Greenfield kilkenny

Markcheese

I'd agree with you on FYM, much undervalued over here,
But then again straw isn't cheap either...

Never wrestle with pigs

They just didn't want to be part of another disaster winter and didn't want to be loading money into a rented farm. Smart and the right move really. The land owners had a similar view. I don't see an issue with it. The only one with their nose out of joint is probably poor jack lol.

I don't think glanbia want the je system to take over here. The beef partnership won't allow any je cattle. Another good move I think as the pr disaster coming down the road with them damages everyone not just those actually involved and using the je cows. Light at the end of the tunnel yet and with a bit of luck we will all look back at a time when people thought the humble je cow was a good idea. I'll grab my coat. Lol

Timmaay

I heard a lad say right now is the time to be using je straws, because there will still be a good demand for them next year as replacement heifers etc from the many many nz style herds that are in the country already, however alot less je straws used so far this breeding season!

Mooooo

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

For about 9 or 10 months of the year if you dig a hole in Ireland, the water comes up...!
Goes beyond belief that you can just dig a hole and fire a toxic pollutant into it. Doesn’t anyone give a damn?

In my county there’s no more planning to be got for slatted tanks etc...slurry is supposed be too volatile and dangerous to be stored like that. They love straw bedding now...and in fairness a well composted fym beats the hell out of slurry.

Edit. I’m off to the wild east now. I’m often staggered at the polluting that goes on there...

How realistic is straw bedding in Ireland? No doubt yards around the country will have to be tidied up, etc but with all this talk of different things for sustainability etc f-all mention of there being a realistic income for the bollix doing the work and taking the risk. Was talking to a neighbour and tbh western society is turning in to one big case of nimbyism. They all want lovely countryside maintained that they can look at with a few cow's or sheep here and there but will happily buy cheap food imported from south America rather than support the costs associated with reduced output here to become more extensive.
The average suckler herd is 12 cow's I think, with a lot managed extensively particularly in the west. If processors really cared about it that would be pushed as a selling point for the product but all they want is to get the raw material in the door as cheap as possible. Bord Bia is only a marketing arm for processors, farmers see fcuk all return from it.
Wolfe saying they are paying above market price for milk when the ppi went up this month. Dairygold a fully farmer owned coop and instead of looking independently, or at other coops such as west cork or even europe, at ways of improving returns to the farmer they look at the plcs and copy how to talk ****e and pay less.
The days of lads being able to keep going because there is no debt on the farm are numbered and unsustainable anyway, coops are gonna have to cop on and realise that.
A bit of a rant there but I just got a kick in the balls from one of the AA calves as I was bedding which I'll be selling for a loss in 2 weeks time

kerry cow

all this talk of running a business and don't have any debt or don't invest in machinery or building and keep you head down and keep working and most years you can feed the family ,get a grant for the kid college , go on a holiday and ,1 in 5 yrs you'd make a killing but 1 in 5 yrs you 'll be totally screwed ,is just not good enough .

for all the capital , our labour ,our free family labour , well sorry we like all other business need to get paid properly .

other wise we should cut back ,farm unintensive and draw our basic payment , bank the money and either spend the spare hours getting paid by someone else or just enjoy the days of life .

if these multinationals , milk or beef want our produce , then stop putting us down all the time .
give us a sence of worth .

Buford T. Justice XIX

Mooooo wrote: »

How realistic is straw bedding in Ireland? No doubt yards around the country will have to be tidied up, etc but with all this talk of different things for sustainability etc f-all mention of there being a realistic income for the bollix doing the work and taking the risk. Was talking to a neighbour and tbh western society is turning in to one big case of nimbyism. They all want lovely countryside maintained that they can look at with a few cow's or sheep here and there but will happily buy cheap food imported from south America rather than support the costs associated with reduced output here to become more extensive.
The average suckler herd is 12 cow's I think, with a lot managed extensively particularly in the west. If processors really cared about it that would be pushed as a selling point for the product but all they want is to get the raw material in the door as cheap as possible. Bord Bia is only a marketing arm for processors, farmers see fcuk all return from it.
Wolfe saying they are paying above market price for milk when the ppi went up this month. Dairygold a fully farmer owned coop and instead of looking independently, or at other coops such as west cork or even europe, at ways of improving returns to the farmer they look at the plcs and copy how to talk ****e and pay less.
The days of lads being able to keep going because there is no debt on the farm are numbered and unsustainable anyway, coops are gonna have to cop on and realise that.
A bit of a rant there but I just got a kick in the balls from one of the AA calves as I was bedding which I'll be selling for a loss in 2 weeks time

It could be worse.

