What do i pay a young lad for farm help?

tayto lover

Good loser wrote: »

Just for accuracy that is average per farm not per farmer. So if the spouse or any children (or anyone else) works on the place their remuneration must come from the €25,000.

How come many of them are driving mercs. Plus they wouldn't have a mortgage as the farms are handed down and they eat what the grow and breed (animals). So their income is nearly all disposable. They get free education for their kids too.

I did work on a farm myself for a few summers though and really enjoyed the experience BUT the people I worked for had a lot more than 25k per year. You'd want to see the house they had, they were rolling in dosh i'd say. Paid well too and gave the best of grub.

whelan1

tayto lover wrote: »

How come many of them are driving mercs. .

i know 1 farmer that has a merc, a 1998 one, i drive a 00 renault scenic and my husband has a 00 bmw, we have a 1996 isuzu trooper also... what do you drive? by the way my cars are paid for:) also have a 00 new holland tractor and a 1998 jcb so no flash cars or anything here i'm afraid

tayto lover

whelan1 wrote: »

i know 1 farmer that has a merc, a 1998 one, i drive a 00 renault scenic and my husband has a 00 bmw, we have a 1996 isuzu trooper also... what do you drive? by the way my cars are paid for:) also have a 00 new holland tractor and a 1998 jcb so no flash cars or anything here i'm afraid

I have a 08 Primera which i'm still paying for. Thank God for the Credit Union.

Manoffeeling

tayto lover wrote: »

I have a 08 Primera which i'm still paying for. Thank God for the Credit Union.

Drive a 98 but own it.

bbam

tayto lover wrote: »

How come many of them are driving mercs. Plus they wouldn't have a mortgage as the farms are handed down and they eat what the grow and breed (animals). So their income is nearly all disposable. They get free education for their kids too.

I did work on a farm myself for a few summers though and really enjoyed the experience BUT the people I worked for had a lot more than 25k per year. You'd want to see the house they had, they were rolling in dosh i'd say. Paid well too and gave the best of grub.

Thats just a joke and calibrates your understanding of farms, farming, farm incomes and farming life..

tayto lover

bbam wrote: »

Thats just a joke and calibrates your understanding of farms, farming, farm incomes and farming life..

Which part of it ?

dillo2k10

I bet this was not the outcome of the thread that the OP was expecting . . .

darragh_haven

tayto lover wrote: »

bbam wrote: »

Thats just a joke and calibrates your understanding of farms, farming, farm incomes and farming life..

Which part of it ?

I'll respond to your ignorance of the modern farming life. I took over the farm last year, was given the option of building my own house or taking over the home and building the parents a house of their design.... Built my own. Didn't get a mortgage free house
Bought the stock from my dad as he retired. Nothing free about that.
Had to provide each of my 3 siblings with a site or the price of a site elsewhere even if the already had a house or not. All took the cash. Costly decking business.
I'm not complaining, and I don't think its out of the ordinary.
So tayto head! Back in your box! I got the farm... But I'm paying for it.

tayto lover

darragh_haven wrote: »

I'll respond to your ignorance of the modern farming life. I took over the farm last year, was given the option of building my own house or taking over the home and building the parents a house of their design.... Built my own. Didn't get a mortgage free house
Bought the stock from my dad as he retired. Nothing free about that.
Had to provide each of my 3 siblings with a site or the price of a site elsewhere even if the already had a house or not. All took the cash. Costly decking business.
I'm not complaining, and I don't think its out of the ordinary.
So tayto head! Back in your box! I got the farm... But I'm paying for it.

Good for you BUT you are only one farmer. I am speaking about farmers in general. I know of many cases where the farm was left to one son and the others got nothing, none of them got a pay-off from the lad who inherited it.
I won't call you "head" or tell you to get back in your box.

ektec

Whats the chances of a young 16 year old lad, with a tractor licence with no real experience dealing with farm machinery other than a tractor getting a job for the summer wrapping bales or raking these days for little or no money?

