Fodder Crisis

wrangler

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Fair play to you for keeping to your deal. Its hard enough to get the balance of fodder right without going down the road of messing with lads





No not a chance he'll get any. What was really annoying was he said he'd bring them by Christmas then not a word till now.
I only decided to sell him some bales as he's not long at it plus I didn't want to be selling to just one man.

As it turns out 1 good buyer is better than a dozen time wasters

I advertised a cattle trailer during the year on DONE DEAL, priced at €4000, I got a lot of phone calls the first night, but one in particular was a neighbour that did his best to bully me to drop the price telling me even that I shouldn't be selling a trailer without brakes but he'd 'take it off my hands' anyway I told him that I wasn't dropping the price the first evening.
Next morning at 8am I got a phone call from a tipperary guy saying is that my dog looking out of her pen near the gate, I'd told what junction I lived near and he guessed this was my house, he bought the trailer and gave me a cheque, My neighbour phoned half an hour later to say he was coming to look at it........ telling him it was gone was very sweet

kk.man

wrangler wrote: »

I advertised a cattle trailer during the year on DONE DEAL, priced at €4000, I got a lot of phone calls the first night, but one in particular was a neighbour that did his best to bully me to drop the price telling me even that I shouldn't be selling a trailer without brakes but he'd 'take it off my hands' anyway I told him that I wasn't dropping the price the first evening.
Next morning at 8am I got a phone call from a tipperary guy saying is that my dog looking out of her pen near the gate, I'd told what junction I lived near and he guessed this was my house, he bought the trailer and gave me a cheque, My neighbour phoned half an hour later to say he was coming to look at it........ telling him it was gone was very sweet

Something similar here. I had a trailer for sale too. A guy called me from Louth. He doing his best to knock down the trailer without seeing it. I googled his tel number and turns out to be a butcher. This went on for a few days saying he need to know the bottom price before he travel that distance. I did not give an inch on the price but said it wasn't set in stone.
A young guy from the west arrived and bought it. Gave him a decent bit of luck. Guy from Louth rings back and told him it was gone but I asked him if that had been cattle or sheep would he try to negotiate over the phone!

memorystick

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Sold 100 bales of 1st cut silage last year, best of feeding, €35/bale. The young upstart rang yesterday reneging on the deal, gave me a load of guff about how silage wasn't making anything near what we agreed and that and that there's loads of grass everywhere now.
I didn't bother arguing just told him grand job. I thought it was bad form, a deal is a deal and to me a handshake is a mans contract.
I had to ring another customer I sold bales to last year and tell him what happened, wasn't on the phone 2 minutes when he told me he'd take the bales no question, said his cows were pumping milk last spring on the silage I sold him.
We might get an early spring but thats no reason to burn lads, its not as if I am making a fortune out of the bales

I'm the very same. Have 100 to sell and yer man kicked. He's getting a toe in the hole the next time I see him. Have to move them as I want to put in yard.

lab man

wrangler wrote:

If I sell something it's not sold till I get money, I tell every enquiry from done deal that nothing is held until the cheque is cleared. As you see here it's madness doing it any other way

How can u ask for money when bales are on the row in a field in july fella says I'll take 50 , 100 .. 70 I ask for money when bales are opened when loaded any bale with mould will not be loaded in winter. cause I've been that road, ah there was a few bits of mould on some baled which of 50 might be 2 bales total , selling bales here since late 70s my fathers time had guys come back in year 13 that were refused bales cause over not paying the total 10 yrs before the pen never lies

lab man

Never wrestle with pigs wrote:

Whatever you do, don't even sell him a small square bale of hay again. People like that need a lesson every now and again. Hopefully he'll be short again.

Never say that u wish him to be short

Welding Rod

lab man wrote: »

How can u ask for money when bales are on the row in a field in july fella says I'll take 50 , 100 .. 70 I ask for money when bales are opened when loaded any bale with mould will not be loaded in winter. cause I've been that road, ah there was a few bits of mould on some baled which of 50 might be 2 bales total , selling bales here since late 70s my fathers time had guys come back in year 13 that were refused bales cause over not paying the total 10 yrs before the pen never lies

Say that again.....

