Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

cosatron

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

I remember you saying that dairy farmers would be better off with poor milk prices to save them from themselves.

Sure all you have to is check out the pedigree sales. Now the stock are very good but the prices are obscene.

straight

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

+1.
Thing is, it’ll get worse. Farms will have to get bigger to survive. It’s always been so.

I won't go past 100 cows. If it's not viable at that for my children I'd prefer to see them in a good job and a few acres for hobby farming. Volume washer broken this evening. There's always something. Dairy farmers are a dying breed around here. As lads die off there is nobody to replace them. Most of them educated their family and they're gone away working and wouldn't come back.

green daries

straight wrote: »

I won't go past 100 cows. If it's not viable at that for my children I'd prefer to see them in a good job and a few acres for hobby farming. Volume washer broken this evening. There's always something. Dairy farmers are a dying breed around here. As lads die off there is nobody to replace them. Most of them educated their family and they're gone away working and wouldn't come back.

It's amazing how ten years ago dairy farming was on its last legs in this country as a job to go into even with a well set up farm they were walking away from it but now they are falling over themselves to get at it around this area I think maybe another ten at a stretch and they will be like your area walking away again

Wildsurfer

Any chance we could start a new Dairy chitchat thread for optimistic dairy farmers. Reading through all this negativity is getting me down. I'd hate to see what the merchant's of doom would be saying if it was actually a bad price year!

mahoney_j

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Any chance we could start a new Dairy chitchat thread for optimistic dairy farmers. Reading through all this negativity is getting me down. I'd hate to see what the merchant's of doom would be saying if it was actually a bad price year!

No offence but don’t read it then ,personally I have lots of issues with our coop snd dairy industry ...what sector dosnt ???a good diverse range of opinions here we all don’t agree .be boring if we did

green daries

mahoney_j wrote: »

No offence but don’t read it then ,personally I have lots of issues with our coop snd dairy industry ...what sector dosnt ???a good diverse range of opinions here we all don’t agree .be boring if we did

Start away I'm a very optimistic person and farmer i also make a profit pay my bills service my debts. but... there's no point in being taken for a fool cute fella round here always said just because your making a living fro. Working hard doesn't mean you need to let someone else take the cream of your milk

green daries

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Any chance we could start a new Dairy chitchat thread for optimistic dairy farmers. Reading through all this negativity is getting me down. I'd hate to see what the merchant's of doom would be saying if it was actually a bad price year!

When you start a new one ( anyone can I assume) make it obvious for me ......I'm not the quickest

mahoney_j

alps wrote: »

At 35c, dairy farmers should be able to compensate themselves properly....If a dairy farmer still falling behind this year, they really got to look closer at their system.

This year should throw off enough to complete repairs and maintenance, to buildings, land and machinery, that may have been left undone for a few years. That's the nature of volatility...

I see many farmers blowing the surplus already, and it's going well beyond the R&M budget...machinery, cow collars, fancy bits and pieces that the looked forward to getting once budget allowed. Trouble is, many have just built in an increased layer of costs, and when price goes down again...things will be tighter than before.

I'm fully of the view that the coops could return another 2c at the moment, but inside the home gate, I'd be inclined to make sure my operation pulls adequate profit at 35c..

Last paragraph is a good one ,I’m an Arrabawn supplier we’ve limped through a very bumpy last 8 months ,numerous fook ups within the coop management and board and no action or anyone been held accountable .....easiest thing do is just hold the milk supplier accountable with a reduced milk price unreflective of our product mix or market returns ....they get away with it because suppliers aren’t standing up and taking them to task ....a milk price of 34.5 cent a litre means a lot have there eye off the ball because with good ,even average solids the cheques look good
Always on for controlling what’s inside our door ,costs have jumped this year tho with higher feed,fertiliser ,fuel costs ....didn’t even mention things like steel timber etc

el Fenomeno

I'm going to find like a massive city head who's never stepped foot on a farm, but I grew up near a few and there was always cattle in the fields surrounding or house.

Anyway, I can recall what a normal cow "moo" sounds like.

Out for a walk this evening and heard this particularly high pitched one. Is that normal?

https://streamable.com/th3d20

green daries

mahoney_j wrote: »

Last paragraph is a good one ,I’m an Arrabawn supplier we’ve limped through a very bumpy last 8 months ,numerous fook ups within the coop management and board and no action or anyone been held accountable .....easiest thing do is just hold the milk supplier accountable with a reduced milk price unreflective of our product mix or market returns ....they get away with it because suppliers aren’t standing up and taking them to task ....a milk price of 34.5 cent a litre means a lot have there eye off the ball because with good ,even average solids the cheques look good
Always on for controlling what’s inside our door ,costs have jumped this year tho with higher feed,fertiliser ,fuel costs ....didn’t even mention things like steel timber etc

Yes mahoney_j it's not an acceptable way of operating in any other business its shocking what has went on recently in Arrabawn but its a different coop every couple of years farmers in general are well fit to mind there businesses but not if the goalposts are constantly changed glanbia are absolutely playing fook with the milk price in Ireland
It's far too quiet farmers are if coops were more accountable it would put a lot more money in my pocket

Say my name

el Fenomeno wrote: »

I'm going to find like a massive city head who's never stepped foot on a farm, but I grew up near a few and there was always cattle in the fields surrounding or house.