I think they would be hard set to let such a young lad get experience with a farming contractor..

maybe its possible..

1chippy

Tayto, on nearly all farms there are arangements and agreements between members, youll find all siblings get looked after. As for mercs i can definately state that i only know 1 farmer with one. He owns another business too.
I really get the impression you have little or no comprehension of what goes on outside your own little bubble, or just latch on to some new topic and try and stir it up to keep yourself occupied.

darragh_haven

dillo2k10 wrote: »

I bet this was not the outcome of the thread that the OP was expecting . . .

Just to clarify and to keep the thread on topic, I'd pay a 17 or 18 year on a summer part time work, with limited experience.... 40 for the 6 hours. With a review after I could evaluate his work ethic.

Kurz

I suggest that the OP offers him something around minimum wage and see if he's interested. If there's no chance he'll get a job anywhere else he might take slightly below minimum wage.

He's not doing it to improve the balance of his "work ethic account" and he's not going to work for you if you pay him in monopoly money because you're on a crusade to fix the Irish mentality as some posters seems to think you should be.

The kid is living with his parents so has no bills to pay and no food to buy so doesn't need to work for peanuts. He'll just go and enjoy his summer if it's not worth his while.

It's a two way transaction at the end of the day, the kid isn't going to take the job and leave you to decide what wages you want to throw his way, if it's not worth his while, he'll go home and ****/sleep.

ektec

Yeah I think its a matter of choice..

Like I'm doing exams next week, and have been out the last 2 every day looking at silage and some farm work going on..I do want to get a job next summer drving a tractor either it, raking, baling what ever and I would be happy to recieve zero pay just for experiece...

Like what your talking with a 17 or 18 year old, it depends what hours they do and experience and work ethic etc, I think 7 euro is enough for a beginner..with the dinner fired in minimum wage is needed then at 18 or what not..

secretambition

bbam wrote: »

What is a full-time farmer?, if the farmers spouse has a part time job are they full time farmers?? During the silage season if the farmer is helping a contractor out and getting paid are they full or part time farmers?? What about lads working at the mart?? Many, many farms have sources of income from off farm without having "jobs".

The only real "Full Time" farm families are those whose sole and only income comes from their farm.. I'd say if the chips were down this would leave very few "Full Time" farmers at all in the country compared to the number of farmers..

Well that's exactly my point. It can't be used to say that farmers earn very low income without assessing how many of these people are seriously intending to gain their full income from the farm and how many have it as a very small hobby and everything in between. This cannot be taken to be the average of people aiming to make a living solely from farming.

redzerologhlen

ektec wrote: »

Whats the chances of a young 16 year old lad, with a tractor licence with no real experience dealing with farm machinery other than a tractor getting a job for the summer wrapping bales or raking these days for little or no money?

I think they would be hard set to let such a young lad get experience with a farming contractor..

maybe its possible..

I was working with a contractor the day I was 16, celtic tiger was around then though and mabye it was easier to get that kind of work.

tayto lover

1chippy wrote: »

Tayto, on nearly all farms there are arangements and agreements between members, youll find all siblings get looked after. As for mercs i can definately state that i only know 1 farmer with one. He owns another business too.
I really get the impression you have little or no comprehension of what goes on outside your own little bubble, or just latch on to some new topic and try and stir it up to keep yourself occupied.

I am not stirring at all. I don't want to see young lads being used and abused. They should at least get the minimum wage. It is the law.

ektec

yeah Im keen to find something for next year..it could be possible if I searched a bit further..surly someone hiring for silage or grain season when they are busy baling or something..

Tipp Man

tayto lover wrote: »

How come many of them are driving mercs. Plus they wouldn't have a mortgage as the farms are handed down and they eat what the grow and breed (animals). So their income is nearly all disposable. They get free education for their kids too.

I did work on a farm myself for a few summers though and really enjoyed the experience BUT the people I worked for had a lot more than 25k per year. You'd want to see the house they had, they were rolling in dosh i'd say. Paid well too and gave the best of grub.

