Dairy Chitchat 3

Gawddawggonnit

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

25 mm of rain here since the rain started at 7pm. Cows in tonight and doubt they'll be out tomorrow.
50% grazed and delighted I grazed as much as I did when I had the chance.

Same here and a promise of another 30+mm today. Great time to be getting it though. Cows won’t be coming in because it’s very mild.
Spilling rain now so it’s started again for the day. Glad I didn’t spread any N on crops.

Base price

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Get to own your nitrate derogation now...for future trading opportunities.
Same thing really.

*Are you sure about non residents claiming the children’s allowance?
The first letter we received after emigrating was to inform that the payment was lost.

Children's allowance will be paid to dependent children of EU/EEA nationals who are working (paying contributions) in Ireland whilst their children reside in their home country. The payment maybe full or partial as it depends on social allowance schemes in the other country.

GrasstoMilk

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Same.
Sweet old dear...

What's the issue?
If she's willing to contribute why would I stop her?

Buford T. Justice XIX

Some cows would try your sanity. I had a cow start getting sick to calve in the cubicles last night after milking and I tried to move her over to the calving pens, where she has gone before and walked through numerous times before but she flat out refused.

So I left her there and said I'd come back later and move her with a bit of help or calve her in the cubicles. When I came back, she was crossways in the cubicle and both legs out. So I straighten her up and start calving her with the jack.

Not happy to be lying down, she stood and I worked away, a good bit easier now as I had more room. Then she jumps forward and ends up lying on her head with the jack jammed against the cubicle. Luckily, I could release the jack and pull the calf with just the ropes. Then up to the front of the cubicle and push her back into the cubicle.

No interest in the calf, she walked straight into the calving pen and out into the parlour to be milked.

She's some plank:mad:

straight

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Some cows would try your sanity. I had a cow start getting sick to calve in the cubicles last night after milking and I tried to move her over to the calving pens, where she has gone before and walked through numerous times before but she flat out refused.

So I left her there and said I'd come back later and move her with a bit of help or calve her in the cubicles. When I came back, she was crossways in the cubicle and both legs out. So I straighten her up and start calving her with the jack.

Not happy to be lying down, she stood and I worked away, a good bit easier now as I had more room. Then she jumps forward and ends up lying on her head with the jack jammed against the cubicle. Luckily, I could release the jack and pull the calf with just the ropes. Then up to the front of the cubicle and push her back into the cubicle.

No interest in the calf, she walked straight into the calving pen and out into the parlour to be milked.

She's some plank:mad:

Sounds familiar. Patience of a saint required.

wrangler

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

What's the issue?
If she's willing to contribute why would I stop her?

I needn't tell you it won't be happening here

GrasstoMilk

wrangler wrote: »

I needn't tell you it won't be happening here

But maybe you have your land leased on a longer term? If I had this for longer than the 5 years id have no issue spending money on it ( doing it any way) we refenced the whole place, cut back ditches, sprayed all the weeds and brought the indexs up. If we had lost it this year it would have been brilliant for the next lad.and all the cost on us!
I've never yet been afforded the opportunity of getting land that's in great condition with nothing to be done on it, nor have my parents.

wrangler

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

But maybe you have your land leased on a longer term? If I had this for longer than the 5 years id have no issue spending money on it ( doing it any way) we refenced the whole place, cut back ditches, sprayed all the weeds and brought the indexs up. If we had lost it this year it would have been brilliant for the next lad.and all the cost on us!
I've never yet been afforded the opportunity of getting land that's in great condition with nothing to be done on it, nor have my parents.

I'm sure the state of the farm was reflected in the rent, but I see your point,
It's a ten year lease here, very early stages

alps

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Landlord of ours contributes spray, lime and grass seed. Depends on land lord and the deal struck

Not renting from Wrangler so?

Reggie.

alps wrote: »

Not renting from Wrangler so?

GrasstoMilk

anyone have an idea what freeze branding is costing?
3 numbers

simx

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

anyone have an idea what freeze branding is costing?
3 numbers

€4 I think €5.50 for 4

Gawddawggonnit

Cocksfoot and hybrid clover.
54mm since yesterday morning.

visatorro

https://twitter.com/visatorro/status/1103244163569631233?s=20

Timmaay

Just looking at my protein results, 10 of March last Yr, 3.04, cows in full time, maize all gone, and only silage I had left was wet enough stuff! Today's protein 3.70. What a difference an easy winter/spring makes!

White Clover

Timmaay wrote: »

Just looking at my protein results, 10 of March last Yr, 3.04, cows in full time, maize all gone, and only silage I had left was wet enough stuff! Today's protein 3.70. What a difference an easy winter/spring makes!

