Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

Greengrass1

just do it wrote: »

Your overall fertility is good though? It's a numbers game after that. There just isn't enough room for everyone on the bell curve

I'll jinx myself now. Looking like less than 5% empty atm. Hope so because it will mean I can cull the 16 -20 cows that need to be culled for various reasons and still push on numbers again for 17.

raypallas

How far will the lorry be from the start of the 50ft? The ration will be a lot harder to blow on the flat than nuts. What is stopping the truck from getting closer?

Mehaffey1

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Would we be any different? No one could survive any where at that price

It has been a tough announcement though anyone watching the auctions and an eye on world dairy could see it coming. Rough announcement followed by 6 inches of snow overnight, cows broke out everywhere on Fodder Beet, grass and Kale. Rough milking 172 with about 90 being jumpy kicky heifers with one ending back in the dry cows and breaking 6 reels and tape gates before I got her back to the milkers paddock. Depressing talk on the news about cutting staff and trying to cut costs

It's days like this that explain the beer and wine in the fridge lol.

Mehaffey1

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Would we be any different? No one could survive any where at that price

It has been a tough announcement though anyone watching the auctions and an eye on world dairy could see it coming. Rough announcement followed by 6 inches of snow overnight, cows broke out everywhere on Fodder Beet, grass and Kale. Rough milking 172 with about 90 being jumpy kicky heifers with one ending back in the dry cows and breaking 6 reels and tape gates before I got her back to the milkers paddock. Depressing talk on the news about cutting staff and trying to cut costs. Seem like we'll be ok, we have working expenses at rough 3.80 a kg of Ms anyway, will likely see the regressing and fert side of things pulled back here. Also talk of putting the same paddocks back into FB for the second year in a row which sounds like a mad idea to me.

It's days like this that explain the beer and wine in the fridge lol.

Mehaffey1

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Would we be any different? No one could survive any where at that price

To your original point about carrying on my friend works on a high input farm (stocked at 4+ per ha and 5.75 working expenses per kg ms). They're dropping from 1250 milkers to 800 this year, that's serious.

Milked out

raypallas wrote: »

How far will the lorry be from the start of the 50ft? The ration will be a lot harder to blow on the flat than nuts. What is stopping the truck from getting closer?

The lorry would park next to the dairy withe the 50 ft length bolted to dairy wall. The yard rises up above level of parlour so would have to get track machine in to level an area to park him beside the bin

Milked out

Mehaffey1 wrote: »

To your original point about carrying on my friend works on a high input farm (stocked at 4+ per ha and 5.75 working expenses per kg ms). They're dropping from 1250 milkers to 800 this year, that's serious.

How many cows per labour unit? I assume 2 or 3 staff gone as well if high input?

Mehaffey1

Milked out wrote: »

How many cows per labour unit? I assume 2 or 3 staff gone as well if high input?

For some mad reason they're keeping all the staff. They've farm owner, sharemilker, 2 assistant managers and 3 farm workers. Think one of the workers is part time and have their hours reduced slightly.

Milked out

Mehaffey1 wrote: »

For some mad reason they're keeping all the staff. They've farm owner, sharemilker, 2 assistant managers and 3 farm workers. Think one of the workers is part time and have their hours reduced slightly.

They may have all taken a reduction in wages maybe to keep the staff or something, good people will be harder to get back than cows. Fair play if they can keep it going and keep lads in jobs at the same time

Milked out

Do many of ye use coarse ration in the parlour feeders or do ye all use nuts? Any issues with coarse ration in the feeders? The saving of 10 to 15 euro a tonne on coarse over nuts would help going forward.

whelan2

Milked out wrote: »

Do many of ye use coarse ration in the parlour feeders or do ye all use nuts? Any issues with coarse ration in the feeders? The saving of 10 to 15 euro a tonne on coarse over nuts would help going forward.

No problem in feeders it's the Augers I would be worried about here

jaymla627

Mehaffey1 wrote: »

For some mad reason they're keeping all the staff. They've farm owner, sharemilker, 2 assistant managers and 3 farm workers. Think one of the workers is part time and have their hours reduced slightly.

Simple calculations like say a total of 380,000 dollars going on wages/providing houses combined with say a average feed cost of 1.60kg/ms would mean this farm has a grand total of 1.20kg/ms to cover every other expense other then labour/feed costs assuming 850 cows average 450 kg of milk solids at 3 80kg/ms....
It's fair to say any dairy farmers out their carrying high debt levels are goosed and would be very surprised if we don't see stories coming out of farms having credited lines/bank drafts cut off, it would be reckless of their banking institutions to keep proproping up operations that have no hope of recovering

trixi2011

Milked out wrote: »

Do many of ye use coarse ration in the parlour feeders or do ye all use nuts? Any issues with coarse ration in the feeders? The saving of 10 to 15 euro a tonne on coarse over nuts would help going forward.

