Chit chat number nein

Keep Sluicing

Mortelaro wrote: »

Oh sweet Jesus
The calor housewife of the year 1994 on goggle box virgin media one

I saw that. I was sitting here in horror as i didn't know what year they were on about.

L1985

Guys-question for you knowledgable folk. Pulled a suckler cow out three weeks ago as she has mastitis (precalving). Give her one dose of antibiotic and seemed to have cleared it up-she wasn't sick with it as was eating away etc. I didn't milk her out. Looks like she will calf the next day or two-would her beastings be all right? I'd planned on taking it from the other cow but she went and had twins on me!!

Lady Haywire

L1985 wrote: »

Guys-question for you knowledgable folk. Pulled a suckler cow out three weeks ago as she has mastitis (precalving). Give her one dose of antibiotic and seemed to have cleared it up-she wasn't sick with it as was eating away etc. I didn't milk her out. Looks like she will calf the next day or two-would her beastings be all right? I'd planned on taking it from the other cow but she went and had twins on me!!

As long as you gave her no tube belt away. If you catch her calving put the calf on the good side at first but if not, he'll root around & find the good tits fast enough.

148multi

L1985 wrote: »

Guys-question for you knowledgable folk. Pulled a suckler cow out three weeks ago as she has mastitis (precalving). Give her one dose of antibiotic and seemed to have cleared it up-she wasn't sick with it as was eating away etc. I didn't milk her out. Looks like she will calf the next day or two-would her beastings be all right? I'd planned on taking it from the other cow but she went and had twins on me!!

I would like to all ways strip out dry cow mastitis, get poison out of the system, I would still try to strip the quarter, beastings should be ok, rarely see it travel to other quarters.

L1985

I didn't milk her as I didn't want the beastings to Start coming. The fact she was happy and eating away I left her alone: I didn't give her a tube. She would be a good milker normally. I'll keep an eye on the calf and decide then but the fact it's three weeks I'm hoping the infection is out of her system now.

Say my name

Isn't it great to see the mowers out cutting silage for the summer feeding.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Demand starting for rushes in East Clare for making biochar.
https://www.farmersjournal.ie/1m-for-turning-farmers-rushes-into-biomass-432175

Hard Knocks

Trying to add an attachment from one drive to an outlook email & don’t see the OneDrive or Dropbox folders

Is there something disabled?

Say my name

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Demand starting for rushes in East Clare for making biochar.
https://www.farmersjournal.ie/1m-for-turning-farmers-rushes-into-biomass-432175

I can't access that link as I'm not signed up. Maybe the access code will work when I get the paper but at a recent Biochar conference in this country a speaker was there from a cooperative set up in wales with the aim of using scrub biomass from farmers and using the Biochar from that for feeding to livestock.

Seemingly the money is there from the EU for investing in this.

There's a former Macra president behind the Biochar movement in this country.

Edit: After getting a code and reading the article. That's a carbon copy of the Welsh project/idea. The only difference is a mobile unit.

whelan2

If you are replacing an existing slurry tower with one the same size do you need planning permission if going for a grant? Or would you get a planning exemption?

foxy farmer

On the subject of slurry, I was working in another man's yard today when a council inspector called following up on a report from a busybody neighbour regarding runoff from a roadside passage on the farm. I hope the inspector didn't spot the slurry being spread on 2 separate farms, visible from the yard. one with a tanker and the other with the umbilical. They had the fields well blackened.

Birdnuts

foxy farmer wrote: »

On the subject of slurry, I was working in another man's yard today when a council inspector called following up on a report from a busybody neighbour regarding runoff from a roadside passage on the farm. I hope the inspector didn't spot the slurry being spread on 2 separate farms, visible from the yard. one with a tanker and the other with the umbilical. They had the fields well blackened.

Well the less cowboys in the industry the better it is for the rest of us

Birdnuts

Say my name wrote: »

Isn't it great to see the mowers out cutting silage for the summer feeding.

You would wonder though how great the feeding in that stuff is - I assume the low levels of sunlight mean low levels of sugars etc. in such silage. Alot water and silica yes??

Say my name

Birdnuts wrote: »

You would wonder though how great the feeding in that stuff is - I assume the low levels of sunlight mean low levels of sugars etc. in such silage. Alot water and silica yes??

