Farming Chit Chat

just do it

Who'd be a weather forecaster?! Even MT Cranium is getting it wrong at the moment. My heart goes out to anyone with hay or silage knocked. Rainfall on the Met 5 day map changed dramatically between yesterday morning and evening!

vanderbadger

an awfal night here , fecking flood made, place is in ****e again, feck sake

Kovu

Rain here too. Got up at 7, looked out, fed the cat and went back to bed:(

leg wax

i knocked 16 acres on sat ,was meant to bale yesterday,a well fook it,fooking farming:o

reilig

Would you buy a "ree conditioned tractor" if the re-conditioner doesn't even know to put the front tyres on the right way around??

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tractors/3664960

pakalasa

I wonder what % of 2nd hand tractors for sale are just fancy paint jobs, nothing more?
I remember a post on here a while back about front tyres on the wrong way around. Someone said some people do it, to help reverse out when they are stuck....;)

dasheriff

We have a light mist here so far but its looking bad back the kerry side which means it'll pour here later..

bbam

dasheriff wrote: »

We have a light mist here so far but its looking bad back the kerry side which means it'll pour here later..

W e had a light most at seven this morning.
It has steadily progressed into heavy rain and the sky is closed from one end to the other. Any drying from the weekend has been well undone by now and any of the 10 day forecasts that I look at are pulling back on the chances of dry days.

I've been holding off mowing silage but it's looking like well have to bite the bullet and get stuck in anyway. Provisionally booked to knock it Wed morning.

Muckit

Trying to be optimistic, I let a few cattle out on Saturday. Majority have been in the last three weeks on baled silage. Then the oul lad says 'ah sure the good is going out of the grass from now on anyways' It'd kill ya to hear it, but f**k it, he's right!!

Walked some of the silage fields. Couldn't travel with slurry since it was cut. Not 2 blades of grass in it and it is over a month since was cut. Rushes are doing well though in the ruts the baler made. Back to square one after getting the field into some shape after 2009.....

Still I could be one of the many lads around here that have hay down. Like hay..... am... have they been away on holidays for the summer??!!

Any tips for keeping positive???

Your Sincerely

A down in the dumps Muckit

AntrimGlens

Mowed 10 acres of young grass on friday afternoon to keep for the sheep and the baler was booked for yesterday afternoon. He turned up at 3 oclock and the sun was giving off some heat and the grass was in great condition, he made five bales before a bearing went in the gearbox and the rain was promised for nine o'clock last night until tuesday. Rang another fella who does a bit of baling for us and he arrived at half eight last night and we had it all baled, wrapped and stacked for ten oclock. I now have fifty very good bales of fodder for the sheep to go with the 400 bales of watery shi*e that have been for the cattle - it has rained steady since we parked the tractor in the shed last night. Can't believe i feel good about only having fifty decent bales of silage so far...

bob charles

have treated 6 animals so far in the last couple of days for Pneumonia that are all out on grass a getting feeding. animals indoors are perfect. Suppose its been such a range of temperatures its bound to happen. Maybe its time to start vaccinating for all strains of pneumonia 365 days a year and not just for cattle indoors as the loss in thrift and the treatment cost would add up quickly.

nashmach

South West Wexford - drizzling from 11.30am yesterday just as the wrapping finished.

Lots of hay down around too and I was going back with a bale trailer at 12.15 yesterday and the roads well wet.

Very glad now Dad overuled me and cut the silage on Friday and baled on Saturday.

Wouldn't have much of a chance now to get it off the land without damage.

Weather is only a ****! :rolleyes:

nashmach

bob charles wrote: »

have treated 6 animals so far in the last couple of days for Pneumonia that are all out on grass a getting feeding. animals indoors are perfect. Suppose its been such a range of temperatures its bound to happen. Maybe its time to start vaccinating for all strains of pneumonia 365 days a year and not just for cattle indoors as the loss in thrift and the treatment cost would add up quickly.

Would well believe it Bob, finished up at 12 on Saturday night and could do with a coat :eek: - earlier in the day, jumper was off.

Was quite raw yesterday morning at 6.30 too.