Moved away from it this year . Some real draw backs with feeding it poor cow flow , more wastage, dusty parlour, can be unpalatable when you add some ingredients , and dispite course ration contain way superior ingredients we seem to get a better response from a cheap nut.

frazzledhome

trixi2011 wrote: »

Moved away from it this year . Some real draw backs with feeding it poor cow flow , more wastage, dusty parlour, can be unpalatable when you add some ingredients , and dispite course ration contain way superior ingredients we seem to get a better response from a cheap nut.

My view to a tee. Too bulky, dusty and leads to waste when feeding over a kg.

Deepsouthwest

frazzledhome wrote: »

+1 loads of heifers pregnant here. Will only sell culls. 50 blooded yesterday expect to be sold by 6 this evening.

How did ur culls go yesterday evening? Were they sold to milk on or to be fed on?

frazzledhome

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

How did ur culls go yesterday evening? Were they sold to milk on or to be fed on?

33% fit
33% stores
33% three wheelers

All sold fit or near 1150-- 1300
Stores 900--1000
S bulls 1000 each
Three wheels 200--600

raypallas

Milked out wrote:

The lorry would park next to the dairy withe the 50 ft length bolted to dairy wall. The yard rises up above level of parlour so would have to get track machine in to level an area to park him beside the bin

It would be easier if the pipe bolted to the wall started to climb to the top of the bin straight away instead of going 50 ft on the flat and then up. Its definitely not ideal for them in the long run, it could take upto 5 or 6 mins per ton to blow in the meal in that distance. Probably better to get a machine in for an hour or two.

mf240

Anyone selling emptys straight after scanning.

What would ye hope to get for ones suitable to milk on and fatten next summer?

whelan2

frazzledhome wrote: »

33% fit
33% stores
33% three wheelers

All sold fit or near 1150-- 1300
Stores 900--1000
S bulls 1000 each
Three wheels 200--600

have you scanned yet?

mahoney_j

mf240 wrote: »

Anyone selling emptys straight after scanning.

What would ye hope to get for ones suitable to milk on and fatten next summer?

Nope will milk on feed well dry off in December and off to mart mid janurary.will be 650 plus kg at least by then .hard to know what trade will be like but I should get at least 1.50 kg .ill also have a few extra months high solids milk.looks like I'll have very few empties between culls and empties less than 5% of herd

frazzledhome

whelan2 wrote: »

have you scanned yet?

No, kinda free wheeling here with holidays being taken so won't scan for a few weeks

Wildsurfer

frazzledhome wrote: »

+1 loads of heifers pregnant here. Will only sell culls. 50 blooded yesterday expect to be sold by 6 this evening.

50 culls! Would it be rude of me to ask how many cows Frazzled is milking?

mf240

Wildsurfer wrote: »

50 culls! Would it be rude of me to ask how many cows Frazzled is milking?

50 less than yesterday!

keep going

Wildsurfer wrote: »

50 culls! Would it be rude of me to ask how many cows Frazzled is milking?

At the milkprice is going might be cheaper to sell the cows rather than pay a milker while hes away:-)

Sacrolyte

Wildsurfer wrote: »

50 culls! Would it be rude of me to ask how many cows Frazzled is milking?

Yes. It would be very rude.

Brown Podzol

Wildsurfer wrote: »

50 culls! Would it be rude of me to ask how many cows Frazzled is milking?

In Ireland it's probably less rude to enquire after a persons sexual orientation than the number of cows they have.

Timmaay

Sacrolyte wrote: »

Yes. It would be very rude.

I don't think frazz is much over the 100, 50% downsizing might sound high but desperate times yano .

All joking aside, frazz you tend to offload a decent few culls this time if the year always to help keep you under derogation limits?

frazzledhome

Wildsurfer wrote: »

50 culls! Would it be rude of me to ask how many cows Frazzled is milking?

No harm to ask but would be crass to reply

kevthegaff

How many cows per labour unit frazz? Milking 120 on my own, need a bigger machine but hope to 130+ nxt year.

Milked out

kevthegaff wrote: »

How many cows per labour unit frazz? Milking 120 on my own, need a bigger machine but hope to 130+ nxt year.

Will u take on part time labour kev? Similar no's here but will have to sort labour next year

whelan2

Milked out wrote: »

Will u take on part time labour kev? Similar no's here but will have to sort labour next year

think 130 would be max, simialr numbers here too and was wrecked at calving time, then hadnt time for a breather when breeding started

kevthegaff

I find it hectic, bro milking 200 with a 1 worker and has a way better lifestyle! Im saying what number of cows is achievable with 1 labour unit?

mahoney_j

Will reach 120 max here within 2 years .plannis just myself ,relief Milker to do at least Sunday evenings from May on and a local student on a Saturday during spring to clean and disinfect calf/calving pens etc.more and more slurry and fertliser spreading to be contracted out also .facalities around yard will be pretty good though as regards parlour ,cubicles calf rearing etc but it all cost money .still I'd prefer spend it there than rely on more labour

Deepsouthwest

kevthegaff wrote: »

I find it hectic, bro milking 200 with a 1 worker and has a way better lifestyle! Im saying what number of cows is achievable with 1 labour unit?

