Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Say my name

straight wrote: »

I heard on the news the greens saying they are going to help the farmers by reducing the national herd. Farmers don't make money at the moment so it won't cost them anything she said. She's going to incentivise and retrain us to grow grains and the like. I'm all for it myself as I went miss getting **** and pissed on at 6 in the morning and dealing with the whole animal side of things. I might take up golf with all my spare time. I would have thought tillage was more harmful to what I'm at now but what would I know.

Obviously not a farmer nor business person making a statement like that.

I heard a councillor or somewhat from the Greens as their agricultural advisor on Twitter. He recalled how he went to agricultural college and the advice was to specialize in a given enterprise from his father's mixed enterprise of 10 milking cows, 5 pigs, 10 sheep and land in tillage.
I think his point was he specialized and now he's not farming anymore. He lay his downfall purely on the agricultural college and advise and not himself nor market changes nor dept regulations.

They hate it if they think you make a living from farming.
I see another Green advocate and I think the epa say that no farmer should be allowed have 200 cows! ..

Buford T. Justice XIX

Tonynewholland wrote: »

Are we to harvest these grains or what’s the plan

Like forestry, failed endeavours are the fault of the farmer, the, at best, marginal profits will be heralded as the start of a brave new world.

I wonder if they've done any analysis on the short term costs of growing and harvesting grain in Ireland and the projected 'improvement' in profitability of selling grain into a world market that's saturated with supply. I think we all know the answer to that.

straight

Tonynewholland wrote: »

Are we to harvest these grains or what’s the plan

I guess we'll be finding out in the training course. I hope we don't have to milk them. Fair bit of drainage needed here I'd say. The greens seem very arrogant and superior on the climate/ biodiversity issue. They are self appointed experts. Better mind themselves up on those high horses.

kevthegaff

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Like forestry, failed endeavours are the fault of the farmer, the, at best, marginal profits will be heralded as the start of a brave new world.

I wonder if they've done any analysis on the short term costs of growing and harvesting grain in Ireland and the projected 'improvement' in profitability of selling grain into a world market that's saturated with supply. I think we all know the answer to that.

I would like to see more home grown grain if possible, maybe I'm an optimist

Say my name

kevthegaff wrote: »

I would like to see more home grown grain if possible, maybe I'm an optimist

What would you do with that grain?

What would you do when the merchants bring in boat loads of grain to reduce the price?

There's absolutely nothing stopping anyone from buying seed corn from their merchants and sowing a few acres.

Still optmistic?

Water John

Follow the science, and realise that the science is evolving.
Give a present to a few of those suggesting solutions, a €50 ticket.
https://nots.ie/courses/biofarm-2020-online/

kevthegaff

Say my name wrote: »

What would you do with that grain?

What would you do when the merchants bring in boat loads of grain to reduce the price?

There's absolutely nothing stopping anyone from buying seed corn from their merchants and sowing a few acres.

Still optmistic?

I'm thinking if I can get 20 acres and sow some as straw is getting harder and harder to source. Also land here is hard here to travel on the shoulders for slurry. Nitrates also

straight

kevthegaff wrote: »

I'm thinking if I can get 20 acres and sow some as straw is getting harder and harder to source. Also land here is hard here to travel on the shoulders for slurry. Nitrates also

Check out the cost of spraying. I'd say it would be expensive straw

Say my name

kevthegaff wrote: »

I'm thinking if I can get 20 acres and sow some as straw is getting harder and harder to source. Also land here is hard here to travel on the shoulders for slurry. Nitrates also

You'd want to be using the grain yourself to get the full value.
There's more than yourself thinking that way.

But then if we had some of the defenders of the pure tillage farmer on here it doesn't benefit them.
You'd want the land in a long term lease if exporting fym and slurry.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Say my name wrote: »

You'd want to be using the grain yourself to get the full value.
There's more than yourself thinking that way.

But then if we had some of the defenders of the pure tillage farmer on here it doesn't benefit them.
You'd want the land in a long term lease if exporting fym and slurry.

And bare in mind also that you can only convert 5%, iirc, of your permanent pasture to tillage in any one year?

Having somebody around that will he available to do the spraying when it's needed and at the correct tramline settings and a contractor to harvest the crop as well would be another few considerations.