And this is supposed to be summer :rolleyes:

reilig

Muckit wrote: »

Trying to be optimistic, I let a few cattle out on Saturday. Majority have been in the last three weeks on baled silage. Then the oul lad says 'ah sure the good is going out of the grass from now on anyways' It'd kill ya to hear it, but f**k it, he's right!!

Walked some of the silage fields. Couldn't travel with slurry since it was cut. Not 2 blades of grass in it and it is over a month since was cut. Rushes are doing well though in the ruts the baler made. Back to square one after getting the field into some shape after 2009.....

Still I could be one of the many lads around here that have hay down. Like hay..... am... have they been away on holidays for the summer??!!

Any tips for keeping positive???

Your Sincerely

A down in the dumps Muckit

We got 150 more bales of layledge/silage baled yesterday before the rain. It puts us half way to the total that we need for the winter. We are only 10 days behind cutting at this stage - thank god we grazed early.

A lot of lads with hay down around here too. Most people have animals housed. A relation sold 30 cattle on saturday - most were off Dairy cows. His meal bill for mid June to mid July was €3000. This was bigger than his milk cheque.

Lads around here are having awful issues with slurry - any ground dry enough to take it is getting a double coat - this really slows up regrowth. There is a huge risk of pollution also.

We still only have 10 dry cows housed, but have a bale of silage in a round feeder in the field for 2 other groups of cows and calves.

On the bright side, July 23rd 2009, we only had 70 bales of silage made. Didn't get the bulk of our bales till after August 10th.

It's never easy, is it? If its not bad prices, its bad weather.

Bloody factories are cutting prices again -even though beef kill is at an all time low. They want it all their own way. They'll keep pushing down prices and then only raise them slightly to try to attract finishers to slaughter their finished animals.

The sooner the Libyan market opens to live exports, the better.

On the bright side, there is only 154 days, 12 hours and 10 minutes to Christmas, and if you ask nicely, Santa might bring you a nice inflatable boat for herding!!!

just do it

Muckit wrote: »

Any tips for keeping positive???

Your Sincerely

A down in the dumps Muckit

All the usual, your health is your wealth, it's outside the door etc. However some s** with your partner is always a help, and sure what else is there to be doing;)

Muckit

nashmach wrote: »

finished up at 12 on Saturday night and could do with a coat :eek: - earlier in the day, jumper was off.

Was quite raw yesterday morning at 6.30 too.

And this is supposed to be summer :rolleyes:

Yesterday was the first day this summer that I went outside with just a T shirt.

redzerologhlen

vanderbadger wrote: »

redzerologhlen wrote: »

Did you drive the road from lennane to louisburg? never seen the likes of it before, pure wilderness!!

did you ever drive over derrybrien on a wet winters night..jaysus i wouldnt like to get a breakdown

I have, lonely road that!!

nashmach

Muckit wrote: »

Yesterday was the first day this summer that I went outside with just a T shirt.

Saturday was the first day I lost the boiler suit and later the jumper :eek:

Summer what summer.

I should say we are supposedly in the "sunny south east" and still some have 100% of their first cut to get in with lots of stock housed.

Harvest could be a struggle yet and that is before disease and blind grains rob the yield potential that was there in May.

just do it

Herd test at 2oc and there I was thinking I'd be watching the mower in the silage field knocking the 1st cut in the sunshile! And the cattle have to stay out as the s*** is coming up through the slats. I've been holding it for the silage field as I'd planned to reseed it. Oh well, just got to roll with the punches and see how it goes.

Muckit

just do it wrote: »

All the usual, your health is your wealth, it's outside the door etc.

Dead right lad. Health is your wealth. Sorry it's a Monday and all this bloody rain is rotting my brain as well as the grass at this stage!!

oh sure I'd only love to have some sun with my partner, if only it would shine!!!!!

just do it

reilig wrote: »

On the bright side, July 23rd 2009, we only had 70 bales of silage made. Didn't get the bulk of our bales till after August 10th.

Worth keeping in mind reilig, I recall hearing a few times on the radio that the annual rainfall is pretty much the same every year, just when it falls varies. This implies there should be a dry patch as some point in time.

...and at least the jet stream is trying to push North, we're on the edge of it hence the difficulty with forecasts at the mo.

just do it

Muckit wrote: »

Dead right lad. Health is your wealth. Sorry it's a Monday and all this bloody rain is rotting my brain as well as the grass at this stage!!

oh sure I'd only love to have some sun with my partner, if only it would shine!!!!!