Bass Reeves

lab man wrote: »

How can u ask for money when bales are on the row in a field in july fella says I'll take 50 , 100 .. 70 I ask for money when bales are opened when loaded any bale with mould will not be loaded in winter. cause I've been that road, ah there was a few bits of mould on some baled which of 50 might be 2 bales total , selling bales here since late 70s my fathers time had guys come back in year 13 that were refused bales cause over not paying the total 10 yrs before the pen never lies

Welding Rod wrote: »

Say that again.....

Its the same as any other business. If he wants them he buys them. Mould is always an issue with bales but only pre calving unless it s very serious. If a lad is buy as they are baled he takes them away there and then. If he expects you to store he takes the risk. Buyer has two choices buying out of the field he loads up and looks after or they are stored on your farm at his risk. He marks the bales and you stack them separate

lab man

Bass Reeves wrote:

Its the same as any other business. If he wants them he buys them. Mould is always an issue with bales but only pre calving unless it s very serious. If a lad is buy as they are baled he takes them away there and then. If he expects you to store he takes the risk. Buyer has two choices buying out of the field he loads up and looks after or they are stored on your farm at his risk. He marks the bales and you stack them separate

Totally agreed, but back here in Clare tis 80% sucklers so money is fair scarce may to August

alps

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Mould is always an issue with bales but only pre calving

Just as a side note....be careful with mould to milking cows. Mold can have antibiotic characteristics and can cause you to fail the inhibitor milk quality test...happened in a few cases last summer where some rations "sweated" and caused mould on the walls of feed bins.

Bass Reeves

lab man wrote: »

Totally agreed, but back here in Clare tis 80% sucklers so money is fair scarce may to August

There used to be a sign in old electrical and furniture shops. A deposit secures any item. If you have dealt with lads a good bit it may not be necessary but for new customers or where a lad is taking a few grand of silage then it is a business requirement.

wrangler

Bass Reeves wrote: »

There used to be a sign in old electrical and furniture shops. A deposit secures any item. If you have dealt with lads a good bit it may not be necessary but for new customers or where a lad is taking a few grand of silage then it is a business requirement.

If he was dealing with the same bank for a few years, overdraft facilities would be available to pay on the day.
If he couldn't get facilities, why should the seller take the chance

Keepgrowing

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Asked a neighbour for silage bales a few years ago and was turned down. Fast forward to New Years Day some time later when he stopped me on the road looking for assistance. 2 bullocks had fallen into a slatted tank and i used my loader to lift them out. He said if I ever needed anything to give him a shout. Asked him last Spring for silage and was turned down again. Needless to say i wont be lifting anymore animals out of tanks for him.
I also had agreed to buy 51 silage bales lately be because i believed i was going to be short. When the time came for the contractor to draw them i had plenty of my own silage left and didn't need them. I kept my word and took them. Im new enough to farming and there are some **** out there who have no word

Maybe he had no silage to spare

liosnagceann75

Plenty of silage by him. He sold to others

BENDYBINN

Always try to have a months extra silage in reserve just for peace of mind. Problem is neighbors think this is their reserve as well!

kevthegaff

wrangler wrote: »

I advertised a cattle trailer during the year on DONE DEAL, priced at €4000, I got a lot of phone calls the first night, but one in particular was a neighbour that did his best to bully me to drop the price telling me even that I shouldn't be selling a trailer without brakes but he'd 'take it off my hands' anyway I told him that I wasn't dropping the price the first evening.
Next morning at 8am I got a phone call from a tipperary guy saying is that my dog looking out of her pen near the gate, I'd told what junction I lived near and he guessed this was my house, he bought the trailer and gave me a cheque, My neighbour phoned half an hour later to say he was coming to look at it........ telling him it was gone was very sweet

Tipp lads are solid 😉

drive it

I see on done deal the price of straw and hay is comming down. Lads with full shed starting to panic ?

