Farming Chit Chat

johngalway

I'd get another source. He forecasted a white February too. Though, the weather forum does have some good sources and through to next weekend isn't supposed to be the greatest temperature wise I believe.

There's an interesting thread there on a "super moon" as well.

mikemac

Listening to Joe Duffy over last week, yes I know, I know

All this talk about fuel being stolen has me paranoid.
And the tank with green diesel on the farm has never been secured, a bit careless on my part.

Trying to weld a sort of metal cover which can be secured then.
I've a extremely good and expensive padlock designed for motorcylce theft so just need this cover

And one thing done over the weekend was move the tools out of the farmyard and back to the house.

cjpm

feelingstressed wrote: »

Listening to Joe Duffy over last week, yes I know, I know

All this talk about fuel being stolen has me paranoid.
And the tank with green diesel on the farm has never been secured, a bit careless on my part.

Trying to weld a sort of metal cover which can be secured then.
I've a extremely good and expensive padlock designed for motorcylce theft so just need this cover

And one thing done over the weekend was move the tools out of the farmyard and back to the house.

No padlock will keep them out i'm afraid....
The latest trick is to drill a hole in the tank.

I'd say you'd be better off moving the tank to an out of the way spot. Get a cross dog too while you're at it.

jeff greene

cjpm wrote: »

No padlock will keep them out i'm afraid....
The latest trick is to drill a hole in the tank.

I'd say you'd be better off moving the tank to an out of the way spot. Get a cross dog too while you're at it.

I have a dummy tank in the yard that is empty with the real tank out the back hidden. They can see the empty tank straight away as they enter the yard so that should put them off.

leg wax

with my wife been a sargent she was telling me that there is a lot of claims going in for stolen oil to insurance companies,but a very high % are people after running out of oil and cannot refill it with the price and with them out of work.not everyone is at it but a lot have been caught, when the guards come along to look at the scene there is no sight of any tampering or spilling of oil around the tank.

johngalway

jeff greene wrote: »

I have a dummy tank in the yard that is empty

Put a bit in it and dose it with sugar :cool: Serves them right if they're using it themselves, and, to be honest, lads buying it off them are just as bad.

funny man

Any crack CONOR what are you at these days, hows the cows doing?

C0N0R

funny man wrote: »

Any crack CONOR what are you at these days, hows the cows doing?

All seems to be quiet down here, was away down to queenstown and around the south island for four days there, drank to much and spent even more! But it's nice to see about the country, some fantastic scenery about here, breathtaking and so different compared to home.

The farm is ticking over with nothing major happening, started to try to find out why the fence has so little power in it, and it's alot of fence to drive along to check but it has to be done as the cows are starting to break over. Had another two autumn calves, both bulls. Good news is that they are in a pen and are been fed, so they might be luckier than the last. Started making a small set of yards on an outfarm, not easy putting 2.4m strainers in the ground anyway!

Went into Christchurch one day to help with the shovelling **** cleanup, it's amazing what one earthquake can do to so many people, was good to help. Did it through federated farmers and it was so good to see the help farmers were giving. Made me wonder what sort of help there would be at home if the same thing happened.

Other than that there is nothing major to report, cows are milking steady enough, solids going up litres going down. How's life at home? Did fine Gael get a majority? Made life any easier yet?

I'm away to get the first herd for milking now.

C0N0R

Ah gutted, managed to lose my pocket knife this afternoon, lost without it now, managed to get seven years out of it though.

vanderbadger

had my 3rd parthenaise calf, 3 heifers so far as if i havent enough :rolleyes:, pulled this one as cow was making no great shape, a big calf but no hassle, i think why they calf easier seems to be that they are very slinder calves, the last 2 were out of red lim cows and both are completely red, black nose is the giveaway though

reilig

vanderbadger wrote: »

had my 3rd parthenaise calf, 3 heifers so far as if i havent enough :rolleyes:, pulled this one as cow was making no great shape, a big calf but no hassle, i think why they calf easier seems to be that they are very slinder calves, the last 2 were out of red lim cows and both are completely red, black nose is the giveaway though

What's the muscle like on them Van? How would they compare with, lets say, a Belgian Blue for shape at a week or 2 in age (especially the one you had to pull)??

vanderbadger

reilig wrote: »