Ah you'd have to give a run of molasses on the sward before baling.

L1985

Birdnuts wrote: »

Well the less cowboys in the industry the better it is for the rest of us

I don't think that's a fair comment-5days to go before the ban lifts and guys could be badly stuck with tanks over flowing. We have all taken risks and the weather is good to spread i.e. No run off. It's ludicrous that if you do get caught there is no way around it or a way to sort it without breaking the law-a neighbour got caught with a tap left on and it was a good few hours before it was spotted. It could happen any of us.

Mooooo

Makes no odds really as the rules are the rules but it could well be perfect conditions like the last week and piss rain in a weeks time in any given year. Calender rules are a balls in that regard. There'll be lads gearing up straight away Sun not even for storage reasons but just because conditions are great to get it out do little damage while temps are ok

charolais0153

L1985 wrote: »

I don't think that's a fair comment-5days to go before the ban lifts and guys could be badly stuck with tanks over flowing. We have all taken risks and the weather is good to spread i.e. No run off. It's ludicrous that if you do get caught there is no way around it or a way to sort it without breaking the law-a neighbour got caught with a tap left on and it was a good few hours before it was spotted. It could happen any of us.

Ah stop. Lads shouldnt have just the minimum 12 weeks storage. Absolutely no foresight. Lots of stock werent evn put in till november aswell.

ganmo

If they didn't have enough storage this year how on earth did they manage last year?

Birdnuts

L1985 wrote: »

I don't think that's a fair comment-5days to go before the ban lifts and guys could be badly stuck with tanks over flowing. We have all taken risks and the weather is good to spread i.e. No run off. It's ludicrous that if you do get caught there is no way around it or a way to sort it without breaking the law-a neighbour got caught with a tap left on and it was a good few hours before it was spotted. It could happen any of us.

I'm no fan of calendar farming when it comes to slurry issues - however we also have types that spread during wet spells and generally have little regard for their actions on their neighbours or the areas water supplies etc. and that is being increasingly reflected in declines in general water quality. Poor slurry management appears to be an ongoing issue in this country despite the large amount of money spent on slurry storage via various schemes - why is this?? Are folk who are expanding rapidly(especially dairy) simply ignoring the issue in terms of failing to add neccesary storage capacity?? I don't know - but something is serious amiss when we have an ongoing problem despite a year that has seen perfect conditions for most of the time for slurry application at times when it can actually function as a usefull fert during the growing season.

Buford T. Justice XIX

ganmo wrote: »

If they didn't have enough storage this year how on earth did they manage last year?

We're tight atm but more to do with being in derogation and the contractor having a breakdown with the dribble bar and not being allowed spread with a splashplate. Plenty storage here both in practical terms and as regards the rules.

Sometimes you have to decide which silly rule you have to shave to survive.

A few loads at 12.01am on the 16th, be grand. Unlike the lads drawing through a local village with a large tanker and dribble bars all day last Saturday. No damage, no rain, growth in the 10s, no risk of pollution but breaking the rules. Seems counterintuitive to me.

_Brian

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

We're tight atm but more to do with being in derogation and the contractor having a breakdown with the dribble bar and not being allowed spread with a splashplate. Plenty storage here both in practical terms and as regards the rules.

Sometimes you have to decide which silly rule you have to shave to survive.

A few loads at 12.01am on the 16th, be grand. Unlike the lads drawing through a local village with a large tanker and dribble bars all day last Saturday. No damage, no rain, growth in the 10s, no risk of pollution but breaking the rules. Seems counterintuitive to me.

But the rules weren’t brought in for lads with common sense.

They were brought in for the lads that just want slurry our regardless. If the rules were removed you’d go back to seeing lads horsing slurry our by pipe on saturated land with the slurry running straight to tie river. Or blowing it across water courses into fields.

The rules seem harsh in good weather but many lads can’t be trusted to use common sense, like the saying, ir turns out it’s not that common after all.

Buford T. Justice XIX

_Brian wrote: »

But the rules weren’t brought in for lads with common sense.

They were brought in for the lads that just want slurry our regardless. If the rules were removed you’d go back to seeing lads horsing slurry our by pipe on saturated land with the slurry running straight to tie river. Or blowing it across water courses into fields.

The rules seem harsh in good weather but many lads can’t be trusted to use common sense, like the saying, ir turns out it’s not that common after all.