Anyway, I can recall what a normal cow "moo" sounds like.

Out for a walk this evening and heard this particularly high pitched one. Is that normal?

https://streamable.com/th3d20

That's a bull "moo".

He's saying "hello ladies. I'm only a small chap but I can do the job. And to that fecker across the ditch. Feck off.."

Totally normal.

mahoney_j

green daries wrote: »

Yes mahoney_j it's not an acceptable way of operating in any other business its shocking what has went on recently in Arrabawn but its a different coop every couple of years farmers in general are well fit to mind there businesses but not if the goalposts are constantly changed glanbia are absolutely playing fook with the milk price in Ireland
It's far too quiet farmers are if coops were more accountable it would put a lot more money in my pocket

People really need to take more interest in what’s happening in there coops ,management snd boards have got an armchair ride for over a year now ,no public meetings and zoom snd teams meetings are pretty useless when it comes to thrashing our real issues
Root and branch changes needed ,ornua upped the processing charge to 7 cent last year lots didn’t realise this and went through without any issue ,milk prices were cut far more than they should of been at the start of the pandemic ,saw the logic at the time in case the whole thing tanked ,it didn’t snd rebounded quickly ....price to farmer hasn’t tho

straight

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Any chance we could start a new Dairy chitchat thread for optimistic dairy farmers. Reading through all this negativity is getting me down. I'd hate to see what the merchant's of doom would be saying if it was actually a bad price year!

Some people are happy being a doormat, working for peanuts, being taken advantage of. Happy enough at it most of the time myself to be honest. I do feel sorry for the guys getting led up the garden path to highly profitable dairy farming though. I think it's important to keep debt to a minimum and I worry for some of these dairy heros out there. Whats that crowd - positive farmers or something? Are they still going

green daries

straight wrote: »

Some people are happy being a doormat, working for peanuts, being taken advantage of. Happy enough at it most of the time myself to be honest. I do feel sorry for the guys getting led up the garden path to highly profitable dairy farming though. I think it's important to keep debt to a minimum and I worry for some of these dairy heros out there. Whats that crowd - positive farmers or something? Are they still going

There not on here anyways by all accounts......

older by the day

straight wrote: »

Some people are happy being a doormat, working for peanuts, being taken advantage of. Happy enough at it most of the time myself to be honest. I do feel sorry for the guys getting led up the garden path to highly profitable dairy farming though. I think it's important to keep debt to a minimum and I worry for some of these dairy heros out there. Whats that crowd - positive farmers or something? Are they still going

Don't be worrying about the lads who have exploded in numbers the past few years, if it goes bust its the contractors and merchants that suffer. They eventually gets paid after a few years when things pick up (sometimes)

Green&Red

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Any chance we could start a new Dairy chitchat thread for optimistic dairy farmers. Reading through all this negativity is getting me down. I'd hate to see what the merchant's of doom would be saying if it was actually a bad price year!

K.G.

Just to change the subject a little,our place is loosely in 3 blocks and and the cows go different roads to them.but the cows themselves seem to know when each block is finished and its time to change direction and will sort of line up to go to a different block after milking .just wondering does this happen everywhere else

Gillespy

Happens here all the time. Theyre a good judge, usually starts a day or two before being finished using that road. Can be useful at times if you forget do the gates or gaps yourself.

Castlekeeper

Gillespy wrote: »

Happens here all the time. Theyre a good judge, usually starts a day or two before being finished using that road. Can be useful at times if you forget do the gates or gaps yourself.

Yes indeed, it's an awful failing in our generation. I don't know about other parts of the country, but around here no one ever left a gate or a wire the wrong way long ago...

Gillespy

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Yes indeed, it's an awful failing in our generation. I don't know about other parts of the country, but around here no one ever left a gate or a wire the wrong way long ago...

No idea what you're trying to say. Have gates at different points on the main farm road to hold them after milking, sometimes they're not closed and the cows will still stop there knowing that's where they are due next.

green daries

Gillespy wrote: »

No idea what you're trying to say. Have gates at different points on the main farm road to hold them after milking, sometimes they're not closed and the cows will still stop there knowing that's where they are due next.