What's the muscle like on them Van? How would they compare with, lets say, a Belgian Blue for shape at a week or 2 in age (especially the one you had to pull)??

well the 2 off the lims are only a few days but they dont have that muscle that a blue would have at birth, whether they will shape up i dont know, they are quite tall so it will be interesting to see how they look in a week or two when they fill out a bit, they would prob be good heifers to breed off again down the road, they seem to be reasonably lively calves

DerMac

Everyone - Check out a new DeHorner called the 'Horn up' O'Donovan Engineering have added it to their product list. http://www.odonovaneng.ie/agricultural-products/calf-products/hornup/ There is a video of it in action
Looks like a mighty job and there is a promotion week there this week. They are throwing in hair trimmer for nothing when you purchase one of them.
Check it out - D

JCB1

I like the look of the 'Horn Up' Dehorner - seems to be very easy on man and calf. Has anyone any experience of its effectiveness ? Also any idea on cost ?

DerMac

I spoke to one of the Lads in O'Donovans. He used it dehorning 3 calves and was very impressed with it. Regarding effectiveness (Does it actually kill the horn growth): The product is only on the market in France since Sept 2010 so no one really knows yet I suppose. The key to it is Dehorning while the bud is small and not attached to the skull. Approx up to 4 weeks. The horn up will NOT work once the horn is attached to the skull.

Bizzum

JCB1 wrote: »

Also any idea on cost ?

I asked the same question this morning, but now I know:
€290+VAT inc free trimmer for this week.
Normally €350+VAT.

whelan1

was missing a cow this evening , had to go the whole way back up to field to get her , i hate when that happens :mad:

C0N0R

whelan1 wrote: »

was missing a cow this evening , had to go the whole way back up to field to get her , i hate when that happens :mad:

Know the feeling. Me and me father were milking one Sunday morning and come the end of milking we were two cows short, went back out to the field and found the two of them had broken over into a small bog. Had to get a neighbour with a digger to get them out, such torture.

Over here you wouldn't notice if you were missing 60 cows!

dar31

just proved that men cant multi task.
tried to ring missus while feeding calves, got fed up waiting for her to answer so i stuck phone between ear and shoulder so i could get on with it, guess where the phone landed, into a bucket of lovely fresh biestings.
saved the sim, phone knackered.
backed it up last month so not to bad.

whelan1

hate that . my phone landed in the wash trough in dairy a few years ago:mad:

whelan1

C0N0R wrote: »

Know the feeling. Me and me father were milking one Sunday morning and come the end of milking we were two cows short, went back out to the field and found the two of them had broken over into a small bog. Had to get a neighbour with a digger to get them out, such torture.

Over here you wouldn't notice if you were missing 60 cows!

my late uncle would never write the stock count down , so he was insisting we where missing a beast, my dad and i spent the whole day walking through gorse and bog looking for an imaginary missing animal:mad:... he was not popular when we realised

pajero12

dar31 wrote: »

just proved that men cant multi task.
tried to ring missus while feeding calves, got fed up waiting for her to answer so i stuck phone between ear and shoulder so i could get on with it, guess where the phone landed, into a bucket of lovely fresh biestings.
saved the sim, phone knackered.
backed it up last month so not to bad.

Dissasemble it as much as you can and leave it in a hot press or on a towel on a radiator, Should be fine in a few days

pakalasa

dar31 wrote: »

just proved that men cant multi task.
tried to ring missus while feeding calves, got fed up waiting for her to answer so i stuck phone between ear and shoulder so i could get on with it, guess where the phone landed, into a bucket of lovely fresh biestings.
saved the sim, phone knackered.
backed it up last month so not to bad.

Seriously though, get yourself a Samsung B2100. You can even work them under water. Great for a farm. You just wash it under the tap when it gets dirty. Not that dear either, cheaper than the normal Nokia, from what I remember.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYNf00A1QSc&feature=related

C0N0R

pajero12 wrote: »

Dissasemble it as much as you can and leave it in a hot press or on a towel on a radiator, Should be fine in a few days

Also heard leaving it in a bowl of rice is good to. You shouldn't try and turn it on anyway as it can short. Failing that get a waterproof phone

johngalway

whelan1 wrote: »

my late uncle would never write the stock count down , so he was insisting we where missing a beast, my dad and i spent the whole day walking through gorse and bog looking for an imaginary missing animal:mad:... he was not popular when we realised

I spent part of a day looking for a cow & calf years ago.