I won't argue with you on that, Brian, but it seems excessive to punish everyone for the actions of a small minority?

It's not like we have a continental climate where the weather can fairly easily be predicted to be wet/dry or hot/cold on a certain day every year. We have a maritime climate where you can't even predict the weather next week, never mind this day next year. It's pointless legislating weather, you take advantage of the conditions where and when the weather is suitable rather than going out on the 16th(here) and firing out 2k gallons/acre regardless just based on a notional date.

It's a noble idea but utterly stupid in its execution, especially when urban waste can continue to be spread regardless of the conditions.

Tbh, in future I will probably spread a few loads under conditions like this, there's less risk of pollution when conditions and growth are good.

_Brian

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I won't argue with you on that, Brian, but it seems excessive to punish everyone for the actions of a small minority?

It's not like we have a continental climate where the weather can fairly easily be predicted to be wet/dry or hot/cold on a certain day every year. We have a maritime climate where you can't even predict the weather next week, never mind this day next year. It's pointless legislating weather, you take advantage of the conditions where and when the weather is suitable rather than going out on the 16th(here) and firing out 2k gallons/acre regardless just based on a notional date.

It's a noble idea but utterly stupid in its execution, especially when urban waste can continue to be spread regardless of the conditions.

Tbh, in future I will probably spread a few loads under conditions like this, there's less risk of pollution when conditions and growth are good.

It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

I appreciate that, I’ve been married a few decades.

alps

whelan2 wrote: »

If you are replacing an existing slurry tower with one the same size do you need planning permission if going for a grant? Or would you get a planning exemption?

I'd get expert advise on that Whelan...

Just a question...do you have to replace the old one? Even if it's not in top operation spec, it could do you on paper as slurry storage capacity in the event that our requirements are increased.

It may not be suitable from a positional point of view, but I'm pretty convinced that we are going to be made install more capacity...

Just read threads above...

alps

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I won't argue with you on that, Brian, but it seems excessive to punish everyone for the actions of a small minority?
.

This is consequence of guys doing the irresponsible, and some of the carry on this winter is going to end up with the responsible majority having to spend again...

Patience is starting to wear thin with those that make a reasonable attempt to comply and respect, and comments like a "busybody reporting runoff" is symptomatic that it's going to be difficult to see an early end to there woes..

whelan2

alps wrote: »

I'd get expert advise on that Whelan...

Just a question...do you have to replace the old one? Even if it's not in top operation spec, it could do you on paper as slurry storage capacity in the event that our requirements are increased.

It may not be suitable from a positional point of view, but I'm pretty convinced that we are going to be made install more capacity...

Just read threads above...

I have another tower, this one the slurry passes through it to get into the bigger one. There's loads of holes in the smaller one. It's 40 years old. Prefer to replace it now with a grant and be able to use it for storage if needs be.

Timmaay

Just back from the BT young scientist, huge number of agriculture related projects (over a 1/3 of all projects I'd guess?), Ireland has a good future in agriculture definitely if the enthusiasm and innovation of all them students can be taped into.

Panch18

Spread yesterday with the dribble bar and cord, and I make no apologies for it

Conditions absolutely perfect

whelan2

Was on a Ryanair flight there now. First time I ever saw anyone buying those scratch cards on board. Lad beside me bought 10 euro worth. Wasn't there a scandal about those a while back?

L1985

Neighbour of ours got reported for spreading last week....would feel sorry for him. I do agree that some guys take the proverbial but I think there needs to be something that when farmers are under pressure there is something they could do to manage r. It's all v well saying that lads have too much stock etc but Years like this you'd be reluctant to move stock as the prices are through the floor. Bit more of a balanced approach would be a better idea. All v well saying have better slurry facilities but that's not cheap and can take a while!!

Odelay

L1985 wrote: »

Neighbour of ours got reported for spreading last week....would feel sorry for him. I do agree that some guys take the proverbial but I think there needs to be something that when farmers are under pressure there is something they could do to manage r. It's all v well saying that lads have too much stock etc but Years like this you'd be reluctant to move stock as the prices are through the floor. Bit more of a balanced approach would be a better idea. All v well saying have better slurry facilities but that's not cheap and can take a while!!