Good to see it brought a smile to your face;), now off out to bring the cattle in:eek:

Manoffeeling

Every day is a day closer to a take up. Positive or what!!!

reilig

just do it wrote: »

Worth keeping in mind reilig, I recall hearing a few times on the radio that the annual rainfall is pretty much the same every year, just when it falls varies. This implies there should be a dry patch as some point in time.

...and at least the jet stream is trying to push North, we're on the edge of it hence the difficulty with forecasts at the mo.

I think thats the main reason for the inaccurate forecast. I was reading a blog last night from a forecaster who said that because of the jetstream being so close, weather forcast can only really be accurate for up to 12 hours - this is why the forecast has changed so much over the weekend.

bbam

Our silage ground is 10 weeks since closed/fertilised and its saturated. I've a mower booked for Wed but thinking of putting it off another week in the hope for a drier spell.
It pains me to think of damage to fields but it may be the only solution. I remember in past bad years the father pushing on to 12 weeks before cutting and the quality was "fine". It's a hard call.
Cut or wait

nashmach

bbam wrote: »

Our silage ground is 10 weeks since closed/fertilised and its saturated. I've a mower booked for Wed but thinking of putting it off another week in the hope for a drier spell.
It pains me to think of damage to fields but it may be the only solution. I remember in past bad years the father pushing on to 12 weeks before cutting and the quality was "fine". It's a hard call.
Cut or wait

Impossible to know - everyone's situation is different.

I distinctly remember rolling our ground on that scorcher of a Sunday in late March. Luckily due to the amount of clover our ground has had no nitrogen and was still relatively green and got 30 hours on the ground.

The only real damage you'll do is mowing if you get a good day and can leave for a few hours as the baler can go up the rows.

Limit all traffic taking off bales even if it means drawing only one at a time or loading at a gateway etc.

It really is a b***** of a year

pakalasa

Well at least everyone is more or less in the same boat. What really bugs me is having to listen to smart comments from people, outside of farming, who just don't get it. Won't elaborate but.....:(....they just just don't get how stressful it can be for farmers when the weather stays bad....Rant over.

johngalway

pakalasa wrote: »

Well at least everyone is more or less in the same boat. What really bugs me is having to listen to smart comments from people, outside of farming, who just don't get it. Won't elaborate but.....:(....they just just don't get how stressful it can be for farmers when the weather stays bad....Rant over.

Yep, still got sheep to shear here. Was raining this morning so they're all wet. Gonna head out soon and knock a few rushes with the strimmer, take out my frustration on them feckers!

DaNiEl1994

we had half of our silage gone saturday, and the contractor asked me should we finish it all up or wait till this week.
i feel like a right tit after i told him its promised unreal tuesday onwards.

should have done it all laste week:o

whelan1

went to tayto park this morning. left at 1pm.... decided to to grass cover when i came home... just in and i am drowned.... sheet of paper in bits from rain:mad: on the plus side plenty of high covers, hopeful of getting cows out at night before end of week- if it stops raining- so much for a bloody heatwave:(

sea12

Lovely day in Dublin. Sun is shining very warm breeze. Perfect hay weather except my hay is at home in the midlands where I am told it currently look like it is going to piss rain.

This is the second year I got caught by MT Cranium across in the weather section. I know it's hard to forecast at the moment as evident today. If we had the weather in Dublin today acrossthecountry we would all be fine. Not going to be as confident taking MTs advise going forward though.

nashmach

sea12 wrote: »

Lovely day in Dublin. Sun is shining very warm breeze. Perfect hay weather except my hay is at home in the midlands where I am told it currently look like it is going to piss rain.

This is the second year I got caught by MT Cranium across in the weather section. I know it's hard to forecast at the moment as evident today. If we had the weather in Dublin today acrossthecountry we would all be fine. Not going to be as confident taking MTs advise going forward though.

Indeed sun splitting the rocks and heavy fog at home this morning!

Interesting to see the disclaimer on MT's forecast in the past day or two.