We'd moved them the day before :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

keep going

whelan1 wrote: »

was missing a cow this evening , had to go the whole way back up to field to get her , i hate when that happens :mad:

as long as she can walk home i dont mind. usually there s something wrong if one is missing

whelan1

lads i got badly stung with the new wages after the budget turns out the 450 home that my worker was getting was costing mr 593 per week with the new usc etc:eek: might be no harm for ye to check it out

Atilathehun

whelan1 wrote: »

lads i got badly stung with the new wages after the budget turns out the 450 home that my worker was getting was costing mr 593 per week with the new usc etc:eek: might be no harm for ye to check it out

Anyone who has agreed a wage "in the pocket", is going to pay more and more over the next few years to deliver the in the pocket amount. Personal taxes and levies will go up and up. If you have agreed the in the pocket amount, then you will just end up paying the employees taxes for them:pac:

Tipp Man

whelan1 wrote: »

lads i got badly stung with the new wages after the budget turns out the 450 home that my worker was getting was costing mr 593 per week with the new usc etc:eek: might be no harm for ye to check it out

You should never pay somebody a "take home" wage for 2 main reasons:

1) you are liable for all of the tax increases that happen
2) the employee will benefit from any refunds etc - so if the tax paid for that employee was too much for 2011 the refund goes to the employee and not you. This happens quite regularly (if for example the employee doesn't claim all their tax credits you end up paying too much tax and they get the refund at year end)

whelan1

just aswell he's not here any more:D

Tora Bora

whelan1 wrote: »

just aswell he's not here any more:D

They don't last long in your place:rolleyes:

whelan1

just have myself to row with now.... infairness he had been here since last august and it was his choice to leave , the guy beofre thay i sacked as he drove my tractor with no oil

Muckit

There's alot to be said for havin a farm enterprise of a size suitable to run yourself, or just family. Paid labour is extra hassle and for what? Another opportunity to have the taxman on your back.

At least with machinery/fixed assets you might qualify for a grant or be able to offset it. And if it breaks down, you can f*ck it out of it without it being able to do it back to you

C0N0R

In fairness we have been very lucky with paid help. Have had the same guy running the farm for the last 25 years or so! Doesn't cost a fortune and very committed to the job. Don't know what will happen when I eventually take over the farm though....

Dazzler88

Great thread guys.Im sheep farming at present and thinking of renting land with sheds this year and getting into cattle.Is there good money to be made in cattle?

whelan1

welcome dazzler... had a cow calved in cubicle shed this morning , typical on st patricks day , anyway alls well , happy st patricks day everyone

C0N0R

Just finished all our scanning. Out of 1000 cows milking at the moment we have 85 empties and roughly 140 to be induced. Of those 85 we are keeping 48 for winter milk and will cull the rest. Out of 160 heifers all are in calf bar 7 and one of those 7 is a free Martin and one other had a cist. All in all happy enough with it, cows to be induced is a bit high is the only thing.

Might be moving to a new farm in June, cousin might be taking over a 400 cow farm and if he does he wants me to come run it with him. We can do it on only two labour units and the odd relief milker. Hopefully he goes for it as it will be better paid than this and less time in the parlour and a greater opportunity to learn.

jeff greene

C0N0R wrote: »

Just finished all our scanning. Out of 1000 cows milking at the moment we have 85 empties and roughly 140 to be induced. Of those 85 we are keeping 48 for winter milk and will cull the rest. Out of 160 heifers all are in calf bar 7 and one of those 7 is a free Martin and one other had a cist. All in all happy enough with it, cows to be induced is a bit high is the only thing.

Might be moving to a new farm in June, cousin might be taking over a 400 cow farm and if he does he wants me to come run it with him. We can do it on only two labour units and the odd relief milker. Hopefully he goes for it as it will be better paid than this and less time in the parlour and a greater opportunity to learn.

How far gone will the cows be when you induce them? Its a disgusting thing to have to do, do the cows give their full milk potential after, is there any effect on subsequent fertility?


Are there any farmers in Ireland doing this. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kiwi wannabes are.

whelan1

jeff greene wrote: »

How far gone will the cows be when you induce them? Its a disgusting thing to have to do, do the cows give their full milk potential after, is there any effect on subsequent fertility?