Imagine the pain of being kicked by a Jex bull:P

Markcheese

kerry cow wrote: »

all this talk of running a business and don't have any debt or don't invest in machinery or building and keep you head down and keep working and most years you can feed the family ,get a grant for the kid college , go on a holiday and ,1 in 5 yrs you'd make a killing but 1 in 5 yrs you 'll be totally screwed ,is just not good enough .

for all the capital , our labour ,our free family labour , well sorry we like all other business need to get paid properly .

other wise we should cut back ,farm unintensive and draw our basic payment , bank the money and either spend the spare hours getting paid by someone else or just enjoy the days of life .

if these multinationals , milk or beef want our produce , then stop putting us down all the time .
give us a sence of worth .

Isn't that how it is?
(although it annoys me when you hear, grass fed this and that, and then no differentiation with what comes via a feed lot, or spent 6 months to a year in a shed)

Gawddawggonnit

Mooooo wrote: »

How realistic is straw bedding in Ireland? No doubt yards around the country will have to be tidied up, etc but with all this talk of different things for sustainability etc f-all mention of there being a realistic income for the bollix doing the work and taking the risk. Was talking to a neighbour and tbh western society is turning in to one big case of nimbyism. They all want lovely countryside maintained that they can look at with a few cow's or sheep here and there but will happily buy cheap food imported from south America rather than support the costs associated with reduced output here to become more extensive.
The average suckler herd is 12 cow's I think, with a lot managed extensively particularly in the west. If processors really cared about it that would be pushed as a selling point for the product but all they want is to get the raw material in the door as cheap as possible. Bord Bia is only a marketing arm for processors, farmers see fcuk all return from it.
Wolfe saying they are paying above market price for milk when the ppi went up this month. Dairygold a fully farmer owned coop and instead of looking independently, or at other coops such as west cork or even europe, at ways of improving returns to the farmer they look at the plcs and copy how to talk ****e and pay less.
The days of lads being able to keep going because there is no debt on the farm are numbered and unsustainable anyway, coops are gonna have to cop on and realise that.
A bit of a rant there but I just got a kick in the balls from one of the AA calves as I was bedding which I'll be selling for a loss in 2 weeks time

With respect Moo.

It’s a bit disingenuous for livestock and dairy farmers to bitch and moan about cheap food imports (etc) from half way round the globe.
Farmers have no bother whatsoever buying grade 3 gmo maize (etc) from the very same countries that undermine their own produce/markets...

Straw?
By buying the imported gmo shyte being peddled on the market you are undermining the native tillage infrastructure. Couple that with highly weighted grants towards dairy and livestock farmers, the results are easy to forecast. Another unintended consequence...
Coops getting raw material in the door as cheap as possible? Absolutely, but PKE and grade 3 gmo maize (etc) being imported in the millions of tons, while the local tillage mans non gmo grains are sitting in the shed?
Maybe time for a serious rethink?

Mooooo

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

With respect Moo.

It’s a bit disingenuous for livestock and dairy farmers to bitch and moan about cheap food imports (etc) from half way round the globe.
Farmers have no bother whatsoever buying grade 3 gmo maize (etc) from the very same countries that undermine their own produce/markets...

Straw?
By buying the imported gmo shyte being peddled on the market you are undermining the native tillage infrastructure. Couple that with highly weighted grants towards dairy and livestock farmers, the results are easy to forecast. Another unintended consequence...
Coops getting raw material in the door as cheap as possible? Absolutely, but PKE and grade 3 gmo maize (etc) being imported in the millions of tons, while the local tillage mans non gmo grains are sitting in the shed?
Maybe time for a serious rethink?

Absolutely, fair point. Coops and Miller's not paying tillage men is the same issue, using imports to keep prices down. A lot has to come with labelling also. Danone and Pfizer importing 50k tonnes of powder from other european countries which Irish coops are producing, and there products to out the door as made in Ireland then.
My main point about the imports with regard to consumers wasn't so much about them coming in is that the consumer will jump up and down about stuff here but have no bother then buying from countries with poorer standards or regulation or even doing the same as us, nimbyism. And it effects all western society not just Ireland. Worrying about climate but going on 10 trips abroad and changing the phone with every new model that comes out etc......

visatorro

Mooooo wrote: »