The_Conductor

East coast- 25 degrees, but a 45 mile an hour gale....... Humidity is also at unreal levels- 110 according to the barometer- so very little drying despite everything. Apparently there are thunder storms forecast for later- perhaps.......

johngalway

West coast, sheep farmer out dressed in t shirt covered by hoodie being drizzled on :rolleyes: It's not cold, and there's no wind in it like yesterday though.

pakalasa

Connemara and Its Ponies - 1970
http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=10036458

johngalway

Prefer Rásaí na Gaillimhe myself

Mac Taylor

redzerologhlen wrote: »

Did you drive the road from lennane to louisburg? never seen the likes of it before, pure wilderness!!

Not this time. We went as far as Killary and then headed back to Galway. The cloud was so low and with the mist so heavy you could see nothing.

1chippy

Mac Taylor wrote: »

Not this time. We went as far as Killary and then headed back to Galway. The cloud was so low and with the mist so heavy you could see nothing.

The mist is all part of the beauty down there. i loved it as much on a misty day as a dry one. head over the inagh valley and you catch the streams that may just be starting to flow and hints of rainbow, absolutely beaut. One word of warning dont walk it drunk at night time.

Odelay

pakalasa wrote: »

Connemara and Its Ponies - 1970
http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=10036458

Thank you, enjoyed that!

Odelay

1chippy wrote: »

The mist is all part of the beauty down there. i loved it as much on a misty day as a dry one. head over the inagh valley and you catch the streams that may just be starting to flow and hints of rainbow, absolutely beaut. One word of warning dont walk it drunk at night time.

Did you come out of the "frack"? An ex woodie?
btw if walking drunk at night on that road keep your eyes on the telegraph/phone wires, lets you know where the ditch is! Easy to fall over a 3ft wall and find yourself 7ft below wondering "how the fup do i get out?"

Many happy days, love going back there, even just for the drive thru the Inagh valley.

bbam

Fed up today!
Had second heifer in two weeks drop and die within a few hours :eek: first one i was off on holidays.
Saw cattle before work yesterday, back in the evening and a beaut of a Lim/ch heifer down and stretched out, ground not broken so she wasn't down long.. Hauled her up to a shed and got vet out... No hope and she was gone in no time..
Since it was the second we opened her for samples... Everything looked perfect, stomach was full so she was grazing during the day, vet will check the brain in the knackery later today presuming it is meningitis.. Hasn't recomended anything yet for the rest of the stock.

Sick of it today... we're small scale and this will leave us struggling to break even for the year, and the silage is like a carpet, flattened to the ground, due to be mowed in the morning, can barely walk today with back pain after helping the vet...

Vet said they are on top of their heads as the weather is so hard on stock and they are expecting a dreadful winter with so much poor silage and meal being too expensive they expect lots of poorly fed stock over the winter..

Laike the father used to say.. at least its outside the door

reilig

bbam wrote: »

Fed up today!
Had second heifer in two weeks drop and die within a few hours :eek: first one i was off on holidays.
Saw cattle before work yesterday, back in the evening and a beaut of a Lim/ch heifer down and stretched out, ground not broken so she wasn't down long.. Hauled her up to a shed and got vet out... No hope and she was gone in no time..
Since it was the second we opened her for samples... Everything looked perfect, stomach was full so she was grazing during the day, vet will check the brain in the knackery later today presuming it is meningitis.. Hasn't recomended anything yet for the rest of the stock.

Sick of it today... we're small scale and this will leave us struggling to break even for the year, and the silage is like a carpet, flattened to the ground, due to be mowed in the morning, can barely walk today with back pain after helping the vet...

Vet said they are on top of their heads as the weather is so hard on stock and they are expecting a dreadful winter with so much poor silage and meal being too expensive they expect lots of poorly fed stock over the winter..

Laike the father used to say.. at least its outside the door

Sorry to hear that.

Meningitis seems to be quite prominent around here this year. I have a neighbour who has had 2 cases, both are still alive. His vet said that it must have to do with the damp weather.

bob charles

bbam wrote: »

Fed up today!
Had second heifer in two weeks drop and die within a few hours :eek: first one i was off on holidays.
Saw cattle before work yesterday, back in the evening and a beaut of a Lim/ch heifer down and stretched out, ground not broken so she wasn't down long.. Hauled her up to a shed and got vet out... No hope and she was gone in no time..
Since it was the second we opened her for samples... Everything looked perfect, stomach was full so she was grazing during the day, vet will check the brain in the knackery later today presuming it is meningitis.. Hasn't recomended anything yet for the rest of the stock.

