TV3's A year on the land

Dozer1

Watched this on TV3 the last couple of weeks, I have to say it was a disgrace to see the level of Health and safety on the farms shown last night, the guy in Mayo was being held up as an exapmle to new farmers...as he stood infront of a cow that was calving and she tried to attack him at least 3 or 4 times, I mean he had the facilities right there behind him in the shed to handle her safely.

Then the guy tagging and tagging the calf in an open yard and the cow running around him obviously pi**sed off...and then he turns the calf upside down while putting a ring on him..insane stuff.

Then showing a guy travelling on the towbar of a trailer...drove me mad I have to say.

No wonder we hear of all the farm accidents.
Now I know my place isn't perfect, but Christ lad if I saw someone doing most of those things, I'd give them the gate.

We give out about regulations enough here but I don't know how we'll improve farm safety if this is how farmers are continuing taking all these risks.

Rant over i suppose:mad:

dasheriff

I have to say i agree with you particularly on the mayo man who had a calving gate right behind him to grab the cow especially when it showed the horrific head injuries of the other poor lad later in the programme..

yesman2000

Completely agree, tagging the calf with the cow in the yard took the biscuit. Apart from the Dairy week I personally thought the show itself was poor enough too, tbh. Coming from a beef back round I thought it was a bit belittling. Would have liked to see a few farms with better facilities than the ones shown. Surely beef farms aren't that backward everywhere .

Conflats

I have to agree also with all the things that happen on the farm with accidents its all to late when they are hurt or even killed, the lads didnt seem to care about h & s, and i know ya can say sure i dont have time but still to be fair standing on a drawbar or going into a pen with a freshly calved cow without a stick is crazy, plus i also have to agree they didnt show any real progressive farmers but they did mention the derrypatrick herd and sure we all know the story there :rolleyes: Like in the dairy they had the lad from cork with the big herd and had that other fella with the new zealand sorta setup, and the way beef farming was portrayed wasn't great either

Bodacious

dasheriff wrote: »

I have to say i agree with you particularly on the mayo man who had a calving gate right behind him to grab the cow especially when it showed the horrific head injuries of the other poor lad later in the programme..

+1

I sat up and thought here goes ...she is going to kill him... the lad had fair warning as OP said she charged him at least 3-4 times, lost calf too after 15 mins :mad:

Bodacious

yesman2000 wrote: »

Completely agree, tagging the calf with the cow in the yard took the biscuit. Apart from the Dairy week I personally thought the show itself was poor enough too, tbh. Coming from a beef back round I thought it was a bit belittling. Would have liked to see a few farms with better facilities than the ones shown. Surely beef farms aren't that backward everywhere .

did he really have to have the calf wriggling between his legs while filling out the herd register too?! Even the Worst design/effort of a calf crate would have been an improvement there

RobinBanks

Conflats wrote: »

they didnt show any real progressive farmers

I was disappointed with the clips that were shown of Sean’s farm. I got the impression they were crying poor mouth. The reason been that this farm is far from backward. Weanling prices and grass management would confirm this. Not to many suckler men around here with a set up and quality like his. BTW, I am not sticking up for a fellow mayo man! I don’t know him but have seen his place and stock at the mart.

When was that footage shot?

leoch

i thought this weeks show was pure dung it was more about the bad irish weather and that man in laois and his wife and family it was bad what happened to him alright ,but i wanted to see more about farming and different farming setups and diff yards in the country

yesman2000

leoch very true. No disrespect but there was more time spent talking about his wife in hospital giving birth than about the fundamental aspects of beef farming i.e the reason most people watched the show :cool:

JohnBoy

have to say it was one of the poorer episodes for lots of reasons outlined above, but was most disappointed that there seemed to be no followup on the guy with the organic angus'

I liked the sound of him, only organic for the money

vincenzolorenzo

I'm lagging behind the TV broadcasts but just watched the chicken one last night. I thought it was very interesting. I know pretty much zero about chicken production so it was a real eye opener. The sheer number involved were staggering. And I thought they explained the economics of it all very well too. Will try and catch up with the other episodes during the week.

vanderbadger

saw the part mentioned previously where he tagged and banded the calf..desperate carry on, people that dont know any better might think that was the norm with your man wrestling the calf around in the sh1te and the cow ready to do him :mad:

Bodacious

vanderbadger wrote: »

saw the part mentioned previously where he tagged and banded the calf..desperate carry on, people that dont know any better might think that was the norm with your man wrestling the calf around in the sh1te and the cow ready to do him :mad:

excellent description ... Cow about to knock 7 bells of s**t out of him

RobinBanks

Bodacious wrote: »

Cow about to knock 7 bells of s**t out of him

HaHa...brilliant!

