Dairy Block calving

Farfield

Hi there, just wanted to know if many of you dairy guys out there do spring block calving and switch the whole parlour off say dec & jan? How do you find it? Is it hard to work with fertility etc?

PMU

yes, after 30 years in liquid I did it for the first time last year. fertility needs to be good no matter what the system. its all about the break from milking

whelan1

out of interest what do you live on when you are not milking, do you have a reserve built up ?

Farfield

No reserve, but i earn a fairly good non farming income during the day also so can defo switch off for the worst winter 2 months. just want others ideas re it.

irishh_bob

whelan1 wrote: »

out of interest what do you live on when you are not milking, do you have a reserve built up ?

yearly income piled into ten months is really the same thing as sharing it across twelve or so i would have thought

linebacker52

irishh_bob wrote: »

yearly income piled into ten months is really the same thing as sharing it across twelve or so i would have thought

we always dry off for dec and jan start calving frist of feb for grass

have all bills paid off by end of year loans etc are only paid for six months a year.
so we only have to run the house for two months with any money coming in

Tipp Man

Did the last milking on Saturday and the machine won't be started again until at least the 1st Feb hopefully. These are our normal dates

Would have milked on this year but quota is a problem.

jeff greene

Tipp Man wrote: »

Did the last milking on Saturday and the machine won't be started again until at least the 1st Feb hopefully. These are our normal dates

Would have milked on this year but quota is a problem.

You'll be well recharged come Feb so:) With good milk price and solids at this time of year, another month would have been good but for quota? Not that it matters, but what is your average days in milk?

Its never off here, listening you you guys that shut down makes me want to do it too:( Its just an hour morning and evening anyway, not too taxing.

Farfield

Do you guys dry them off abruptly even if cows giving a fair wee drop? Any bother for the week or so later after drying off - just interested.

Tipp Man

jeff greene wrote: »

You'll be well recharged come Feb so:) With good milk price and solids at this time of year, another month would have been good but for quota? Not that it matters, but what is your average days in milk?

Its never off here, listening you you guys that shut down makes me want to do it too:( Its just an hour morning and evening anyway, not too taxing.

Yeah we enjoy the break - messing around with cattle this week so really busy but after that it will be late mornings and early evenings - feck all to do really only a bit of feeding and that - happy days. Was glad not to be milking cows in the freezing conditions last year let me tell you. The guys around here were going mad with frozen machines and what not.

Never counted our average days in milk - but will have about 50% calved by end of Feb and 80-85% by end of March and then a few stragglers. Turns out the stragglers might be useful in the future the way Glanbia and Dairygold are talking about June milk supply

Looks like that is going to be our problem in the future

Tipp Man

Farfield wrote: »

Do you guys dry them off abruptly even if cows giving a fair wee drop? Any bother for the week or so later after drying off - just interested.

Normally we put them on once a day for 2 weeks and really tighten up the grass supply for the last few days and then either give them hay indoors or leave them in bare paddocks after puttin up the tubes

This was the toughest year in a while as we had a load of grass and they were milking like crazy - had to put them on hay indoors as there was just too much grass around. Would have made a lot of money this year if it wasn't for the quota

Farfield

Yea, i am just lookin at the options. I am starting in February with 25 first calvers that i currently have and want to add in another 15 or 20 from then till say mid May. No bother keepin the 25 block calvin But the add ins might not all be on the same system. A lot in our area want to milk all year round now, but it scares the sh1t out of me if the weather is -15 again, even i am milking in a brand new parlour thats bravely insulated etc. Block calving also gives a bit of decent time to do maintenace in the parlour etc also.

Just lookin for our experiences and thoughts.

keep going

i used to dry off just for christmas 20 years ago as my family used to be home from abroad and not to interfere with my social life.the cows used to start calving 1 jan on anyway.didnt know at the time it made financial sense as well .would nt have any probs with the money management side of things just make sure everything is up to date before christmas

oooge1

Turns out the stragglers might be useful in the future the way Glanbia and Dairygold are talking about June milk supply
Looks like that is going to be our problem in the future

Can i ask, when does this seasonality scheme kick in for glanbia??