But there is something they can do if under pressure, ask and explain the situation, that’s all they have to do.
If people are asking for permission then there could be grants for extra storage. If there are no requests then the department heads will say no farmers have asked for help, why should we offer help.

charolais0153

L1985 wrote: »

Neighbour of ours got reported for spreading last week....would feel sorry for him. I do agree that some guys take the proverbial but I think there needs to be something that when farmers are under pressure there is something they could do to manage r. It's all v well saying that lads have too much stock etc but Years like this you'd be reluctant to move stock as the prices are through the floor. Bit more of a balanced approach would be a better idea. All v well saying have better slurry facilities but that's not cheap and can take a while!!

A lot of people put the horse before the cart. Buy more cows then buy more facilities. I

L1985

Facilities don't make money -cows in theory do!!!

Hard Knocks

L1985 wrote: »

Neighbour of ours got reported for spreading last week....would feel sorry for him. I do agree that some guys take the proverbial but I think there needs to be something that when farmers are under pressure there is something they could do to manage r. It's all v well saying that lads have too much stock etc but Years like this you'd be reluctant to move stock as the prices are through the floor. Bit more of a balanced approach would be a better idea. All v well saying have better slurry facilities but that's not cheap and can take a while!!

You can always export to another farm (tank) with spare storage

Timmaay

Panch18 wrote: »

Spread yesterday with the dribble bar and cord, and I make no apologies for it

Conditions absolutely perfect

You're late to the the party...

L1985

Odelay wrote: »

But there is something they can do if under pressure, ask and explain the situation, that’s all they have to do.
If people are asking for permission then there could be grants for extra storage. If there are no requests then the department heads will say no farmers have asked for help, why should we offer help.

Honestly i asked our agri advisor last year and he said there were no exceptions given and to try find someone with an empty tank. Does this exist or has anyone ever gotten it?

whelan2

No mention of yer man in the Dail that was looking for the opening date to be moved either.

Base price

L1985 wrote: »

Neighbour of ours got reported for spreading last week....would feel sorry for him. I do agree that some guys take the proverbial but I think there needs to be something that when farmers are under pressure there is something they could do to manage r. It's all v well saying that lads have too much stock etc but Years like this you'd be reluctant to move stock as the prices are through the floor. Bit more of a balanced approach would be a better idea. All v well saying have better slurry facilities but that's not cheap and can take a while!!

I don't feel sorry for him or anyone else that hasn't enough capacity or spreads slurry outside the dates or when it's pissing rain outta the heavens. Sometimes I wonder why myself and OH bothered to invest in a 400k/gal slurry lagoon in 2006/7. We got the 40% grant at the time and I understand that simular grants are still available under the TAMS scheme or 60% if you are a young farmer. IMO there are no excuses.

Buford T. Justice XIX

L1985 wrote: »

Honestly i asked our agri advisor last year and he said there were no exceptions given and to try find someone with an empty tank. Does this exist or has anyone ever gotten it?

You can ask for it but you will be more liable for a cross compliance inspection if you do. A few lads I know did it last year, all had visitors in their yard one morning.

Muckit

whelan2 wrote: »

No mention of yer man in the Dail that was looking for the opening date to be moved either.

Who was that, Michael Fitzmaurice?

Birdnuts

L1985 wrote: »

Facilities don't make money -cows in theory do!!!

So its fine to pollute so long as one is making money?? Sure why have any regs for industry or anything else if thats the case And who pays the tab for contaminated water supplies, fish kills etc?? Its a bit like a garage saying they can make more money by chucking waste oil, tyres etc. in the nearest river instead of disposing of them under the relevant regs!!

L1985

I didn't say that. I said there should be some way for farmers who get genuinely stuck to be able to manage their situation. I think calendar farming doesn't work and has been proven not to work. We got seriously stuck last year and couldn't find a way Out of it. At the 11th hour we found someone who could take some but we had ae seriously stressful days. We are putting in a new slatted shed this year as obviously we were over stocked but to impose penalties with no way out is ludicrous and encourages ppl to do it in a way that may not be as environmentally friendly then if they had just engaged with the dept and spread on land that could take it. No one wants to pollute the environment but not everyone can spend 30k on a shed straight off either and may need to work up to it which takes time and money and stock!!

kevthegaff

whelan2 wrote: »

I have another tower, this one the slurry passes through it to get into the bigger one. There's loads of holes in the smaller one. It's 40 years old. Prefer to replace it now with a grant and be able to use it for storage if needs be.

