Dairy Farming General

Greengrass1

Gillespy wrote: »

Herringbone crush is it? I want one. Any pointers from your experience?

When the AI man is coming everyday, why not serve them with a cheap/free straw? I think you said you don't have a tank yet, salemen like to sweeten a deal with free straws and nitrogen refills. I know people like to wait but I think that makes more sense in high yielding herds with cows doing over 45kgs.

Hard to change everything in a few years. Still if I calve 50% of cows in 3 weeks its very good going

sheebadog

Gillespy wrote: »

Herringbone crush is it? I want one. Any pointers from your experience?

When the AI man is coming everyday, why not serve them with a cheap/free straw? I think you said you don't have a tank yet, salemen like to sweeten a deal with free straws and nitrogen refills. I know people like to wait but I think that makes more sense in high yielding herds with cows doing over 45kgs.

I wouldn't waste money on straws if a cow is milking 45kgs.
Don't serve cows here until they are milking less than 30kgs.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

No cows bulling to day. 50% bulled at 2 weeks. That's only cows that are 9 weeks plus calved. Would be 80% if everything was served

Flying here too,one week In and over half of cows bulled (including last 2 cows to calve)and after a slow start with heifers 65% bulled to natural heat since lastcwednesday ,remainder will get pg tomorrow am.ai man tells me he's getting a sore arm from all the cows been served daily!!

stanflt

sheebadog wrote: »

I wouldn't waste money on straws if a cow is milking 45kgs.
Don't serve cows here until they are milking less than 30kgs.

I wouldn't be with you on this one- bull away and get her back incalf- some of my highest yielders 14k plus calve every 350 days
No problem holding and doing 50litres plus

Plus there are only getting grass and up to 8kg 13% high energy nut and no buffer

Lads told me my type of cow doesn't suit this system

Delivered 9023 litres per cow last year and have a 363 day ci

Compared to this time last year cows are doing 2kg milk per less but getting 5kg dm meal less (no grass this time last year)
It's costing 3cpl meal cost compared to 10 plus last year

sheebadog

stanflt wrote: »

I wouldn't be with you on this one- bull away and get her back incalf- some of my highest yielders 14k plus calve every 350 days
No problem holding and doing 50litres plus

Plus there are only getting grass and up to 8kg 13% high energy nut and no buffer

Lads told me my type of cow doesn't suit this system

Delivered 9023 litres per cow last year and have a 363 day ci

Compared to this time last year cows are doing 2kg milk per less but getting 5kg dm meal less (no grass this time last year)
It's costing 3cpl meal cost compared to 10 plus last year

Very, very impressive Stan!
On average how many straws would these high yielders use to get in calf.
Cheapest straw I can get is €48.

stanflt

sheebadog wrote: »

Very, very impressive Stan!
On average how many straws would these high yielders use to get in calf.
Cheapest straw I can get is €48.

1.9 is the average on the cows over 10k
Straws only costing 14 euro avg

Plus I'm getting a lot of royalties in the form of free straws

sheebadog

stanflt wrote: »

1.9 is the average on the cows over 10k
Straws only costing 14 euro avg

Plus I'm getting a lot of royalties in the form of free straws

Nice one on the royalties.
On top of the price of the straw the call out charge is €50!

stanflt

sheebadog wrote: »

Nice one on the royalties.
On top of the price of the straw the call out charge is €50!

We do our own which is a huge saving

sheebadog

stanflt wrote: »

We do our own which is a huge saving

I'm headhunting for a farm worker with the necessary skills ATM.
Know of anyone willing to travel?

mahoney_j

sheebadog wrote: »

I'm headhunting for a farm worker with the necessary skills ATM.
Know of anyone willing to travel?

10 years ago I'd be over to u like a shot Sheba.try an add in the journal there's lots of very knowledgeable guys knocking around this country who'd jump at the chance to work in an operation like yours ,learn French and have a bit of nice weather on their back!!!

sheebadog

mahoney_j wrote: »

10 years ago I'd be over to u like a shot Sheba.try an add in the journal there's lots of very knowledgeable guys knocking around this country who'd jump at the chance to work in an operation like yours ,learn French and have a bit of nice weather on their back!!!

You'd be surprised how hard it is to get someone Mahoney.
Celtic tiger cubs who demand €1000/wk are beginning to get on my goat.
Young lads that "steered" a combine once in Australia are the most annoying - they reckon they deserve the same money as a soccer player! And 'tis they should be paying me!