Dazzler88

Not one of the better episodes.I thought they spent too much time talking about the couple in hospital.

Also would have liked a follow up on Organic cattle.

49801

they could do a much better 'beef' episode then what was broadcast!!!

sea12

49801 wrote: »

they could do a much better 'beef' episode then what was broadcast!!!

I agree, saw it on Sky plus this evening. It was an interesting documentary and was very sad to see they guy injured badly.
But as a programme on Beef a year on th eland it was disappointing. The Diary one was the best so far in my opinion.

pakalasa

For those that missed it;
http://www.tv3.ie/shows.php?request=farmersayearontheland

pakalasa

I just watched the Beef episode. Have to agree with all the comments about safety. :mad:
Christ! I got angry myself watching it. Maybe we all need proper safety training!

Backfire

pakalasa wrote: »

For those that missed it;
http://www.tv3.ie/shows.php?request=farmersayearontheland

is there anyway these episodes can be downloaded?

pakalasa

Backfire wrote: »

is there anyway these episodes can be downloaded?

Not directly anyway!
I think you would need to record directly from your computer screen, using 'screen capture' software.
Like this;
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/screencap.aspx

Anyone know a good FREE one!

Muckit

As far as I could see the whole beef programme seemed to be sponsored by the IFJ :rolleyes: Smart. The certainly know their readership, small part time beef farmers. The Dairy lads wouldn't have time to be sitting down reading

Agree H&S wasn't the best. As with all programmes it's down to the editing. Any story can be protrayed witrh a bit of manipulation

keep going

see your man after the accident was scary .just shows we have a responsibility to our family to look after ourselves.its not fair to make our father,mother ,wife ,children or whatever suffer just cause we didnt take care. its not just you that gets hurt. liked the old fella with the flooding but thought it was a bit foolhardy to put silage into the pit again,grand tidy set up though

pakalasa

keep going wrote: »

...but thought it was a bit foolhardy to put silage into the pit again...

He did say it was the worst flood in living memory. What are the chances of it happening again?

keep going

pakalasa wrote: »

He did say it was the worst flood in living memory. What are the chances of it happening again?

not in his lifetime anyway:D

whelan1

whats the chances of having a repeat of last winter this year?

vincenzolorenzo

Well i for one wouldn't be surprised if this winter is just as hard as previous. Looking at that old guys place after the floods went showed just how bad things were. I mean his house was well above the road and it was still up to his front door!

6600

When I watched the beef programme I was appalled. But then after watching it a second time I think it was excellent. It reflected reality on the average beef farms.
A lot of beef farmers are on poor fragmented land, lots are over pension age, most have a really ad hoc, amateurish attitude to safety (a season drawing silage around different yards will tell you this!).
I thought the programme brought all this across really well. It showed in pictures what could never be described in words. And towards the end it said what you will never find printed in the IFJ. That the SFP allows inefficient farmers to hold onto land that they would otherwise lease/sell. Nothing will change while it remains in it current form.
For me that was the main message of the programme. It is uncomfortable for most of us but is the truth.

pakalasa

6600 wrote: »

..... That the SFP allows inefficient farmers to hold onto land that they would otherwise lease/sell. Nothing will change while it remains in it current form.
For me that was the main message of the programme. It is uncomfortable for most of us but is the truth.

Or go one step further - If world markets are opened up to free trade, can even the BIG beef farmers of this country compete with the Brazil, Austrailias of this world.

6600

Well look at dairy, poultry, pigs, spuds, veg. These are not subsidised and there's a totally different setup in these sectors. That was shown in the previous programmes in the series.
The Argentina/Brazil thing is a misnomer IMO thrown out by the farm orgs to justify their own existence. We are nearly at world prices now, populations are rising, beef is being replaced by soya/wheat in SAm.
Think about it - The reason beef farmers need the SFP is not the price of beef, its the small size of each herd. If you are only selling 20-30 animals a year no matter what price they make your still nowhere near making a living. That's the reality and the SFP is allowing it to continue.
The subsidies also allow the factories pay less. Remember when the 10 and 22 month and slaughter premia went? Price went up over night.
Looking at pigmen and spudmen I have always wondered how it is fair that they get not one penny subsidy for producing food while we get REPS/SFP/DAS and don't necessarily have to produce anything. The truth hurts

Muckit

I don't necessarily agree with the notion that the majority of farmers, inefficient or otherwise, would sell up if the SFP were to go.

Nor do I like this 'bully' notion some lads have to insinuate that this should be the case.

I think, and maybe I'm wrong, Irish peoples connection to the land goes deeper than this.

Surely if any man/woman owns a plot of land, be it bought or rightfully inherited, it's up to them to do what they will with it. Leave it idle if they want. It's nobody elses business but theirs.