I'm wondering if you have ever even seen a cow, a tractor or even a field??

Your ignorance in the above is quite frankly astonishing

axel7

Ireland is still a relatively expensive place to live that's why the minimum wage is still relatively high.
Farmers have this narrow minded mentality of: mind every penny you have under the mattress, everyone work each other to the bone for little reward, we can't make any money out of this game. Farmers have advanced very rapidly in certain areas in the last few years (the actual farming practices) yet they're still decades behind the way they run their operation. I've said it already. If you can't afford to pay minimum wage you shouldn't be employing an extra labour unit. Forget this 'I'm doing the young lad a favour, sure there's nothing else out there' crap that's being spouted about. Of course some are going to work for pennies, but I doubt these are going to go very far any ways. If they don't value their time and work now when are they going to start? No ambition. There are many other things they could do over the summer (and throughout the year) that would develop themselves further for employment that doesn't involve giving themselves to slave labour. €250 isn't going to make up anyone. I know myself I'd be giving up 50 a week to the parents first off. Buy my own clothes, run a car (tax, diesel, insurance), contribute to college in September. Not much change left lads. Just because you're not on 20-30 euro a day doesn't mean you don't have to budget

johnpawl

Tipp Man wrote: »

I'm wondering if you have ever even seen a cow, a tractor or even a field??

Your ignorance in the above is quite frankly astonishing

Similarly, I find your ignorance of teaching frankly astonishing (from another thread). The day i turned 16 I was drawing silage from 6am to 12 pm for e£25 a day. have worked as a carpenter in ny, shuttering concrete in oz and dublin and spent some time teaching. If you think controlling 30 18 yr olds is a handy job, take it from me, it isnt. And i have seen a tractor, a cow, a field, a classroom, a staffroom, a hammer, a shuttering pan etc. maybe we shouldn't speak of things of which we know very little...longtime poster of this forum and apologies to op if off topic.

axel7

Bizzum wrote: »

Perhaps in planet Axel7 it is sh1t as you quite eloquently put it, but in the real world gaining experience is vital, as is showing prospective employers a good work ethic.
Whilst some jobs on a farm are unskilled, more are skilled. On the milking issue for example, would joe public just walk in off the street and milk?

Working a summer job also shows an employer initiative, a willingness to work, dedication to a job, maturity, and many other desirable traits.
A hell of a lot more than sitting on ones arse will achieve.

Simply proclaming something sh1t does not make it so;).

No Joe Public wouldn't walk in off the street and know how do milk. But I'm pretty sure after watching clusters being applied and removed about 1200 (120 cows x 2 times a day x (maybe) 5 times a week) times in a week he would eventually grasp it. Learn it in a week equals unskilled labour. You would be better off working in a job related to your interested field (investment banking mentioned previously). I could just say I did the laws for my parents all summer, brought in turf etc. I work so hard for nothing, I know what hard work is, I'm so dedicated blah blah. At the end of the day relevant job experience is trumps. We've all had job experience. Clearly the lad in the shovel incident didn't have any working experience relevant to this particular piece of work

johnpawl

axel7 wrote: »

No Joe Public wouldn't walk in off the street and know how do milk. But I'm pretty sure after watching clusters being applied and removed about 1200 (120 cows x 2 times a day x (maybe) 5 times a week) times in a week he would eventually grasp it. Learn it in a week equals unskilled labour. You would be better off working in a job related to your interested field (investment banking mentioned previously).

there's a little more to it than that I'm afraid:) try training him to spot and treat mastitis, spot cows in heat etc etc. It's not, and never will be a factory floor type environment

axel7

johnpawl wrote: »

there's a little more to it than that I'm afraid:) try training him to spot and treat mastitis, spot cows in heat etc etc. It's not, and never will be a factory floor type environment

You're dead right if you're livelihood depends on it. These skills can only be acquired with experience. We're talking about casual labour here, part-time job at 17-18 in this thread.

johnpawl

axel7 wrote: »

You're dead right if you're livelihood depends on it. These skills can only be acquired with experience. We're talking about casual labour here, part-time job at 17-18 in this thread.