Mad4simmental

sheebadog wrote: »

You'd be surprised how hard it is to get someone Mahoney.
Celtic tiger cubs who demand €1000/wk are beginning to get on my goat.
Young lads that "steered" a combine once in Australia are the most annoying - they reckon they deserve the same money as a soccer player! And 'tis they should be paying me!

Haaaaa, so true,
You have no idea the amount of s$it I ust to listen to in pubs in oz about this whilst I nod my head like one of those toy dogs in a car.
I ust to call the GAA jerseys gob****e attractors there. Blokes out there a wet week and done it all.
There are sum good blokes but probably very hard to find.

Viewtodiefor

frazzledhome wrote: »

Like Brown Thomas make up counter here this am

Would that bar not break a guys arm if cow went down or slipped?

sheebadog

Mad4simmental wrote: »

Haaaaa, so true,
You have no idea the amount of s$it I ust to listen to in pubs in oz about this whilst I nod my head like one of those toy dogs in a car.
I ust to call the GAA jerseys gob****e attractors there. Blokes out there a wet week and done it all.
There are sum good blokes but probably very hard to find.

I believe you, it's the truth.
Did a harvest in Oz back in the day driving combines and road trains.
If you didn't pick the header off the trolley first time you got jocked off. And I was driving combines since I was 14yrs old.
Had a guy from N.Ireland 20yrs old telling me he would drive the combine for the harvest but would have to get €1000/week in hand + house + phone + car !!
Comes from a farm with 20 suckler cows but spent 3 months in Oz.

Damo810

sheebadog wrote: »

I believe you, it's the truth.
Did a harvest in Oz back in the day driving combines and road trains.
If you didn't pick the header off the trolley first time you got jocked off. And I was driving combines since I was 14yrs old.
Had a guy from N.Ireland 20yrs old telling me he would drive the combine for the harvest but would have to get €1000/week in hand + house + phone + car !!
Comes from a farm with 20 suckler cows but spent 3 months in Oz.

How do lads end up over there expecting that kind of money when they know full well they wouldn't get anything over there.

What would be the average salary for a farm worker over there?

sheebadog

Damo810 wrote: »

How do lads end up over there expecting that kind of money when they know full well they wouldn't get anything over there.

What would be the average salary for a farm worker over there?

Totally depends on experience and ability, so impossible to say really.

jaymla627

sheebadog wrote: »

Totally depends on experience and ability, so impossible to say really.

I done a year and a half out their working/managing on dairy farms in Oz, average wage was around 20 dollars an hour converted back it worked out at 16 euro an hour at the time that was just for basic milking/tractor work, on the last place i managed i was clearing 1,000 euro a week clear after tax with a house/jeep provided but was doing 75 hour plus weeks...

Greengrass1

jaymla627 wrote: »

I done a year and a half out their working/managing on dairy farms in Oz, average wage was around 20 dollars an hour converted back it worked out at 16 euro an hour at the time that was just for basic milking/tractor work, on the last place i managed i was clearing 1,000 euro a week clear after tax with a house/jeep provided but was doing 75 hour plus weeks...

Was told out in Saudi you can make something like 60+ k tax free milking for a year

jaymla627

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Was told out in Saudi you can make something like 60+ k tax free milking for a year

Friend has just gone out to saudi to work for that company that was on the journal milking 22,000 cows, he's starting of on 80,000 grand a year, but had to commit to a 3 year contract unreal way of making money if you prepared to do it

sheebadog

jaymla627 wrote: »

I done a year and a half out their working/managing on dairy farms in Oz, average wage was around 20 dollars an hour converted back it worked out at 16 euro an hour at the time that was just for basic milking/tractor work, on the last place i managed i was clearing 1,000 euro a week clear after tax with a house/jeep provided but was doing 75 hour plus weeks...

Made good money in Oz way back.
Was spraying cotton by night but after a few months I couldn't take it anymore.
I was handling heavy insecticides, so heavy that the agronomists wouldn't walk the crops for a week after application.

Damo810

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Was told out in Saudi you can make something like 60+ k tax free milking for a year

Would it take much for you get a job out there. I know theres been some problems with the law over there being strict, but i'd work my arse off to get a chance of making 60K+ a year milking cows etc..

st1979

What sort of gross pay do herd managers get in ireland. I see lots of ads recently for managers and assistant managers on farms with 150 cows. With 150 cows i cant imagine the pay would be massive. And every ad i see has salary negotiable.

