Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Theirs a reckoning coming for all of us next winter and into 2023 with what numbers our farms can actually carry in a basically organic type scenario, it's pretty ludicrous lads get tied up in knots about potential quotas and not been able to milk 400 cows and maybe only been let milk 200 cows, I once worked with a 60 year old ozzie who was managing a dairy farm for a a Chinese backed Australian company in Victoria, 10 years previous he had a 1500 acre dairy farm milking 750 cows, a 3 year drought occurred and in the wind up he ended up having to shoot his last 200 cows and the banks took the farm leaving him penniless and without so much as a roof over his head....

He said to me his biggest mistake was thinking he could keep his numbers up and hold out till the drought broke, if he had culled half the herd the first year when they where worth a couple of hundred bucks as canner cows and used this to buy in feed for the remaining cows he would of got through it, we have been so insulated from a event like the above in Ireland lads thought processes at the minute could never fathom a event like this happening here, but if these big herds go on a wing and a prayer reckoning the co-op will find them meal and fertiliser to keep the show going their is going to be some fallout for the Irish dairy industry

For anyone that’s thinking of building etc is it easy get quotes and how long are they valid for ….I’m thinking of doing a job on a hay shed ,small extension …Yorkshire boarding sliding doors and set it up for an auto calf feeder …..wouldn’t be a huge spend….but with way inputs are and everything so volatile I’m in 2 minds

I'm picking out bulls for AI these days. Bit of a head wreck of a job. Usually breed for a bit of type, bit of EBI, bit of proven, bit of genomic.

I have a ZSR heifer into the parlour this evening and she is some looker. Teat placement alone is just perfection. Alot to be said for the proven bulls. 90+ reliability.

Can’t see how you could build anything this year. Price of diesel alone for machinery is enough to make it unviable. We were planning on building a house but hard to see how it’s feasible

Build away, sure why not. Keep the young lad interested. Good facilities is never a waste. Builders might be easier to deal with.

Gone for a bit of mix this year. Been using a lot of production and type the last few years but going cross crossing high ebi back on those progeny to inject percentages into them.

Anything lacking volume getting

fr4368

fr4573

s3579

fr4513

fr6772

Anything needing solids percentages getting

fr6981

fr7152

fr6853

frfr4547

fr7368

Mainly sexed.

will use a few fr7131, Munster flechviek and fr6268 on repeats etc depending on needs- two technicians coming here so plenty choice. Can get confusing with repeats but we get over it.

Surely it won’t be allowed come to that? I’ve been watching the reaction of countries around Europe and none have come out with statements of support like Ireland has. In fairness the Irish government are the ones culpable for the rapid expansion of dairy so they must carry the can for unforeseen consequences. As it stands they were very quick to announce an aid package for the end of this month…is Irish dairy too big to fail? Probably.

Every year the agriculture budget is underspent. What about the money held back each year from bps for emergencies

No results for the last 3 collections and still waiting on the 4th one that was taken on Saturday

Ye same here no results for 2 of last 5 collections, I also have big reservations about the accuracy of some of the results..like my milk urea going from 22 to 36 from 1 2 day collection to the next, with same meal and silage..no grass

Milk recording results rarely tally with the bulk tank on the days they are done aswell..don't know which is wrong there.

Be getting on to the milk managers to sort it

I heard a teagasc podcast today. They were saying it costs 1650 to keep a cow per year and obviously that will be higher this year. I was getting the impression that she was suggesting that less cows, more milk was the way forward. I'd say she's after been sent on an intensive training course in Moore park or something to convince her to tow the line. 😜

Three lorries gone from here in the last three weeks anyway

Great trade for beef calves, flying out of the shed

Do high yielding or high solids suit prices above 40 cent? I meant which type of cow