You won't be complaining so Tim when the rest of us are enjoying the hot summer ahead !!

alps

Milk collection back over 2l per cow yesterday. Now we have changed from day and night grazing to being in at night. But, milkman left a note on the tank to get a seal for the connection to his hose. There was a share of froth on the ground outside after the collection. Got a seal, and were back in milk.

I'm wondering of frothy milk would register more litres through the meter?

Might have to sabotage the seal again..

straight

Back in full time here and production has taken a hit. Would maize be the best thing to have for this situation? Would I need a diet feeder to feed it? Only ever feed silage and nuts here.

Timmaay

straight wrote: »

Back in full time here and production has taken a hit. Would maize be the best thing to have for this situation? Would I need a diet feeder to feed it? Only ever feed silage and nuts here.

Cows getting 5grabs of maize in the feed barrier and a feed trailer at the min (need the feed trailer to give them a space each), never had a diet feeder and no plans on getting one, only a 30k extra complication that will take up time and burn more diesel on me.

charolais0153

Timmaay wrote: »

Cows getting 5grabs of maize in the feed barrier and a feed trailer at the min (need the feed trailer to give them a space each), never had a diet feeder and no plans on getting one, only a 30k extra complication that will take up time and burn more diesel on me.

Id say if you produced an extra half a litre/day/cow. You would more than cover the cost. Might be better than than palm kernel and stuff like that.
Dont knock it till you try it

straight

Timmaay wrote: »

Cows getting 5grabs of maize in the feed barrier and a feed trailer at the min (need the feed trailer to give them a space each), never had a diet feeder and no plans on getting one, only a 30k extra complication that will take up time and burn more diesel on me.

Ya, machinery gives me anxiety. Just give them half maize / half silage at the feed barrier will be my hope for next year if I can get somewhere to grow maize.

Timmaay

charolais0153 wrote: »

Id say if you produced an extra half a litre/day/cow. You would more than cover the cost. Might be better than than palm kernel and stuff like that.
Dont knock it till you try it

120 cows here so 60extra litres a day, or call it 25euros. I'd happily sacrifice that 25e to avoid having to tie myself down to the complication of mixing a diet feeder every day. The only actual advantage to a diet feeder here would be a slightly more consistent diet.

Say my name

Who knew that unprocessed whole milk was actually good for you.

I mean that totally means that all that fancy stainless steel and supposedly adding value to milk is pointless and potentially harmful to the product.

http://milkgenomics.org/article/dairy-battles-bad-bacteria/?mc_cid=7a84cade9d&mc_eid=e44e95cc35

blackdog1

Diet feeder let's me feed crimp that cost significantly less than straight meal. Also let's you put straw into a cows diet easily. I'm mixing a diet every 2 days atm for cows when they are out on grass and putting out half one day and the other half the next. Let's me have an easy day every second day. Cows doing 29litres @ 4.23 fat, 3.5 protein. (winter and spring calvers). You don't need one if your spring calving but they're benefits associated with them and if used right can pay for themselves. Plenty of reasonable 2nd hand one around too.

whelan2

Very good article on contaminated milk powder causing bloat in calves http://www.lornasixsmith.com/the-mystery-of-the-bloat-inducing-milk-powder/

Water John

Say My Name, haven't read the article fully yet, but make the point that their is some of the opinion that homogenising the fat, which has the effect of making smaller globules is actually not that good for us. We absorb more of the fat.

charolais0153

blackdog1 wrote: »

Diet feeder let's me feed crimp that cost significantly less than straight meal. Also let's you put straw into a cows diet easily. I'm mixing a diet every 2 days atm for cows when they are out on grass and putting out half one day and the other half the next. Let's me have an easy day every second day. Cows doing 29litres @ 4.23 fat, 3.5 protein. (winter and spring calvers). You don't need one if your spring calving but they're benefits associated with them and if used right can pay for themselves. Plenty of reasonable 2nd hand one around too.

Whats the cost of buyimg crimp in august for a year vs paying 60 days after purchase?
Dp you have to feed a protein balancer also

Say my name

Water John wrote: »

Say My Name, haven't read the article fully yet, but make the point that their is some of the opinion that homogenising the fat, which has the effect of making smaller globules is actually not that good for us. We absorb more of the fat.