I may be wrong but I don't think he's having a pop at you
I read it as light hearted but doctors differ etcetera

alps

straight wrote: »

What is proper compensation in your opinion. I used to earn 60k in my 39 hour week with no major hassle or weather issues or unforeseeable risk like animal disease. Or indeed my own health. If I was sick or broke a bone I got sick pay. I could close the door every evening leaving work and had no worries driving home. I got holiday pay and I had paid breaks. I now work 80 hours a week on average throughout the year. I've my place well set up now from cash flow and with no borrowings. Think a fair wage for me would be 100k minimum per annum plus 150 euro per acre for every acre I own. Also 20% of turnover for continued reinvestment and about 15k a year for casual labour. Highly profitable dairy farming my eyeball. Sick of the constant dirt being flung at me from salesmen, teagasc, ifj about my large profits. If I let the place to some clown for 300 per acre and went back to the job I'd be better off.

Most people would be better off, leading for 300 (tax free) and going back to work.

Without knowing your scale of operation, but allowing 15k and if you were operating 100 cows from 100 acres, you should be targeting 80k before tax from 2200 hours..

Castlekeeper

Gillespy wrote: »

No idea what you're trying to say. Have gates at different points on the main farm road to hold them after milking, sometimes they're not closed and the cows will still stop there knowing that's where they are due next.

Just that the odd time I make a cock up, the comments I get from my 80something yo father can be pretty choice, and I don't think I'm the only one, I think he still sees me in a school uniform sometimes. He has a great view of the farm from his kitchen window, thankfully there are no roads involved.
Long may they continue.

Castlekeeper

alps wrote: »

Most people would be better off, leading for 300 (tax free) and going back to work.

Without knowing your scale of operation, but allowing 15k and if you were operating 100 cows from 100 acres, you should be targeting 80k before tax from 2200 hours..

A bit of job satisfaction goes a long way too.

GrasstoMilk

K.G. wrote: »

Just to change the subject a little,our place is loosely in 3 blocks and and the cows go different roads to them.but the cows themselves seem to know when each block is finished and its time to change direction and will sort of line up to go to a different block after milking .just wondering does this happen everywhere else

Yep, the cows can pretty much see the whole MP from the road leaving yard
If the first row of cows realises they're going back to a paddock to finish it out they stand there and the rest just hang around the yard road way
Real PIA when ever they're full and content

JustJoe7240

straight wrote: »

What is proper compensation in your opinion. I used to earn 60k in my 39 hour week with no major hassle or weather issues or unforeseeable risk like animal disease. Or indeed my own health. If I was sick or broke a bone I got sick pay. I could close the door every evening leaving work and had no worries driving home. I got holiday pay and I had paid breaks. I now work 80 hours a week on average throughout the year. I've my place well set up now from cash flow and with no borrowings. Think a fair wage for me would be 100k minimum per annum plus 150 euro per acre for every acre I own. Also 20% of turnover for continued reinvestment and about 15k a year for casual labour. Highly profitable dairy farming my eyeball. Sick of the constant dirt being flung at me from salesmen, teagasc, ifj about my large profits. If I let the place to some clown for 300 per acre and went back to the job I'd be better off.

Why don't you rent it to "some clown" then?

cjpm

Considering building a shed for machinery 9 months of the year and calves for 3 months.



40ft portal frame, 6 bays long (15ft bays). 16ft at the eves. 8ft side sheeting and 8 ft walls on 3 sides.



2 large doors on the long side for machinery access / to facilitate cleaning out.



The maximum area of the shed used for calves would be 50%.


What is the best approach for ventilation? Opinions welcome

straight

JustJoe7240 wrote: »

Why don't you rent it to "some clown" then?

I'm not in it for the money. I'd say most farmers aren't but I feel for those being led up the garden path in the hope of high profits. There's some farmers then that think they're Jeff bezos of Elon musk or the like. My advice to anyone is don't farm for the money alone. Its a lifestyle first and foremost.

tismesoitis

cjpm wrote: »

Considering building a shed for machinery 9 months of the year and calves for 3 months.



40ft portal frame, 6 bays long (15ft bays). 16ft at the eves. 8ft side sheeting and 8 ft walls on 3 sides.



2 large doors on the long side for machinery access / to facilitate cleaning out.



The maximum area of the shed used for calves would be 50%.


What is the best approach for ventilation? Opinions welcome

Close it up fully and install one of those ventilation tubes over the area the calves will be in. This allows you to control the climate in calf shed.

straight

Lyons notes


https://www.ucd.ie/lyonsfarm/t4media/31-05-2021%20%20Lyons%20Systems%20Research%20Herd%20Notes.pdf