Are there any farmers in Ireland doing this. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kiwi wannabes are.

my vet was telling me last week of a farmer who aborts all cows that havent calved by the end of march:eek: think its a horrible thing to do tbh

jeff greene

whelan1 wrote: »

my vet was telling me last week of a farmer who aborts all cows that havent calved by the end of march:eek: think its a horrible thing to do tbh

He can go around boasting he has 100% calved in 10 weeks then, makes him out to be a good farmer. NOT


I assume its Progesterone thats used, may have been better used in May/June that in April to induce calving. What would the public make of it here? It would lead to a lot of negative press for sure, and banning of the drug.

whelan1

would it not make more sense to sell the ones that havent calved as springers and buy in new fresh calved ones in their place

C0N0R

jeff greene wrote: »

How far gone will the cows be when you induce them? Its a disgusting thing to have to do, do the cows give their full milk potential after, is there any effect on subsequent fertility?


Are there any farmers in Ireland doing this. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kiwi wannabes are.

I'm not sure on the answers to that, I'll find out though. I think they are slowly trying to outlaw it here, so over the next few years you will only be allowed to do fewer and fewer cows. I know heifers can't be done nor can cows over a certain age.

funny man

C0N0R wrote: »

Just finished all our scanning. Out of 1000 cows milking at the moment we have 85 empties and roughly 140 to be induced. Of those 85 we are keeping 48 for winter milk and will cull the rest. Out of 160 heifers all are in calf bar 7 and one of those 7 is a free Martin and one other had a cist. All in all happy enough with it, cows to be induced is a bit high is the only thing.

Might be moving to a new farm in June, cousin might be taking over a 400 cow farm and if he does he wants me to come run it with him. We can do it on only two labour units and the odd relief milker. Hopefully he goes for it as it will be better paid than this and less time in the parlour and a greater opportunity to learn.

I thought that induction was banned or to be banned in New Zealand. did you here anything like that?
It dosn't portray a good picture of farming and should not be allowed or accepted over here as this would damage our image, which to my mind is our most important sales pitch to the outside world where we depend on selling our products.
400 cows sounds like a doddle after what you have been working with, just a word of caution there is a saying; Never work for family!, but it's just a saying, make sure you set out you're stall and have a written agreement as it will prevent ill feeling and give both of ye something to refer to in the event of a dispute, best of luck with the new venture, i hope ye get it.

pakalasa

Good advice there in the last post.

C0N0R

funny man wrote: »

I thought that induction was banned or to be banned in New Zealand. did you here anything like that?
It dosn't portray a good picture of farming and should not be allowed or accepted over here as this would damage our image, which to my mind is our most important sales pitch to the outside world where we depend on selling our products.
400 cows sounds like a doddle after what you have been working with, just a word of caution there is a saying; Never work for family!, but it's just a saying, make sure you set out you're stall and have a written agreement as it will prevent ill feeling and give both of ye something to refer to in the event of a dispute, best of luck with the new venture, i hope ye get it.

It is to be banned, possibly next year I'm not sure, I'll get back to you on that one! I have to agree, it's not what i would class as good clean farming anyway.

400 cows should be good, the only thing is the irrigation requires slightly more work and it's alot more hands on than this as there are five of us working here and only will be two of us so it's probably slightly more work in some ways. It's a 40 aside herring bone. But the people who own that farm and also the one I'm working on at the moment also own another few, and one of them will be available for a contract milker role in two seasons which I should have a good chance of getting I've been told. As for working for family, I know where your coming from and in most things I've done in life it's been either for or with family. But advice most certainly heeded. I should know by Friday what the story is so I'll let ye know. I'll grab answers on those other questions this evening and get back to you to.

whelan1

does anyone know can the department just call and walk around your farm alone and unannounced ? My friend has been hounded by them recently and thinks she is being victimised :cool:

johngalway

I thought only wildlife rangers could enter your property at will? But, don't take that as gospel.

Box09

County council inspectors can too.

whelan1

she has just rang me back , she has had a second unannounced visit today , there was a different guy there this morning:eek:

theroad

I asked the inspectors about that at their last unannounced visit. If I remember it rightly, they can enter the yard unannounced for welfare and to check the numbers are straight. You can require them to give notice for any other type of inspection. If you stop them they'll dock the sfp.