Straight from the tank. Lad.

blackdog1

blackdog1 wrote:

Diet feeder let's me feed crimp that cost significantly less than straight meal. Also let's you put straw into a cows diet easily. I'm mixing a diet every 2 days atm for cows when they are out on grass and putting out half one day and the other half the next. Let's me have an easy day every second day. Cows doing 29litres @ 4.23 fat, 3.5 protein. (winter and spring calvers). You don't need one if your spring calving but they're benefits associated with them and if used right can pay for themselves. Plenty of reasonable 2nd hand one too about.

charolais0153 wrote:

Whats the cost of buyimg crimp in august for a year vs paying 60 days after purchase? Dp you have to feed a protein balancer also

Only need a protein balancer when on silage not on grass. I get a wheat maize mix. This year it was around 180 tonne. If you bought when wheat was crazy you'd be paying 200. Normal year it can range from 150-165 tonne. It all depends on the price of wheat and maize at the time of purchasing. Compare that to a good 16% protein ration at the moment that's costing 280 a tonne..

Timmaay

Blackdog, that's all got me thinking more here, in my case let's assume I'd use the diet feeder for 100days of the year, call it 10e tractor/diesel running cost and 10e labour (30mins of my 20e/hr time), that's 2k/yr, then call it 3k depreciation/running costs on the feeder itself every Yr. 5k it would cost me. But I'd save 80e/ton by feeding straights instead of nuts. The aim in my spring system is no more than 600kg/cow fed, or 72e tons, so that would be 5750e saved on feed. So really only a break even in my situation, to complicate my system. Obviously for someone like you feeding say 1.5tons/cow them sums change substantially (let's call it 14k saved in feed costs, and say the diet feeder runs for 200days, so 7k running cost)

Base price

whelan2 wrote: »

Very good article on contaminated milk powder causing bloat in calves http://www.lornasixsmith.com/the-mystery-of-the-bloat-inducing-milk-powder/

As a farmer who buys calves ex dairy farmers, I would be more concerned about her reference to repeated instances of Cryptosporidium parvum within the herd.
I have previously posted here on F&F that IMO it should be a notifiable disease.

Timmaay

A 2am C section, hmmm just when I thought I was having such a handy 2019 calving season ha.

Mooooo

Last jersey calf and it's a bull. The 5 heifer calves are way bigger than him and he's not much ahead of time. Still he's out of the youngest heifer and she hardly noticed the calving which was the point at the time of serving. Fr Calf born this morning is easily double the size if not more

whelan2

Timmaay wrote: »

A 2am C section, hmmm just when I thought I was having such a handy 2019 calving season ha.

What bull was she in calf to? Hope everything went ok

freedominacup

blackdog1 wrote: »

Only need a protein balancer when on silage not on grass. I get a wheat maize mix. This year it was around 180 tonne. If you bought when wheat was crazy you'd be paying 200. Normal year it can range from 150-165 tonne. It all depends on the price of wheat and maize at the time of purchasing. Compare that to a good 16% protein ration at the moment that's costing 280 a tonne..

I found I couldn't get real performance from the cows without ensuring there was a good protein source in their diet. Try to make sure that there's the bones of a kg of soya going in the first part of the year. 60:40 spring to autumn milking currently. 32l at 3.4 and 4.2 and climbing. Need to adjust things slightly as bf is dropping too fast.

Gawddawggonnit

blackdog1 wrote: »

Diet feeder let's me feed crimp that cost significantly less than straight meal. Also let's you put straw into a cows diet easily. I'm mixing a diet every 2 days atm for cows when they are out on grass and putting out half one day and the other half the next. Let's me have an easy day every second day. Cows doing 29litres @ 4.23 fat, 3.5 protein. (winter and spring calvers). You don't need one if your spring calving but they're benefits associated with them and if used right can pay for themselves. Plenty of reasonable 2nd hand one around too.

+1.
Would you average 29litres throughout the year Blackdog?

Gawddawggonnit

freedominacup wrote: »

I found I couldn't get real performance from the cows without ensuring there was a good protein source in their diet. Try to make sure that there's the bones of a kg of soya going in the first part of the year. 60:40 spring to autumn milking currently. 32l at 3.4 and 4.2 and climbing. Need to adjust things slightly as bf is dropping too fast.

Is soya that important?
I know a guy feeding Rapeseed at up to 6kg/hd. Totally maize based diet.

Lash on the fibre if bf is in bother.
Would it be worth a call to the Coops/merchants that have a heap of Lucerne hay in stock? Good source of protein and an excellent source of fibre...if it could be bought at the right price.
1kg or more per day...should be better value than those straw pellets.