Oh right, I thought there was a sub-discussion underway about the value of experience, among other things.
On a quick glance I thought you said a young lad could learn how to milk cows in a week, therefore rendering it, in your view, unskilled labour. I merely wished to refute this point and present my opinion that it would take much more than a week to accomplish the level of skill, with which i personally would think him fully capable of milking cows.
Therefore, I would not categorise milking cows as unskilled labour.

Bizzum

johnpawl wrote: »

there's a little more to it than that I'm afraid:) try training him to spot and treat mastitis, spot cows in heat etc etc. It's not, and never will be a factory floor type environment

Correct. And we are only scratching the surface with mastitis/heats here. I don't see milking cows as unskilled work. But then what would I know. I'm not a dairy man!

axel7 wrote: »

You're dead right if you're livelihood depends on it. These skills can only be acquired with experience. We're talking about casual labour here, part-time job at 17-18 in this thread.

Casual labour but with a view to doing work like milking is what the OP stated in his opening post.
You are quite right stating that skills can be acquired with experience, this is why, were I 17 again and offered this job I'd take it with both hands.
A day is a long time doing nothing.

chrismon

Note to self.
Never take up farm work.

johnpawl

Oh yes, and following on from my previous posts I had better state that I was brought up on a Dairy farm, with cows sold off only a few years ago due to my father's ill health.
Just in case my arguments are used aginst me;)

tfox

Just throw Id throw my tuppence worth in,

From the age of 13 I've worked on farms and building sites, if I wanted something i had to work for it, got nothing from my folks.

My first job on a site paid me £3 an hour, I worked bloody hard for it doing lots 0f physical labour (was very big for 13) and was glad of my £24 every sat.

Same goes for farm work, did a whole summer for €20 a day, cycled 5 miles to work, days graft and 5 miles back, but I learnt a hell of a lot.

Pushing up silage at 16 I got €60 for a 14 h day, but I was earning so was happy.

In the top of the boom as a foreman for joinery firm I was getting over €250 a day, and tbh it spoilt me !! I cudnt spend it quick enuf but somehow managed to !!

I think at 17/18 for 6hrs work €40 would be more than fair, he gets experience and money in his pocket, and you get an extra pair of hands.

pajero12

redzerologhlen wrote: »

ektec wrote: »

Whats the chances of a young 16 year old lad, with a tractor licence with no real experience dealing with farm machinery other than a tractor getting a job for the summer wrapping bales or raking these days for little or no money?

I think they would be hard set to let such a young lad get experience with a farming contractor..

maybe its possible..

I was working with a contractor the day I was 16, celtic tiger was around then though and mabye it was easier to get that kind of work.

Things are different now Red, Now a contractor had a choice between a 16/17 year old, and a thirty something year old electrician or carpenter...It's not hard to guess who he's going to call on in 2 weeks time!!

axel7

johnpawl wrote: »

Oh right, I thought there was a sub-discussion underway about the value of experience, among other things.
On a quick glance I thought you said a young lad could learn how to milk cows in a week, therefore rendering it, in your view, unskilled labour. I merely wished to refute this point and present my opinion that it would take much more than a week to accomplish the level of skill, with which i personally would think him fully capable of milking cows.
Therefore, I would not categorise milking cows as unskilled labour.

I would consider heat and mastitis detection by-products of milking, and not the fundamental activity of milking (getting the milk from the cow to the bulk-tank), without question heat detection any ways. Is it reasonable to pay well below minimum wage because I don't have years' of experience? For example, if I was to start in a retail shop I wouldn't be on half minimum wages simply because I don't have years of experience dealing with customers, but rather my wage would increase when I am lucky enough to have this experience.

johnpawl

tfox wrote: »

Just throw Id throw my tuppence worth in,

From the age of 13 I've worked on farms and building sites, if I wanted something i had to work for it, got nothing from my folks.