What type? one here is a Howard holds 170k gallons. In good nick, put in a agitator and new sleuce gate in last 2 years. Was talking to the guy that installed it and he said if joints are grinded and mastic used at joints are good as gold

Ard_MC

L1985 wrote: »

I didn't say that. I said there should be some way for farmers who get genuinely stuck to be able to manage their situation. I think calendar farming doesn't work and has been proven not to work. We got seriously stuck last year and couldn't find a way Out of it. At the 11th hour we found someone who could take some but we had ae seriously stressful days. We are putting in a new slatted shed this year as obviously we were over stocked but to impose penalties with no way out is ludicrous and encourages ppl to do it in a way that may not be as environmentally friendly then if they had just engaged with the dept and spread on land that could take it. No one wants to pollute the environment but not everyone can spend 30k on a shed straight off either and may need to work up to it which takes time and money and stock!!

Were you over the 140 for the yr? U can out winter if your under it.

Lady Haywire

Serious bother here last year with slurry & despite offloading a few tankers full into other tanks, we still had to blow some over the fields on the driest days we could find. But how the hell were we to know it wouldn't be possible to traverse the ground with a tractor in August to get the last part out, or that cattle would be in from the end of Sept/Start of Oct.

We have more than enough storage to do us for a normal winter. But we headed into an obscenely long winter with 3 foot of slurry in the tank. We actually had a CC inspection a week after putting out some of the slurry & we explained it. Fair play to her, she seen we'd tried to keep it to the best ground and didn't plaster it on so let us off with a warning. Neighbours did it too & lake down the road is strictly monitored for water quality, not a single flag was raised about any of it.
Now, we're not planning on ever letting it happen again if at all possible but sometimes you're stuck between a rock & a hard place.

Say my name

Looks like now that the slurry season is opening our high pressure is disappearing.
I forecast that I'll have my tank empty on Sunday morning while ground conditions are still excellent and cover good.

It's all nortwesterlies and low pressures from here on. That Sudden Stratospheric Warming was as sudden as a snail towing a slug listening to whale sounds on a 24 hour loop.
Shock jocks seemingly look to have blown their load too early with talks of beast from the east.

Birdnuts

Say my name wrote: »

Looks like now that the slurry season is opening our high pressure is disappearing.
I forecast that I'll have my tank empty on Sunday morning while ground conditions are still excellent and cover good.

It's all nortwesterlies and low pressures from here on. That Sudden Stratospheric Warming was as sudden as a snail towing a slug listening to whale sounds on a 24 hour loop.
Shock jocks seemingly look to have blown their load too early with talks of beast from the east.

I think what we need is a simple text alert system that will allow slurry spreading when the weather models are indicating suitable conditions out to seven days

Nekarsulm

Birdnuts wrote: »

I think what we need is a simple text alert system that will allow slurry spreading when the weather models are indicating suitable conditions out to seven days

I think that wouldn't work in a country like ours, where there can be vastly different conditions only 20 miles apart.
Look at the end of last summer, heavy rain for days in places, yet a half a county away, farmers desperate for a few mm of rain.
A common sense system whereby the farmer acts responsibly and matches his actions to the conditions even in the winter period (like NI, I believe) and gets severely punished if he acts the gobshyte and just plasters 5000 gallons to the acre with rain coming.

whelan2

kevthegaff wrote: »

What type? one here is a Howard holds 170k gallons. In good nick, put in a agitator and new sleuce gate in last 2 years. Was talking to the guy that installed it and he said if joints are grinded and mastic used at joints are good as gold

It's a simplex tank. Has an agitator and sluice gate. Some of it is like paper atm. Prefer to fix it up and it could be used in a spring like last year. No loans here at the minute. Shouldn't be that dear to get a new one in with a grant

_Brian

Interesting article on “lab grown meat” and some of the issues involved with its production.

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/01/07/viewpoint-lab-grown-meat-isnt-as-clean-as-you-might-think/

I was particularly interested to see that it’s grown from stem cells extracted from beef animals, so it’s not suitable for vegan or vegetarians either, must remember that nugget when the V & V crew are away on a rant about how lab grown meat will replace “real animal” beef.

When the process is described it sounds disgusting