Greengrass1

jaymla627 wrote: »

Friend has just gone out to saudi to work for that company that was on the journal milking 22,000 cows, he's starting of on 80,000 grand a year, but had to commit to a 3 year contract unreal way of making money if you prepared to do it

Yep a very good way. If I had no home farm and wanted to get milking I'd spend a few year out there to build up money

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Yep a very good way. If I had no home farm and wanted to get milking I'd spend a few year out there to build up money

But they've no greengrass out there gg and its a hi input/output system and none of them feckin x breeds u love!!!.maby it'd convert u!!

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

But they've no greengrass out there gg and its a hi input/output system and none of them feckin x breeds u love!!!.maby it'd convert u!!

Nothing wrong with a well run system. As long as I got a wage I'd be happy

C0N0R

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with a well run system. As long as I got a wage I'd be happy

On those wages ya wouldn't even be milking the cows, it's less farming more management roles.

frazzledhome

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Would that bar not break a guys arm if cow went down or slipped?

It's in 12 years now and a cow never went down. They are really comfortable in it. You'll get the odd curr that'll jump out.

You've made me paranoid about it now 😄

Viewtodiefor

frazzledhome wrote: »

It's in 12 years now and a cow never went down. They are really comfortable in it. You'll get the odd curr that'll jump out.

You've made me paranoid about it now 😄

For some reason it crossed my mind don't know why! How high is the bar? If its going 12 yrs tis prob fine sure, looks a handy job, any problems getting them into it correctly ? Iykwim?

whelan2

going to change liners, will put shells and cups in dishwasher and see how it goes, could save alot of elbow grease

Deepsouthwest

Greengrass1 wrote: »

No cows bulling to day. 50% bulled at 2 weeks. That's only cows that are 9 weeks plus calved. Would be 80% if everything was served

I think ur crazy not serving cows unless they're 9 wks calved, ur missing the only chance of shortening ur calving interval. Everything that's seen bulling is served here, even if they're only calved a few wks, will use a test bull, or some older straws left in the flask on those cows. Calving interval here is 363 days.

Greengrass1

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

I think ur crazy not serving cows unless they're 9 wks calved, ur missing the only chance of shortening ur calving interval. Everything that's seen bulling is served here, even if they're only calved a few wks, will use a test bull, or some older straws left in the flask on those cows. Calving interval here is 363 days.

Yes I know but only do much things I can change the fathers view on in one year.
This year alone I've gotten an 8 WK autumn calving pattern where before we calved cows from sept all the way to march.
Kept breeding away so no cows calve till very end of Jan.
And I've gotten him to serve heifers so they Calve at 2 and not 2.5yrs old.
My calving will be back over 400 this year but I've done a lot of work. So I should see it drop in coming years.
Can't be arguing over something different everyday. He'll very quickly become very pee'd off. I'll work on serving everything next year.

Anyway say most of them cows do hold? Won't I be doing a hell of a lot better than most lads? Very few lads I know calving 50% of there herd in 2 weeks

Viewtodiefor

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Yes I know but only do much things I can change the fathers view on in one year.
This year alone I've gotten an 8 WK autumn calving pattern where before we calved cows from sept all the way to march.
Kept breeding away so no cows calve till very end of Jan.
And I've gotten him to serve heifers so they Calve at 2 and not 2.5yrs old.
My calving will be back over 400 this year but I've done a lot of work. So I should see it drop in coming years.
Can't be arguing over something different everyday. He'll very quickly become very pee'd off. I'll work on serving everything next year.

Anyway say most of them cows do hold? Won't I be doing a hell of a lot better than most lads? Very few lads I know calving 50% of there herd in 2 weeks

Have the same problem myself, some battles are better left unfought

frazzledhome

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Have the same problem myself, some battles are better left unfought

Very wise, pick the ones you're going to win otherwise you'll be fighting all the time

Milked out

How are the fat to protein ratios going with ye lads?, got results the last few collections, p is around the 3.58 mark with the fat ranging from 3.55 to 3.82, but afew too many are on the low side but they are intermittant enuv, cows seem to be fine not overly loose and milking well at 27l, so was wondering should I take action to try and keep up the fat a bit and what should it be or am I worrying over nothing. Have had a good few repeats in the last few days also

Viewtodiefor

Milked out wrote: »

How are the fat to protein ratios going with ye lads?, got results the last few collections, p is around the 3.58 mark with the fat ranging from 3.55 to 3.82, but afew too many are on the low side but they are intermittant enuv, cows seem to be fine not overly loose and milking well at 27l, so was wondering should I take action to try and keep up the fat a bit and what should it be or am I worrying over nothing. Have had a good few repeats in the last few days also

Last test fat 4.13 p 3.35 avg 25lts

Fat did drop about two weeks ago to 3.65 but came back staying around 3.95 to 4.05 now

mahoney_j

Fat ranging 3.56 to 3.72 and protein 3.43 to 3.49 last few collections,grass very lush and wet not helping