Panch18

drive it wrote: »

I see on done deal the price of straw and hay is comming down. Lads with full shed starting to panic ?

Anybody who didn’t take the great money that was on offer last back end needs their head tested. I wouldn’t have much sympathy for them as only greed would stop you selling at that kind of money!

emaherx

drive it wrote: »

I see on done deal the price of straw and hay is comming down. Lads with full shed starting to panic ?

Lads with sheds full of hay and straw are not so bad it will keep. Still see lots of highly priced silage on donedeal, and some of its starting to reduce in price but it will be hard to sell next year if we've a good summer.

Dickie10

got done last year with a smart small farmer beside me. this lad finshes about 50 cattle on small acreage and i used to think fair play to him, but i noticed how he would always be praising himself aboout the good job he does on them , now this is exactly the type of farmer that kills any sooperation betweeen farmers , he buys dear stores between 900 and 1200 and finshes them off grass and out of shed in winter, he does them for a local butcher and of course has a healthy off farm income so i dunno how much profit they are leaving him but you couldnt tell him anything like that, seems pure hobby farming and this guy is just the type to break ranks for an extra 5cent if he got it. anyway what annoyed me was last april he was looking for silage and came over to get pit silage , he had an open lorry ford transit builders type. i put in 3 very big shear grab fulls of blocks of silage not sure what weight it would have been but id say equivalent to two bales of silage i suppose, he came 4 times for this amount. never asked me what i wanted for this just said he would fix up at end of the month, all summer came and went in septemeber he came over and handed me €180. i thiought it was worth a good bit more but what could i say. i was annoyed it took so long to pay too when he was desperate to get them. have my mind made up never to have excess silage in april again, always lads coming scavenging that time of year. id rather put on more urea in february and let cattle out to grass

Jb1989

Dickie10 wrote: »

got done last year with a smart small farmer beside me. this lad finshes about 50 cattle on small acreage and i used to think fair play to him, but i noticed how he would always be praising himself aboout the good job he does on them , now this is exactly the type of farmer that kills any sooperation betweeen farmers , he buys dear stores between 900 and 1200 and finshes them off grass and out of shed in winter, he does them for a local butcher and of course has a healthy off farm income so i dunno how much profit they are leaving him but you couldnt tell him anything like that, seems pure hobby farming and this guy is just the type to break ranks for an extra 5cent if he got it. anyway what annoyed me was last april he was looking for silage and came over to get pit silage , he had an open lorry ford transit builders type. i put in 3 very big shear grab fulls of blocks of silage not sure what weight it would have been but id say equivalent to two bales of silage i suppose, he came 4 times for this amount. never asked me what i wanted for this just said he would fix up at end of the month, all summer came and went in septemeber he came over and handed me €180. i thiought it was worth a good bit more but what could i say. i was annoyed it took so long to pay too when he was desperate to get them. have my mind made up never to have excess silage in april again, always lads coming scavenging that time of year. id rather put on more urea in february and let cattle out to grass

He should have been sooner to settle up. And ask your price he gave 22.50 a bale tho, which mightened been what you were expecting but wasn't that bad price I bought some at 25, and heard others looking 40.
You couldve been done worse.

dar31

Dickie10 wrote: »

got done last year with a smart small farmer beside me. this lad finshes about 50 cattle on small acreage and i used to think fair play to him, but i noticed how he would always be praising himself aboout the good job he does on them , now this is exactly the type of farmer that kills any sooperation betweeen farmers , he buys dear stores between 900 and 1200 and finshes them off grass and out of shed in winter, he does them for a local butcher and of course has a healthy off farm income so i dunno how much profit they are leaving him but you couldnt tell him anything like that, seems pure hobby farming and this guy is just the type to break ranks for an extra 5cent if he got it. anyway what annoyed me was last april he was looking for silage and came over to get pit silage , he had an open lorry ford transit builders type. i put in 3 very big shear grab fulls of blocks of silage not sure what weight it would have been but id say equivalent to two bales of silage i suppose, he came 4 times for this amount. never asked me what i wanted for this just said he would fix up at end of the month, all summer came and went in septemeber he came over and handed me €180. i thiought it was worth a good bit more but what could i say. i was annoyed it took so long to pay too when he was desperate to get them. have my mind made up never to have excess silage in april again, always lads coming scavenging that time of year. id rather put on more urea in february and let cattle out to grass