Base price

jaymla627 wrote: »

Irish samples have been found to contain the product now so they are goosed to put it lightly, cant see the likes of coolmore and the other high end studs contemplating using gain feed again, even farmers should be wary on the livestock side of it with the crap they do be putting into rations

Some more about it today.
https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/agri-business/obrien-warns-of-feed-sagas-massive-ramifications-39588540.html?fbclid=IwAR05JyVAHGdUrkY4tv78qowRdgsc3kwuS0A83ixWHUDM06OqpeOgCYt-MLo

Water John

If doing a tillage crop into a dairy setup, then a crimp crop of pea/grain mix would be the best option if you wanted straw. If you've a diet feeder pop a scoop of the crimp in the mix as part of the TMR, otherwise spread along the feed header as long as every cow has an eating space.

Waffletraktor

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Like forestry, failed endeavours are the fault of the farmer, the, at best, marginal profits will be heralded as the start of a brave new world.

I wonder if they've done any analysis on the short term costs of growing and harvesting grain in Ireland and the projected 'improvement' in profitability of selling grain into a world market that's saturated with supply. I think we all know the answer to that.

Starting off producing at the bottom of the market is a hiding to nothing. Soon enough cheap foreign feeds produced via methods not used inside the Eu will be banned and then pandora’s box is opened regards why abc is ok and xyz isn’t now if you used to use them.

Grueller

Waffletraktor wrote: »

Starting off producing at the bottom of the market is a hiding to nothing. Soon enough cheap foreign feeds produced via methods not used inside the Eu will be banned and then pandora’s box is opened regards why abc is ok and xyz isn’t now if you used to use them.

Will they actually ban them though Waffle.I hope so but am not sure that they will have the guts to throw such a significant cost burden onto consumers.

Water John

An excellent letter with some pertinent points from John Hourican on Agriland.
Teagasc had not problem measuring the downside but never measured the upside to verify the net carbon footprint of farming.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/letter-to-the-editor-irish-farming-needs-a-net-carbon-footprint/

straight

Water John wrote: »

An excellent letter with some pertinent points from John Hourican on Agriland.
Teagasc had not problem measuring the downside but never measured the upside to verify the net carbon footprint of farming.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/letter-to-the-editor-irish-farming-needs-a-net-carbon-footprint/

I haven't read that much sense in a long long time. How is that not just implemented

Water John

This work needs to be comprehensive. Either develop models that can be used as a template, like BER for a house, or a detailed scientific plan of each farm. The former would be the obvious route.

Waffletraktor

Grueller wrote: »

Will they actually ban them though Waffle.I hope so but am not sure that they will have the guts to throw such a significant cost burden onto consumers.

It's already happening really, farming is terrible at letting joe public in on how it's done these days. Easy for those with an agenda as most people's run ins with ag are tractors causing hassle or get off my land!
If glypho was banned how can you allow feed stuffs produced in the America's using it from outside the Eu still be used for instance. Then it becomes those nasty fungicide chems banned last year, if that was banned why are you still using something similar you idiot farmers!

Siamsa Sessions

Water John wrote: »

This work needs to be comprehensive. Either develop models that can be used as a template, like BER for a house, or a detailed scientific plan of each farm. The former would be the obvious route.

Are there models being used in any other country to measure carbon at farm level?

I saw in the IFJ last week that New Zealand is measuring nitrogen losses at farm level now, so maybe some countries already have carbon measurement models for farmers?

The nitrogen article is here (but behind the paywall): https://www.farmersjournal.ie/a-different-path-for-nitrate-losses-572671

Some farmers may lose out and some may gain, but measuring carbon and nitrogen at farm level might be much fairer in the long run.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Are there models being used in any other country to measure carbon at farm level?

I saw in the IFJ last week that New Zealand is measuring nitrogen losses at farm level now, so maybe some countries already have carbon measurement models for farmers?

The nitrogen article is here (but behind the paywall): https://www.farmersjournal.ie/a-different-path-for-nitrate-losses-572671

Some farmers may lose out and some may gain, but measuring carbon and nitrogen at farm level might be much fairer in the long run.

Anyone following David Kerr on twitter can have a look at the article, he posted it earlier today.

Tbh, I'm not sure if I should even post about the links to it tbh.

Sillycave

Anyone have cure/treatment for warts on incalf Heifers?

trixi2011

Herd of a lad using liquid nitrogen on a cotton bud swears by it . I have only used caster or olive oil myself softens them up and they fall off

Siamsa Sessions

Hi all,

Still not 100% committed to milking cows here but I was measuring out some new paddocks in a field over the weekend and would appreciate if anyone here might throw their eye on it - see image attached.

