when, jayus grumpy farmers thank chrikes SFP on way, only problem its spent already

hugo29

whelan1 wrote: »

a bit of a moan, as ye know have a guy on 3 day week, this week its mon, wed and friday- text him this on a sunday morning.... anyways he is supposed to be in at quarter to 7... he arrived in yesterday morning at 8.20:eek: i was just starting the washing in the milking parlor, now to say i was livid was an understatement, my husband is away so i am looking after kids and farm... if i'd known this fella was going to be late i would have started earlier... his excuse was that he had been out drinking:mad: now in my book for 3 mornings it would not kill him to be on time, especially when milking is concerned, he was also late a month ago but my husband rang him that morning and woke him up.... not very reliable... i wanted to sack him yesterday but my husband said you cant sack someone so close to christmas, so i havent spoken to this lad at all since yesterday morning when i gave him an earful.....tbh he looked like he was dying all day:p

i suppose we have all done it at some stage, at least he turned up, id say give him an earful and tell him next time it happens he gone

hugo29

whelan1 wrote: »

am thinking of a written warning, have already given him 2 verbal warnings- once where he forgot to feed the cows:eek: and another where he broke the pto shaft of the keenan feeder as he didnt have the arms down ( which i have drummed into him at this stage)

sorry forget what i said earlier, having read the rest of his CV id say you might be better off without him, how in the name of god would you forget to feed

PatQfarmer

dzer2 wrote: »

we hired a car through the ryanair website for 220 euro fo r7 days and cones with snow tyres,:D Kitzbuhel is 2 and a half hours by car. If the little one doesnt take to the skiing there is a creche in reith that is good and cheap:)

We have been to Kitzbuhel lots. A great resort.
Rote Teufel is the best ski school. They've had our kids from 2yo up.
Plenty of blacks, reds, blues, miles and miles of skiing, great food and good partying in town centre...if you want that once you have the kids with you. Free ski bus everywhere once you get there.
We fly to Munich and 2.5hr drive from there.
Would love to be going this year, but calves in the way...again:)
Have a great holiday!

redzerologhlen

pakalasa wrote: »

How does that happen?

Happens when your turning pak, have to do the same with the slurry tank and the baler.

wesleysniper38

bbam wrote: »

I'll put my manager/HR hat on.
If you want to keep things in the straight then the "verbal" warnings need to be documented. Otherwise it could be thrown up that the verbals weren't given.
The usual would be verbal, written, final and the the gate.
However, issues of "gross misconduct", such as drunk at work or under the influence at work could go straight to a final warning.
Summary dismissal on the spot would be for theft, safety violations or major misconduct such as striking someone. Otherwise it can be very hard to defend if a person wanted to be equard.
If you are giving someone the gate, call it "summary dismissal" ie dismissed pending a review of what happened, that way it can't be argued you did it in the heat of the moment. The review can be at your kitchen table with your self and the hubby with the fella present, if he wants.

Excellent advice. If a certain amount of protocol isn't followed things like this can come back and bite you at a later date.
It might also act as the wake up call this lad apparently needs.

pakalasa

redzerologhlen wrote: »

Happens when your turning pak, have to do the same with the slurry tank and the baler.

On our little David Brown, the arms when up, swing in over the PTO shaft when turning, so always locked up.

whelan1

wesleysniper38 wrote: »

Excellent advice. If a certain amount of protocol isn't followed things like this can come back and bite you at a later date.
It might also act as the wake up call this lad apparently needs.

the last guy i had i got the solicitor to write a written warning, as he told me to fook off(charming) then a few weeks later sacked him for driving the tractor with no oil:o wonder could i write the written warning myself without getting the solicitor

lakill Farm

whelan1 wrote: »

the last guy i had i got the solicitor to write a written warning, as he told me to fook off(charming) then a few weeks later sacked him for driving the tractor with no oil:o wonder could i write the written warning myself without getting the solicitor

Whelan1.

Why not go back 3 steps and do up a detailed job summary. :rolleyes:

ie feed the cows everyday
dip the tractor for Oil before starting and replinish if low
Always operate the diet feeder per its manual.

Some people may say. " i didnt let up the arms because i wasnt trained to do so"

are all the manuals available for tractors and machinery?

And to be honest if he arrived in drunk be it 644am or 820am id have sent him home. By you allowing him stay around the place your infact risking safety of him, animals, you and family and the hens :eek:.

Suggestion> why not get someone in to help you with the kids and you do the farming.

whelan1

lakill Farm wrote: »

Whelan1.

Why not go back 3 steps and do up a detailed job summary. :rolleyes:

ie feed the cows everyday
dip the tractor for Oil before starting and replinish if low
Always operate the diet feeder per its manual.

Some people may say. " i didnt let up the arms because i wasnt trained to do so"

are all the manuals available for tractors and machinery?

And to be honest if he arrived in drunk be it 644am or 820am id have sent him home. By you allowing him stay around the place your infact risking safety of him, animals, you and family and the hens :eek:.

Suggestion> why not get someone in to help you with the kids and you do the farming.

the reason i wanted him to work yesterday was a. my husband is away so i needed an extra hand to get milking done etc so i could be on time to get them ready
b. kids have swimming lessons at 4.30 on a monday, half an hour each so its nearly 6 when i get home...
if monday wasnt going to fit in with his drinking plans he should have said so .... he is here 2 years has been shown the ropes many times, i feed the calves as i know they are done properly, spent a good bit of today doing what he was supposed to do yesterday, will be docking his wages this week, hit him where it hurts, he has a family to support