What size grab. I've a 5ft 6 redrock and at its best would only hold 6-700kg.

whelan2

I assume the latest offer from glanbia for alfalfa is the stuff that farmers ordered but didn't take?

Mad_maxx

Dickie10 wrote: »

got done last year with a smart small farmer beside me. this lad finshes about 50 cattle on small acreage and i used to think fair play to him, but i noticed how he would always be praising himself aboout the good job he does on them , now this is exactly the type of farmer that kills any sooperation betweeen farmers , he buys dear stores between 900 and 1200 and finshes them off grass and out of shed in winter, he does them for a local butcher and of course has a healthy off farm income so i dunno how much profit they are leaving him but you couldnt tell him anything like that, seems pure hobby farming and this guy is just the type to break ranks for an extra 5cent if he got it. anyway what annoyed me was last april he was looking for silage and came over to get pit silage , he had an open lorry ford transit builders type. i put in 3 very big shear grab fulls of blocks of silage not sure what weight it would have been but id say equivalent to two bales of silage i suppose, he came 4 times for this amount. never asked me what i wanted for this just said he would fix up at end of the month, all summer came and went in septemeber he came over and handed me €180. i thiought it was worth a good bit more but what could i say. i was annoyed it took so long to pay too when he was desperate to get them. have my mind made up never to have excess silage in april again, always lads coming scavenging that time of year. id rather put on more urea in february and let cattle out to grass

Would be As if he paid you 15 euro per bale of silage, left you a hundred short by my Conservative reckoning

Dickie10

its not the money its the point of it. not even asking what i wanted per grab or weight, just kind of saying here that will do ya. i actually ended up a bit short myself in the end.

Dickie10

anyway the pit will be empty around the first week in april this year and i have 20 bales to use then if needs be should have plenty of grass unless we get a very cold march

gr8 m8

Hello,

If I was you I would chalk it down to experience. Look at it as a cheap lesson to find out the worth of a man.

Injuryprone

Dickie10 wrote: »

have my mind made up never to have excess silage in april again, always lads coming scavenging that time of year. id rather put on more urea in february and let cattle out to grass

Why would you potentially leave yourself short just so you don't have to give this guy silage in April? Seems a bit of an overreaction to me. Could you not just refuse him the next time he comes knocking?
And perhaps tell him you think he underpaid for the last lot as well while you're at it. Bad form imo to take his money, say nothing, and then go b*tching about him afterwards behind his back.
180 isn't far off market value for 12 grabs. Assuming you've a 4ft grab, there's no way 3 grabs = 2 bales, I'd say a more accurate estimate would be 2 grabs = 1 bale. So that would mean he gave you 30 a bale. The point I'm trying to make is that he might think he did right by you.

foxy farmer

I weighed 6 x5ft grabs of silage last year. Had just under 3.5tonne. Wasn't great stuff. Charged 45 per load delivered. Heard of lads charging up to 35e a tonne.

Keep Sluicing

foxy farmer wrote: »

I weighed 6 x5ft grabs of silage last year. Had just under 3.5tonne. Wasn't great stuff. Charged 45 per load delivered. Heard of lads charging up to 35e a tonne.

I charged €40/ton last spring. There will be nothing leaving the yard for less

mengele

But to be fair sellers should also be letting the buyer what he is charging before the silage leaves the sellers yard. E.g farmer: have you any silage for sale. Seller: yes but I would need 30 a bale for it.