How realistic is straw bedding in Ireland? No doubt yards around the country will have to be tidied up, etc but with all this talk of different things for sustainability etc f-all mention of there being a realistic income for the bollix doing the work and taking the risk. Was talking to a neighbour and tbh western society is turning in to one big case of nimbyism. They all want lovely countryside maintained that they can look at with a few cow's or sheep here and there but will happily buy cheap food imported from south America rather than support the costs associated with reduced output here to become more extensive.
The average suckler herd is 12 cow's I think, with a lot managed extensively particularly in the west. If processors really cared about it that would be pushed as a selling point for the product but all they want is to get the raw material in the door as cheap as possible. Bord Bia is only a marketing arm for processors, farmers see fcuk all return from it.
Wolfe saying they are paying above market price for milk when the ppi went up this month. Dairygold a fully farmer owned coop and instead of looking independently, or at other coops such as west cork or even europe, at ways of improving returns to the farmer they look at the plcs and copy how to talk ****e and pay less.
The days of lads being able to keep going because there is no debt on the farm are numbered and unsustainable anyway, coops are gonna have to cop on and realise that.
A bit of a rant there but I just got a kick in the balls from one of the AA calves as I was bedding which I'll be selling for a loss in 2 weeks time

Sorry Mooooo could you explain what you mean regarding having no debt?
Would having a healthy balance sheet regardless of the size of your business and amount of debt not be worth taking into account.

Mooooo

visatorro wrote: »

Sorry Mooooo could you explain what you mean regarding having no debt?
Would having a healthy balance sheet regardless of the size of your business and amount of debt not be worth taking into account.

It would but What I was giving out about above is that processors are going to have to realise there will have to be enough of a return for the farmer to live and to service debt/ develop and maintain the farm

K.G.

Met my bank rep by chance the other day so i asked him how were things going.he said loans are paying away fine but a slow down in fellas looking for money.heard the other day that the fella in shinagh gurteen farm is finishing up and is going back into education(that s the share milker farm).throw Greenfield with that and the picture is becoming clearer that the steam is going out of the milking game and fellas are realizing it isnt easy money afterall

Wildsurfer

Is that Kevin on the main Shinagh farm or the lad on the second unit they started? Dont buy that the steam is going out of Dairy at all at all. The big farming families are still taking on more and more farms in Kildare, Roscommon etc, 3rd and 4th units at this stage. Lots of conversions too in previously tillage & beef areas. Greenfields isnt going back into tillage you know, still going to be a large dairy farm, probably with much better facilities being planned.

Bass Reeves

The issue with a lot of dairy expansion was that it was based on the premise the more cows you milk the more profit. However often different skill sets are required the bigger you get. As you expand into more cows, it equates to more work labour management becomes key.

The bigger you get the more work you have to contact out. Contracting out is as efficient as hiring labour but lots of lads fail to see that. Beyond 80 cows unless super efficient with contactors and an excellent set up you will need extra labour.

Too many lads expanding taught they could do it all themselves. After you hit a certain limit you are often better off setting up a second unit but that takes a different skillset and you become more of a manager than a dairy farmer. Lots of expansion where it was carried out on the home farm was based on upping cows/HA on the milking platform and renting/leasing extra land for silage and young stock. Often fragmented it means longer days and a poor lifestyle.

Often because of the tax system lads expand rather than choosing lifestyle and paying tax. The new landcruiser every 10 years rather than the good car every 5 years. New machinery rather than holidays, working every Saturday and Sunday rather than see the young lads playing a match.

Lifestyle choices come at a cost you can retire at 60 but your pension will be smaller than retiring at 65 and even if its the same( a nurse or a teacher) you lose out on 5 years pay at some of your highest earning years.

Lads expanding and paying 3-400+/acre for land including farm payments or maybe not including them often have not the sums done on extra labour or contractor charges involved. Johnny down the road si doing it. He must be making money with his new tractor and landcruiser I can as well. Next thing the failure to include for labour and contractor charges finds you spreading all your own slurry, cutting your own hedges, drawing bales silage from hear there and everywhere and milking cows seven days a week. Same as some of the stupid beef farmers but they are not milking cows every day.

Willfarman

I enjoyed that bass, however I thing the free labor element of family farming is the difference between large scale or moderate scale dairying. A lot of aul mammies minding the calves still and aul lads to herd cattle or even milk the cows if need be.

K.G.

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Is that Kevin on the main Shinagh farm or the lad on the second unit they started? Dont buy that the steam is going out of Dairy at all at all. The big farming families are still taking on more and more farms in Kildare, Roscommon etc, 3rd and 4th units at this stage. Lots of conversions too in previously tillage & beef areas. Greenfields isnt going back into tillage you know, still going to be a large dairy farm, probably with much better facilities being planned.

Maybe so but id say you can measure the fellas anxious for that stuff in hundreds whereas the people that saying steady as she goes are in their thousands. Not that they are closing up shop just not chasing hard
Yeah kevin still in place