Greengrass1

P 3.59
Fat 4.06
25l
SCC 72
Urea 39

Timmaay

Milked out wrote: »

How are the fat to protein ratios going with ye lads?, got results the last few collections, p is around the 3.58 mark with the fat ranging from 3.55 to 3.82, but afew too many are on the low side but they are intermittant enuv, cows seem to be fine not overly loose and milking well at 27l, so was wondering should I take action to try and keep up the fat a bit and what should it be or am I worrying over nothing. Have had a good few repeats in the last few days also

In fairness that's an excellent P %, so I wouldn't worry hugely. Abit of acid buff on the nuts maybe.

Viewtodiefor

Good proteins lads how ye getting them up to that level? I'm allocating 12 hour blocks I'm wondering if I had 24 hr one would mine improve some?

mahoney_j

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Good proteins lads how ye getting them up to that level? I'm allocating 12 hour blocks I'm wondering if I had 24 hr one would mine improve some?

I'm on 36 to 48 hour blocks,with 12 hours cows are been forced to graze tight every 12 hours whereas with 36 or 48 hour blocks it's only once every 1.5 to 2 days ,big help.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

P 3.59
Fat 4.06
25l
SCC 72
Urea 39

Serious solids gg,would u be worried about urea been so high,could lead to a lot of repeats ???

Viewtodiefor

mahoney_j wrote: »

I'm on 36 to 48 hour blocks,with 12 hours cows are been forced to graze tight every 12 hours whereas with 36 or 48 hour blocks it's only once every 1.5 to 2 days ,big help.

Have you expierience of a 12 hr block? And when you changed did you notice the difference?

jaymla627

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Have you expierience of a 12 hr block? And when you changed did you notice the difference?

I work of 12 hour blocks here all year round, in my opinion to much grass is trampled/walked/**** on with 24/36 hour block, if you know your paddocks and are confident in your grass measuring skills theirs no reason why cows should be under pressure on 12 hour blocks, another thing i hate about 24/36 hour blocks is when you get it wrong and have to go moving cows during the day because they have run out of grass.

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Serious solids gg,would u be worried about urea been so high,could lead to a lot of repeats ???

Have tried everything to get urea down here don't know what it is tbh. Was up at 60 all year last year and we faired out okay. Tried low p high energy ration and milk dropped off along with bulling activity and urea stayed same.
Just the ground I guess.

I'd like to get another litre out of the cows but will be hard do with autumn cslvers starting to go slack

Deepsouthwest

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Yes I know but only do much things I can change the fathers view on in one year.
This year alone I've gotten an 8 WK autumn calving pattern where before we calved cows from sept all the way to march.
Kept breeding away so no cows calve till very end of Jan.
And I've gotten him to serve heifers so they Calve at 2 and not 2.5yrs old.
My calving will be back over 400 this year but I've done a lot of work. So I should see it drop in coming years.
Can't be arguing over something different everyday. He'll very quickly become very pee'd off. I'll work on serving everything next year.

Anyway say most of them cows do hold? Won't I be doing a hell of a lot better than most lads? Very few lads I know calving 50% of there herd in 2 weeks

Fair enough, I thought milk quota was the main restriction on most irish farms, didn't take 'slow to change with the times fathers ' into the equation! U've def made great strides, u'll just have to keep working on him!

Greengrass1

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Fair enough, I thought milk quota was the main restriction on most irish farms, didn't take 'slow to change with the times fathers ' into the equation! U've def made great strides, u'll just have to keep working on him!

Ah no worries. Ah I'll keep the pressure on. Hopefully all the changes I've made are for the better or I'll be screwed.
Told the mother the other day we won't be calving any from October till Feb and she was like what will we do for money haha

frazzledhome

Fat >4 and pro >3.52

A bit disappointing milk urea hitting 40, serious growth

Greengrass1

frazzledhome wrote: »

Fat >4 and pro >3.52

A bit disappointing milk urea hitting 40, serious growth

Unbelievable growth over the weekend here. Need to get back measuring . I'll have figures tomorrow I hope

Viewtodiefor

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Fair enough, I thought milk quota was the main restriction on most irish farms, didn't take 'slow to change with the times fathers ' into the equation! U've def made great strides, u'll just have to keep working on him!

That's the reality on a majority of farms, a lot of it may stem from bad advise from our advisor organisations in the past so to be fair they may have a poit sometimes

visatorro

Protein 3.30 bfat 3.44 urea 24. 21 litres average.