I'm always wondering what number of cows is necessary to employ a full time/near full time man, so I can have a better lifestyle and enjoy my kids when they're young

frazzledhome

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

I'm always wondering what number of cows is necessary to employ a full time/near full time man, so I can have a better lifestyle and enjoy my kids when they're young

40-45 cows to employ a full time person

frazzledhome

kevthegaff wrote: »

How many cows per labour unit frazz? Milking 120 on my own, need a bigger machine but hope to 130+ nxt year.

Between all about 140 cows per labour unit. One guy does all herding daily and calves rarely milks. We have a guy that only milks 12 milkings per week but doesn't do anything else, we collect and return cows morning and evening

That's different than 1 person looking after 140 on their own iykwim

We are well set up so extra cows don't necessarily mean another labour unit. We could add 100 more without any more.

Wildsurfer

frazzledhome wrote: »

Between all about 140 cows per labour unit. One guy does all herding daily and calves rarely milks. We have a guy that only milks 12 milkings per week but doesn't do anything else, we collect and return cows morning and evening

That's different than 1 person looking after 140 on their own iykwim

We are well set up so extra cows don't necessarily mean another labour unit. We could add 100 more without any more.

So just wondering like.... How many labour units do you have presently....

frazzledhome

Wildsurfer wrote: »

So just wondering like.... How many labour units do you have presently....

Lol, asking the same question a different way

blackdog1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Will reach 120 max here within 2 years .plannis just myself ,relief Milker to do at least Sunday evenings from May on and a local student on a Saturday during spring to clean and disinfect calf/calving pens etc.more and more slurry and fertliser spreading to be contracted out also .facalities around yard will be pretty good though as regards parlour ,cubicles calf rearing etc but it all cost money .still I'd prefer spend it there than rely on more labour

I'm planning the same but as you said it takes years to get the facilities in place. Think I'll milk 100 though until I add a few more units in the parlour

kevthegaff

Milked out wrote: »

Will u take on part time labour kev? Similar no's here but will have to sort labour next year

Im sort of goosed cos i cant sub contract slurry, too high! Ya prob for 10 weeks during springbut a farmhand that time of the year is an elusive creature!

mahoney_j

kevthegaff wrote: »

Im sort of goosed cos i cant sub contract slurry, too high! Ya prob for 10 weeks during springbut a farmhand that time of the year is an elusive creature!

Did us try gurteen Kev??.lots of students lodge there at weekends and would be glad of work for beer mobey during the week !!.agree though very hard get someone good just to work with u for 10/12 weeks through spring

mahoney_j

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

I'm always wondering what number of cows is necessary to employ a full time/near full time man, so I can have a better lifestyle and enjoy my kids when they're young

I reckon you'd proably want to be hitting 170/200 to justify a full time labour unit dsw .kids don't be long growing up ,be a hoore to watch it all from the parlour/farm and regret not spending more time with them once they get older

yosemitesam1

frazzledhome wrote: »

Between all about 140 cows per labour unit. One guy does all herding daily and calves rarely milks. We have a guy that only milks 12 milkings per week but doesn't do anything else, we collect and return cows morning and evening

That's different than 1 person looking after 140 on their own iykwim

We are well set up so extra cows don't necessarily mean another labour unit. We could add 100 more without any more.

What counts as a labour unit? Is it 40-50hours a week

Deepsouthwest

yosemitesam1 wrote: »

What counts as a labour unit? Is it 40-50hours a week

35/40k a yr is what I'd count as labour unit, the hrs are part of the job.

Dawggone

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

35/40k a yr is what I'd count as labour unit, the hrs are part of the job.

Lol. Try explaining that here...

kevthegaff

mahoney_j wrote: »

Did us try gurteen Kev??.lots of students lodge there at weekends and would be glad of work for beer mobey during the week !!.agree though very hard get someone good just to work with u for 10/12 weeks through spring

I rang before and couldnt get anyone, any lads that have them are in the ifa or have a few buddys in the right places. Some of these y lads arent treated great either

Buford T. Justice XIX

kevthegaff wrote: »

I rang before and couldnt get anyone, any lads that have them are in the ifa or have a few buddys in the right places. Some of these y lads arent treated great either

Did you try UCD, I think the students are free from about April these days. It wouldn't suit calving but would ease pressure in April/May. A very mixed bunch, though.

Kovu will be looking for a farm to do a spot of dairying soon, though;)

blackdog1

kevthegaff wrote: »

I rang before and couldnt get anyone, any lads that have them are in the ifa or have a few buddys in the right places. Some of these y lads arent treated great either

There is a company called White in Ireland that place foreign students and it specialty is dairy farming. Might be worth a try but I think the longest they stay is 3 months.

kevthegaff

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Did you try UCD, I think the students are free from about April these days. It wouldn't suit calving but would ease pressure in April/May. A very mixed bunch, though.

Kovu will be looking for a farm to do a spot of dairying soon, though;)

the last time ucd sent a student, i was going out with her for a year:-). I might try again this time a male student!

White Clover

kevthegaff wrote: »

:Dthe last time ucd sent a student, i was going out with her for a year:-). I might try again this time a male student!

Are you after switching lanes kev :-D