TooOldBoots

Last of my silage went out of the yard yesterday. Artic driver asked about the hay I have in the shed. I'm not sure what to ask him for it as its very mixed stuff with hay some fine bales of hay then more of it 3/4 rush.
Funny thing is the driver was from East Cork and was shifting my silage bales as part of a back load. which makes me wonder how far some lads would transport feed. Surly anything over 50 miles is a no no for silage?

blue5000

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Last of my silage went out of the yard yesterday. Artic driver asked about the hay I have in the shed. I'm not sure what to ask him for it as its very mixed stuff with hay some fine bales of hay then more of it 3/4 rush.
Funny thing is the driver was from East Cork and was shifting my silage bales as part of a back load. which makes me wonder how far some lads would transport feed. Surly anything over 50 miles is a no no for silage?

A back load wouldn't cost that much to transport, bit extra diesel and the time it took to load it and unload.

patsy_mccabe

So, is it officially over? :rolleyes:

Markcheese

I'll tell you in May...

Bass Reeves

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

So, is it officially over? :rolleyes:

What fodder crisis

Bullocks

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

So, is it officially over? :rolleyes:

Two lads I met today are looking for hay /silage. Anything they had worth eating is ate and no big growth yet they reckon.

blue5000

Bales of silage still making €25 here with straw at €35. Even though they're out they would still pick at a bale.

Gawddawggonnit

Bass Reeves wrote: »

What fodder crisis

Until the next time...

whelan2

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Until the next time...

If it doesn't rain soon there might be a drought....

Reggie.

whelan2 wrote: »

If it doesn't rain soon there might be a drought....

God damn it woman

lab man

Bullocks wrote:

Two lads I met today are looking for hay /silage. Anything they had worth eating is ate and no big growth yet they reckon.

I've a load of bales here for sale south Clare

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

If it doesn't rain soon there might be a drought....

Only talking to a neighbour about that there afew hrs ago. Last year we at least got a 1st cut in before the drought hit, here in East Wicklow where we regularly enough get large dips in growth during the mid summer and early autumn we really need to grow as much grass as we can during April and May, so bit of rain now definitely wouldn't go astray, but nothing on the forecast.

awaywithyou

Timmaay wrote: »

Only talking to a neighbour about that there afew hrs ago. Last year we at least got a 1st cut in before the drought hit, here in East Wicklow where we regularly enough get large dips in growth during the mid summer and early autumn we really need to grow as much grass as we can during April and May, so bit of rain now definitely wouldn't go astray, but nothing on the forecast.

its supposed to get very cold next week particularly next weekend..... down to zero and possibly below it.....

blackdog1

awaywithyou wrote:

its supposed to get very cold next week particularly next weekend..... down to zero and possibly below it.....

As long as its dry and cows have a bit of grass I don't mind. Last year taught me cows still produce with good solids with lighter covers while buffered with quality silage

davidk1394

blackdog1 wrote: »

As long as its dry and cows have a bit of grass I don't mind. Last year taught me cows still produce with good solids with lighter covers while buffered with quality silage

A lot of farmers learned that lesson aswell. Ground is in fabulous condition. I hope it remembers to rain between now and May

Markcheese

I think the drought opened cracks down deep in soil, and really improved the drainage,

whelan2

Markcheese wrote: »

I think the drought opened cracks down deep in soil, and really improved the drainage,

Ye noticed that here

Bass Reeves

Markcheese wrote: »

I think the drought opened cracks down deep in soil, and really improved the drainage,

You need a really sunny hot summer every 5-8 years to break open ground especial;ly ground that is in permenant pasture. It breaks open ground and takes away compaction. As well it brings residual N back up to ground level where grass can use it again. Farm is like it got 50-60 units of N last Autumn

Lady Haywire

davidk1394 wrote: »

A lot of farmers learned that lesson aswell. Ground is in fabulous condition. I hope it remembers to rain between now and May

Ah no, you're grand there! :pac:

Reggie.

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Ah no, you're grand there! :pac:

I concur