Gawddawggonnit

It’s been spilling rain here again since yesterday and temps are down to 12*.
Cows back 4L since they went out which is just too much...starting to have resonances of spring ‘18.
Back in tomorrow once the paddock they’re in is cleaned out.

yosemitesam1

charolais0153 wrote: »

Whats the cost of buyimg crimp in august for a year vs paying 60 days after purchase?
Dp you have to feed a protein balancer also

Crimped grain is more digestible and higher in energy also. Can't remember exactly by how much, a few percent anyway

yosemitesam1

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Is soya that important?
I know a guy feeding Rapeseed at up to 6kg/hd. Totally maize based diet.

.

Grass protein maxes out at around 2-2.2kg digestible protein. About enough for 28l at best

jaymla627

freedominacup wrote: »

I found I couldn't get real performance from the cows without ensuring there was a good protein source in their diet. Try to make sure that there's the bones of a kg of soya going in the first part of the year. 60:40 spring to autumn milking currently. 32l at 3.4 and 4.2 and climbing. Need to adjust things slightly as bf is dropping too fast.

Lactaid from agri-loyd would be a serious benefit re keeping butterfat and protein up, keep the rumen working seriously well and only costs circa 10 cent a cow a day if you buy a pallet

awaywithyou

jaymla627 wrote: »

Lactaid from agri-loyd would be a serious benefit re keeping butterfat and protein up, keep the rumen working seriously well and only costs circa 10 cent a cow a day if you buy a pallet

used a small bit of it... not gone on it... tis a stone mad price... 2,500euros for a pallet... Mad

ur kilkenny arent you?? twas a lad from there that called... if he wasnt a former kk hurler i would have told him to take a hike....!

jaymla627

awaywithyou wrote: »

used a small bit of it... not gone on it... tis a stone mad price... 2,500euros for a pallet... Mad

ur kilkenny arent you?? twas a lad from there that called... if he wasnt a former kk hurler i would have told him to take a hike....!

No Laois, a pallet does 150 cows nearly 4 months to be fair though, definitely working here, took it out as a expirement when housed and bf dropped dramatically and cows started throwing up cud balls once put back on it bf went up and cud balls stopped, silage wasn’t changed

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

What bull was she in calf to? Hope everything went ok

Fr, I handled her and something felt odd, legs very stiff and head right back, calf was well dead, and definitely not coming out the back, when we got him out the side the head was totally turned, and calf totally rigid from being dead a while. Cow seems grand however, 1st c section here in I'd guess 15yrs or more, just put it down to luck.

whelan2

Timmaay wrote: »

Fr, I handled her and something felt odd, legs very stiff and head right back, calf was well dead, and definitely not coming out the back, when we got him out the side the head was totally turned, and calf totally rigid from being dead a while. Cow seems grand however, 1st c section here in I'd guess 15yrs or more, just put it down to luck.

Would it be schmallemberg?

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

Would it be schmallemberg?

Any easy way to tell? Calf wasn't really deformed at all, just the head turned totally back. We have had over 70 calf here without anything like this so fair, I would of thought schmallemberg would effect more?

blackdog1

Once I get the cows out I just pull back on protein. Id be afraid that pushing the high yielders too hard would burn them out and cause various issues including feet problem. This might change when I have feed to yield put in as I can taylor each cows requirements but at the moment I'm just batch feeding.





No around 26. I feed well on the 2 shoulders but during the summer they are just on 3kg a cow. As I said above yield will improve when I get in fty.. At the moment I'm changing my whole in parlour feeding system and bin shop hopefully not long now. I could buffer all year but the body and mind needs a break.

GrasstoMilk

Read our tb test today. All clean bar a few with some top lumps.
Vet says that's fine, see you next year.

Get a call after dinner saying we're restricted.
A cow died on March 1st and the dept are saying they haven't yet recieved any paper work. Got in touch with the Knackery and told it's all sent off daily to the dept. They just obviously haven't processed it yet

whelan2

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Read our tb test today. All clean bar a few with some top lumps.
Vet says that's fine, see you next year.

Get a call after dinner saying we're restricted.
A cow died on March 1st and the dept are saying they haven't yet recieved any paper work. Got in touch with the Knackery and told it's all sent off daily to the dept. They just obviously haven't processed it yet

Did you look her up on agfood? Do you have the paperwork from the knacker, photocopy it and send it to dept

GrasstoMilk

whelan2 wrote: »

Did you look her up on agfood? Do you have the paperwork from the knacker, photocopy it and send it to dept

Didn't no, as haven't been kn the house today.
Friday evening now so can't do much till Monday. Knackery adamant it has been sent on and even said to me that the women from the dept that rang her was very rude even though the issue is supposed to be on the depts side