My first job on a site paid me £3 an hour, I worked bloody hard for it doing lots 0f physical labour (was very big for 13) and was glad of my £24 every sat.

Same goes for farm work, did a whole summer for €20 a day, cycled 5 miles to work, days graft and 5 miles back, but I learnt a hell of a lot.

Pushing up silage at 16 I got €60 for a 14 h day, but I was earning so was happy.

In the top of the boom as a foreman for joinery firm I was getting over €250 a day, and tbh it spoilt me !! I cudnt spend it quick enuf but somehow managed to !!

I think at 17/18 for 6hrs work €40 would be more than fair, he gets experience and money in his pocket, and you get an extra pair of hands.

On the loader at 16 eh... I'm impressed. Took me a few more years than that before I was up on the old farm master turbo:)

axel7

johnpawl wrote: »

Oh right, I thought there was a sub-discussion underway about the value of experience, among other things.
On a quick glance I thought you said a young lad could learn how to milk cows in a week, therefore rendering it, in your view, unskilled labour. I merely wished to refute this point and present my opinion that it would take much more than a week to accomplish the level of skill, with which i personally would think him fully capable of milking cows.
Therefore, I would not categorise milking cows as unskilled labour.

tfox wrote: »

Just throw Id throw my tuppence worth in,

From the age of 13 I've worked on farms and building sites, if I wanted something i had to work for it, got nothing from my folks.

My first job on a site paid me £3 an hour, I worked bloody hard for it doing lots 0f physical labour (was very big for 13) and was glad of my £24 every sat.

Same goes for farm work, did a whole summer for €20 a day, cycled 5 miles to work, days graft and 5 miles back, but I learnt a hell of a lot.

Pushing up silage at 16 I got €60 for a 14 h day, but I was earning so was happy.

In the top of the boom as a foreman for joinery firm I was getting over €250 a day, and tbh it spoilt me !! I cudnt spend it quick enuf but somehow managed to !!

I think at 17/18 for 6hrs work €40 would be more than fair, he gets experience and money in his pocket, and you get an extra pair of hands.

The fact that you felt the good wages spoilt you after years of very low pay puts to bed the argument here that you need to be paid pennies to appreciate money. Clearly didn't happen here. Money is there to be spent, not hoarded IMO.

axel7

Bizzum wrote: »

Correct. And we are only scratching the surface with mastitis/heats here. I don't see milking cows as unskilled work. But then what would I know. I'm not a dairy man!



Casual labour but with a view to doing work like milking is what the OP stated in his opening post.
You are quite right stating that skills can be acquired with experience, this is why, were I 17 again and offered this job I'd take it with both hands.
A day is a long time doing nothing.

I'm totally against doing nothing for a whole day (read some of my previous posts). Lads if if ye're saying milking is skilled labour you're contradicting yourselves and arguing against your own views-- Half minimum wage for skilled labour then eh ?

johnpawl

axel7 wrote: »

I would consider heat and mastitis detection by-products of milking, and not the fundamental activity of milking (getting the milk from the cow to the bulk-tank), without question heat detection any ways. Is it reasonable to pay well below minimum wage because I don't have years' of experience? For example, if I was to start in a retail shop I wouldn't be on half minimum wages simply because I don't have years of experience dealing with customers, but rather my wage would increase when I am lucky enough to have this experience.

I wasn't participating in the debate on the finer points of minimum pay because, simply, I am not sure what to think about it. I can see the merits of both sides of the argument. I have had young lads working for me, during the celtic tiger, but this was in construction. I have not been in a position to employ a young lad for a few years and to be honest have completely lost touch with what they expect to be paid etc.
Makes for interesting reading though and when I've a bit more reading done I may form an informed opinion of my own on the subject:) This is basically my reason for being on boards in the first place I suppose.

johnpawl

axel7 wrote: »

I'm totally against doing nothing for a whole day (read some of my previous posts). Lads if if ye're saying milking is skilled labour you're contradicting yourselves and arguing against your own views-- Half minimum wage for skilled labour then eh ?

