Changing system from suckling

mattthetrasher

cows really are the only show in town

Muckit

mattthetrasher wrote: »

cows really are the only show in town

At the moment yes

reilig

Are all ye Dairy Farmers really making that much profit????????

I know that milk prices are good, but there are a lot of inputs compared to suckling and there are a lot of investments to be made on a regular basis to keep things modern and efficient.

whelan1

reilig wrote: »

Are all ye Dairy Farmers really making that much profit????????

I know that milk prices are good, but there are a lot of inputs compared to suckling and there are a lot of investments to be made on a regular basis to keep things modern and efficient.

did ya see my thread on my tax bill:D i think with the advancement in grassland management alot of people are this year actually making aprofit, i for one have learnt not to buy something if its not needed and ok we had 2 very hard years but hopefully we wint go back there... only real problem for some people will be the super levy .The worst thing about dairying is the 7 day a week commitment , like taking the kids off on a sunday , you either have to have someone to milk in the evening or cut short your day to get back

F.D

with the cost of keeping a suckler cow, and the risk of not getting paid what the weanling is worth in a bad year would it not be possible to get a good dairy beef or dairy to weanling system going to suit the small fragmented and poorer land farms! say keeping 30 to 50 cows or what ever the block around the yard can carry, this give you the steady income (and the cow paying for herself) keeping the calves to weanlings on the heavier land or out block,

Is there anyone on here doing this?
With british fresian cows, what could you cross them with to do this to get a decent weanling to make money on afterwards?
Does it have to be one way or the other dairy or suckling is there no inbetween, every thing you read now seems to be one way or the other

blue5000

F.D wrote: »

with the cost of keeping a suckler cow, and the risk of not getting paid what the weanling is worth in a bad year would it not be possible to get a good dairy beef or dairy to weanling system going to suit the small fragmented and poorer land farms! say keeping 30 to 50 cows or what ever the block around the yard can carry, this give you the steady income (and the cow paying for herself) keeping the calves to weanlings on the heavier land or out block,

Is there anyone on here doing this?
With british fresian cows, what could you cross them with to do this to get a decent weanling to make money on afterwards?
Does it have to be one way or the other dairy or suckling is there no inbetween, every thing you read now seems to be one way or the other

I used to do this and I was just a busy fool, borrowing money simply to give it away to arraban fukkin coop. The bigger you are the more co-operation you get.....

F.D

blue5000 wrote: »

I used to do this and I was just a busy fool, borrowing money simply to give it away to arraban fukkin coop. The bigger you are the more co-operation you get.....

Can you explain more why you were a busy fool was the returns not good enough, form the milk or beef side of it

blue5000

• Had a big problem with scc, just couldn't sort it.
• My accountant just could not get over the way costs fell when I switched to suckling
• Small quota and at time was impossible to get more
• Old parlour, buildings
• Fragmented farm, was milking pretty much as many as I could with what land I had near the yard
• Cost more to get someone in to milk for a week than what the milk was worth if I wanted time off.

I got out when price for milk was actually lower than when quotas came in, and that wasn't 2009 either! No regrets yet, sure there's dairy farmers today with 2mth esb bills which are higher than mine are for the year, pissing up a downpipe imo.