Sick of it today... we're small scale and this will leave us struggling to break even for the year, and the silage is like a carpet, flattened to the ground, due to be mowed in the morning, can barely walk today with back pain after helping the vet...

Vet said they are on top of their heads as the weather is so hard on stock and they are expecting a dreadful winter with so much poor silage and meal being too expensive they expect lots of poorly fed stock over the winter..

Laike the father used to say.. at least its outside the door

life is a bitch sometimes, Its no wonder when animals drop off that I often think about throwing in the towel as you think about how hard it is to make back the price of a dead animal. Probably worse if you only have a small few animals but it really get to me when losing animals due to different reasons even with a moderate size herd.

Richk2012

bbam wrote: »

Fed up today!
Had second heifer in two weeks drop and die within a few hours :eek: first one i was off on holidays.
Saw cattle before work yesterday, back in the evening and a beaut of a Lim/ch heifer down and stretched out, ground not broken so she wasn't down long.. Hauled her up to a shed and got vet out... No hope and she was gone in no time..
Since it was the second we opened her for samples... Everything looked perfect, stomach was full so she was grazing during the day, vet will check the brain in the knackery later today presuming it is meningitis.. Hasn't recomended anything yet for the rest of the stock.

Sick of it today... we're small scale and this will leave us struggling to break even for the year, and the silage is like a carpet, flattened to the ground, due to be mowed in the morning, can barely walk today with back pain after helping the vet...

Vet said they are on top of their heads as the weather is so hard on stock and they are expecting a dreadful winter with so much poor silage and meal being too expensive they expect lots of poorly fed stock over the winter..

Laike the father used to say.. at least its outside the door

Much easier said than done , but dont let it get in on you ..
I have to say with the weather so god awful this year , and like you said the quality of the silage harvested being so poor , not to mention the state of the land when machinery is finished on it , its proving very hard for us to find the enjoyment in it this year , but just put it down to one of those years ..
As for the loses , the saying : "where you have livestock , you will have deadstock" always comes to mind when i find myself in a situation such as yours . Part and parcel of it all .. Chin up

Manoffeeling

bbam wrote: »

Fed up today!
Had second heifer in two weeks drop and die within a few hours :eek: first one i was off on holidays.
Saw cattle before work yesterday, back in the evening and a beaut of a Lim/ch heifer down and stretched out, ground not broken so she wasn't down long.. Hauled her up to a shed and got vet out... No hope and she was gone in no time..
Since it was the second we opened her for samples... Everything looked perfect, stomach was full so she was grazing during the day, vet will check the brain in the knackery later today presuming it is meningitis.. Hasn't recomended anything yet for the rest of the stock.

Sick of it today... we're small scale and this will leave us struggling to break even for the year, and the silage is like a carpet, flattened to the ground, due to be mowed in the morning, can barely walk today with back pain after helping the vet...

Vet said they are on top of their heads as the weather is so hard on stock and they are expecting a dreadful winter with so much poor silage and meal being too expensive they expect lots of poorly fed stock over the winter..

Laike the father used to say.. at least its outside the door

Thats hardship. Sounds like meningitis

whelan1

Manoffeeling wrote: »

Thats hardship. Sounds like meningitis

seriously, could be anything... have they been blacklegged? hopefully vet tests will reveal something, sorry for your loss, nothing worse

Manoffeeling

whelan1 wrote: »

seriously, could be anything... have they been blacklegged? hopefully vet tests will reveal something, sorry for your loss, nothing worse

Conditions are perfect for meningitis. But it could something else.

whelan1

Manoffeeling wrote: »

Conditions are perfect for meningitis. But it could something else.

call me old fashioned or stupid but i would prefer to get a diagnosis from a qualified vet rather than some one i have never even met:rolleyes:

johngalway

It's dry out :eek: I'll put the lifejacket back under the stairs.

Manoffeeling

whelan1 wrote: »

call me old fashioned or stupid but i would prefer to get a diagnosis from a qualified vet rather than some one i have never even met:rolleyes:

You are 100% right. Never take advice or opinion from an Internet forum.