Are you a farmer?

axel7

johnpawl wrote: »

Are you a farmer?

Yes and a proud one at that. However, I will probably never be a full time farmer, I hope this doesn't make me any less of one.

johnpawl

But, I do know that alot of farmers I know couldn't afford to pay big wages as they are barely existing themselves. Also, alot (not all) of young lads around here are red f**king useless these days !!:D I have no problem believing the clay and shovel anecdote!

axel7

johnpawl wrote: »

But, I do know that alot of farmers I know couldn't afford to pay big wages as they are barely existing themselves. Also, alot (not all) of young lads around here are red f**king useless these days !!:D I have no problem believing the clay and shovel anecdote!

Agreed but I'm not looking for big wages €250 a week won't make anyone up. If a farmer doesn't have the money for minimum wage don't look to take them on. In my opinion big dairy farmers are the only ones with enough work to take on anyone (especially during the summer) and they're the only ones that are making enough to justify it financially too.

johnpawl

axel7 wrote: »

Agreed but I'm not looking for big wages €250 a week won't make anyone up. If a farmer doesn't have the money for minimum wage don't look to take them on. In my opinion big dairy farmers are the only ones with enough work to take on anyone (especially during the summer) and they're the only ones that are making enough to justify it financially too.

Enough work - now's thats another days argument.

whelan1

johnpawl wrote: »

Oh right, I thought there was a sub-discussion underway about the value of experience, among other things.
On a quick glance I thought you said a young lad could learn how to milk cows in a week, therefore rendering it, in your view, unskilled labour. I merely wished to refute this point and present my opinion that it would take much more than a week to accomplish the level of skill, with which i personally would think him fully capable of milking cows.
Therefore, I would not categorise milking cows as unskilled labour.

have to say the guy i have working has been here since he was 14 - was still at school etc, he's 21 now and still wouldnt know acow in heat:cool: this is despite him being thought a few times

Tipp Man

johnpawl wrote: »

Similarly, I find your ignorance of teaching frankly astonishing (from another thread). The day i turned 16 I was drawing silage from 6am to 12 pm for e£25 a day. have worked as a carpenter in ny, shuttering concrete in oz and dublin and spent some time teaching. If you think controlling 30 18 yr olds is a handy job, take it from me, it isnt. And i have seen a tractor, a cow, a field, a classroom, a staffroom, a hammer, a shuttering pan etc. maybe we shouldn't speak of things of which we know very little...longtime poster of this forum and apologies to op if off topic.

Tell you what rather than derail this thread why don't you go into that teacher thread and highlight the posts by me which u think are ignorant and we'll continue it on there

johnpawl

Tipp Man wrote: »

Tell you what rather than derail this thread why don't you go into that teacher thread and highlight the posts by me which u think are ignorant and we'll continue it on there

Ok, I'll resurrect that thread at a later date, I'm gone for a few days. You'll probably not find me a very eloquent opponent though as unfortunately I dont possess an innate, all encompassing knowledge of everyone elses job. If I did, I'm sure I'd be working elsewhere;).
But I am willing to be enlightened.

“Those who think they know it all have no way of finding out they don't..”

keep going

do you know there is a simple answer to this question-a good fella is always cheap and poor fella is always dear

Tipp Man

johnpawl wrote: »

Ok, I'll resurrect that thread at a later date, I'm gone for a few days. You'll probably not find me a very eloquent opponent though as unfortunately I dont possess an innate, all encompassing knowledge of everyone elses job. If I did, I'm sure I'd be working elsewhere;).
But I am willing to be enlightened.

“Those who think they know it all have no way of finding out they don't..”

Great, can't wait for more snide remarks in that thread at a later date

tayto lover

Tipp Man wrote: »

I'm wondering if you have ever even seen a cow, a tractor or even a field??