If someone wasn't using all the rooms in their house, nobody would dream of a scenario where people would demand they sell up and buy an apartment, just so a bigger family could move in.

Nor would it be right to tell those that want to expand to do just that, in a different country. But maybr that's what they need to do. The reality is that their is a long history of small farms and fragmentation in Ireland. This too is reality and possibly hurts 'progressive' farmers to hear it. It's not going to change in our lifetime. So instead of whining about not being able to have access to buying land or leasing a large block of land, perhaps the only viable option would be to consider moving abroad. Why not? Not an easy step, but no bigger a step than suggesting to smaller farmers to 'sell out'

6600

Muckit wrote: »

I don't necessarily agree with the notion that the majority of farmers, inefficient or otherwise, would sell up if the SFP were to go.

Nor do I like this 'bully' notion some lads have to insinuate that this should be the case.

I think, and maybe I'm wrong, Irish peoples connection to the land goes deeper than this.

Surely if any man/woman owns a plot of land, be it bought or rightfully inherited, it's up to them to do what they will with it. Leave it idle if they want. It's nobody elses business but theirs.

Point taken, it is up to each person to do what they wish. But you haven't addressed my point. The way the SFP is set up promotes inefficiencies. Things would be a lot different if it changed. Why should someone in 2011 be getting paid based on what they produced in 2002? That's inherently unfair and was shown in that programme by that young lad going off abroad to work.

The suggestion that anybody wanting to get ahead in farming should move abroad so that those remaining can live on handouts is hardly serious is it?

Muckit

6600 wrote: »

The suggestion that anybody wanting to get ahead in farming should move abroad so that those remaining can live on handouts is hardly serious is it?

The suggestion I made that any farmer in this country who wants to expand and run a large enough block of land on which to earn a sustainable income should CONSIDER moving abroad, has merit. Is it not a more positive, realisitic and acheviable option than waiting around thinking one can change the rural makeup of a country overnight. And b*t*hing about it in the meantime?

And your last line is a tad narrowminded and just a little stereotypical. Worrying about what the neighbours would be doing or getting in your absence. What would/should you care?

If people want to farm fulltime and make a living off it, it can be done. Harsh choices have to be made, but they are there none the less. It's this moaning and whinging that I can't stand and blaming others, be it politicans or other fellow farmers.

If a person wants something bad enough, go out and do it. But there's no need to have to do it at someone elses peril.

6600

Steady on there, I was dealing with the facts and not trying to be emotive about it. The TV3 programme showed and said what is almost taboo and I stand over that. I'm not moaning at all. I think most people would accept the historical basis is unfair.
The way I see it the writing is on the wall for the SFP. It's def not going to increase and even if it stays the same will be eaten away over time by modulation and inflation.
What any farmer who wants to stay in business needs to do is to get set so he can survive if there was no SFP. The way Europe is going now that could be sooner rather than later.

keep going

we understand the connection with the land i have it too and everyones right to do what they like with it.BUTthese schemes are dreamt up in europe for logical people but when their applied to ireland it always ends up the fella that wants to work gets screwed and the sofa farmer ends up better off . iv seen it with quota and now its the same with the sfp.as regards the beef industry what ever happens it will adjust,it just wont be pretty when it happens.i think the big problem is there is too many non-viable units where there is just not really a business,the same could apply to both tillage and dairy to lesser extinct. most business work on 20 to 25 %margin(farming would be less) so on that basis to pay one wage(yourself)you would need a turnover of 200k plus,how many farms could do this

John_F

anyway the dealer has it in the journal this week that farmers are unhappy with the programme, heard it here first

whelan1

thought this evenings programme was better than last week:o

johngalway

By far and away the most interesting installment so far, but, I maybe a little biased Nice to see the other sheep enterprises too, food for thought there.

sea12

johngalway wrote: »

By far and away the most interesting installment so far, but, I maybe a little biased Nice to see the other sheep enterprises too, food for thought there.

Yea I enjoyed last night the best too. Your man Joe Joe is getting a full time job doing TV programes lately. Wasn't he on the rte programme earlier in the year.
I thought Andrew KInsella was very good.

Dazzler88

have to agree with the above,it was the best show so far.Would love to farm the place in Mayo by the lake.Seems like a great lifestyle.

johngalway

sea12 wrote: »

Yea I enjoyed last night the best too. Your man Joe Joe is getting a full time job doing TV programes lately. Wasn't he on the rte programme earlier in the year.
I thought Andrew KInsella was very good.

He was yeah, I remember that, I know a brother of his. I think he does a reasonable trade with the tourists, if you look up Joyce Country Sheepdogs.

I liked how AK showed a wet adoption.