Ballpark figures = 50 cows, 1.5 acres per paddock

The parlour/cubicles is the red dot, roadway is the white line, existing fence is red line and new paddocks would be dotted red lines

Do paddocks 1, 2, and 3 seem too long for cows to walk to the back?

Screen Shot 2020-10-06 at 15.29.10.png

whelan2

straight wrote: »

I was thinking that during milking. I'll give her a bottle of colombias finest coffee in the morning and a shot of eprinex along the back. Stomach worms were high in my herd health report alright but I didn't take any notice. I'll call the vet back next week if no improvement.

How is she now?

Mooooo

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Hi all,

Still not 100% committed to milking cows here but I was measuring out some new paddocks in a field over the weekend and would appreciate if anyone here might throw their eye on it - see image attached.

Ballpark figures = 50 cows, 1.5 acres per paddock

The parlour/cubicles is the red dot, roadway is the white line, existing fence is red line and new paddocks would be dotted red lines

Do paddocks 1, 2, and 3 seem too long for cows to walk to the back?

Screen Shot 2020-10-06 at 15.29.10.png

That's 24 hour paddocks is it? May be worth seeing if you could design with paddocks for 36 hours or at least a mix of 36 and 24 hour if you want. Perhaps make the longer ones into 36 hour paddocks and you could put a small roadway between two of them along the fence line to use in poor weather conditions. Have you water in place?

straight

whelan2 wrote: »

How is she now?

She's a bit better. Eating her nuts and some grass. Came on a small bit in milk. She's not right yet but hopefully she will keep improving.

straight

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Hi all,

Still not 100% committed to milking cows here but I was measuring out some new paddocks in a field over the weekend and would appreciate if anyone here might throw their eye on it - see image attached.

Ballpark figures = 50 cows, 1.5 acres per paddock

The parlour/cubicles is the red dot, roadway is the white line, existing fence is red line and new paddocks would be dotted red lines

Do paddocks 1, 2, and 3 seem too long for cows to walk to the back?

Screen Shot 2020-10-06 at 15.29.10.png

I don't think they're too long at all. I'd say just use pig tail posts for a while and see what suits your system. I had 1.5 acre paddocks here for 50 cows. I increased the cows and took off the middle wires to make them 3 acres. Problem with 1.5 is you either get one grazing or two. With the 3 acres you have more flexibility for different times of the year. You can get 3, 4 or 5 grazings out of them

Siamsa Sessions

straight wrote: »

I don't think they're too long at all. I'd say just use pig tail posts for a while and see what suits your system. I had 1.5 acre paddocks here for 50 cows. I increased the cows and took off the middle wires to make them 3 acres. Problem with 1.5 is you either get one grazing or two. With the 3 acres you have more flexibility for different times of the year. You can get 3, 4 or 5 grazings out of them

Mooooo wrote: »

That's 24 hour paddocks is it? May be worth seeing if you could design with paddocks for 36 hours or at least a mix of 36 and 24 hour if you want. Perhaps make the longer ones into 36 hour paddocks and you could put a small roadway between two of them along the fence line to use in poor weather conditions. Have you water in place?

Thanks for that folks. I will use plenty pig tails and reels for the first year before anything too permanent is put in place.

Re water: there's two troughs in place already but I need to move one of them, and possibly add in a third one too to cover 6 paddocks, if it does end up in 6 paddocks.

alps

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Hi all,

Still not 100% committed to milking cows here but I was measuring out some new paddocks in a field over the weekend and would appreciate if anyone here might throw their eye on it - see image attached.

Ballpark figures = 50 cows, 1.5 acres per paddock

The parlour/cubicles is the red dot, roadway is the white line, existing fence is red line and new paddocks would be dotted red lines

Do paddocks 1, 2, and 3 seem too long for cows to walk to the back?

Screen Shot 2020-10-06 at 15.29.10.png

Your paddocks are too small for 50 cows.

Best results can be got if you size them for 36 hour grazings which will equate to 1Ha in size feeding a cover of 1400kg.

If you redraw tour lines at 1Ha, the shape of you paddocks will square up quiet a bit and will actually look very sweet for on/off grazing on the fringes..

Sillycave

alps wrote: »

Your paddocks are too small for 50 cows.

Best results can be got if you size them for 36 hour grazings which will equate to 1Ha in size feeding a cover of 1400kg.

If you redraw tour lines at 1Ha, the shape of you paddocks will square up quiet a bit and will actually look very sweet for on/off grazing on the fringes..

How do you calculate?