Your ignorance in the above is quite frankly astonishing

Maybe you would explain that if you're not too busy trying to insult people or get youngsters to do your work for feck all.

Tipp Man

tayto lover wrote: »

Maybe you would explain that if you're not too busy trying to insult people or get youngsters to do your work for feck all.

You'll be delighted to know that i have no young fella hired - I'm doing all the work myself. As for insulting you or anybody else on this thread please show me where i insulted anybody. There is a

When you come out with statements like below then it means 1 of only 2 things - your are completely out of touch and have no clue about farming or farm incomes or secondly you are trolling

to debunk some of your myths

• I know 2 farmers with mercs (that are younger than 10 years) - these are 2 of the biggest farmers in the country farming some of the best land in the country and are in the 60's so spent their lives working to get it - why shouldn't they have mercs?? That is 2 out of literraly hundreds of farmers - yet you seem to believe loads are farmers are driving around in Mercs
• tax - farmers are subject to the same tax rates as everybody else in the country so if they make it they pay tax on it - if they make feck all they pay feck all - the same as everybody else
• education - news alert here, everybody in the country gets free primary and secondary education regardless of whether they are from a farm or not.
• Every farmer that i know that is of an age to have a mortgage has a mortgage. Do you think that a house magically appears like mushrooms overnight so we don't have to pay for them??

tayto lover wrote: »

How come many of them are driving mercs. Plus they wouldn't have a mortgage as the farms are handed down and they eat what the grow and breed (animals). So their income is nearly all disposable. They get free education for their kids too.

I did work on a farm myself for a few summers though and really enjoyed the experience BUT the people I worked for had a lot more than 25k per year. You'd want to see the house they had, they were rolling in dosh i'd say. Paid well too and gave the best of grub.

axel7

Tipp man I'm sure you would agree on the tax issue that it's a lot easier for farmers to avoid paying a lot of tax through manipulation of their accounts and operations. This in turn results in a lot of farmers receiving third level grants. They're both interlinked.

All of the other points I would agree with you. Know very few farmers with new(ish) mercs outside the door.

Tipp Man

axel7 wrote: »

Tipp man I'm sure you would agree on the tax issue that it's a lot easier for farmers to avoid paying a lot of tax through manipulation of their accounts and operations. This in turn results in a lot of farmers receiving third level grants. They're both interlinked.

All of the other points I would agree with you. Know very few farmers with new(ish) mercs outside the door.

Farmers are no different to any small business as far as i am aware with regards to third level grant. It is only in some borderline cases where you can take action to your income - if you are well over you are well over.

Is there even third level grants now??

tayto lover

Tipp Man wrote: »

You'll be delighted to know that i have no young fella hired - I'm doing all the work myself. As for insulting you or anybody else on this thread please show me where i insulted anybody. There is a

When you come out with statements like below then it means 1 of only 2 things - your are completely out of touch and have no clue about farming or farm incomes or secondly you are trolling

to debunk some of your myths

• I know 2 farmers with mercs (that are younger than 10 years) - these are 2 of the biggest farmers in the country farming some of the best land in the country and are in the 60's so spent their lives working to get it - why shouldn't they have mercs?? That is 2 out of literraly hundreds of farmers - yet you seem to believe loads are farmers are driving around in Mercs
• tax - farmers are subject to the same tax rates as everybody else in the country so if they make it they pay tax on it - if they make feck all they pay feck all - the same as everybody else
• education - news alert here, everybody in the country gets free primary and secondary education regardless of whether they are from a farm or not.
• Every farmer that i know that is of an age to have a mortgage has a mortgage. Do you think that a house magically appears like mushrooms overnight so we don't have to pay for them??

You are codding us again.

1. I honestly know loads of farmers who drive mercs.
2. Farmers incomes and grants are very good and seem to be improving every year.
http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1014307.shtml
3. farmers children are among the highest Education grant receivers in the country. 3rd level.