The dairy boom.Can we officially say its over

Not sure. Went back through my emails but can't go back far enough to find it (eircom.net days). Not many lads farming in company at that time tbf, but we formed a purchasing group (ltd company) back around 2001, so had been introduced to the form some time at some stage after that. Think it really came into its own when the chit hit the fan around '07, and the more important target for it may have been for builders.

I was talking to a dairy lad recently and his Teagasc advisor told him that on many farms at the minute it is costing upto 38 cent to produce 1l of milk. Sure that couldn't be sustainable.

I know alot of farmers now are telling me its costing them to produce milk.

One lad was told in January by the accountant that he needs 50c a litre to break even this year

I wouldn’t say it’s far off it. Costs are high. Meal for the year will cost more than it did last year for sane amount fed, electricity and contractor prices are up where they were last year plus many more

the greenfield was 33 Cpl with everything costed back when it was in operation

As a lad said to me in Glanbias yard yesterday as I was getting some fertiliser. They’ve made their bed now and may sleep in it. Stupid borrowed money spent like it was going out of fashion.

Hurlers on the ditch

Is that for finishers or for store cattle?

Has he costed the probability of a 60k plus hit next year having to rear their x-bred bull calves I'd wonder, rambling on about extending a few calf pens ffs, they probably need to be putting up a new shed but that might blow their budget out, large x-bred herds like their running probably need to be factoring in a direct cash cost of 250 euro plus a year on the 60% of calves they sell on, that aren't replacements

Ya he will need to factor that in. However 60k investment in structure will only impact you accounts by 7.5k/ year plus maybe any interest if you borrow it.

However I think the calf cost will have to be shouldered more and more by the dairy farmer. Article in today's FI

for all the Kepak director's BS costs have not gone down substantially. The cut in price is now beginning to effect my low cost system along with the quality of last year's Friesians a d I mean Friesians not JEX. While fine looking FR's ( 80-85% grading O-/O=) the inability to put on weight ( many killing under 300 kgs LW and many more just above it) along with FS issues is causing a redirections away from buying them from mid year on in future. The JEX cattle may be a better bet as at least you will not have to pay much for them and FS will not be an issue while DW will not be much lower. The HO breeding is easier to deal with as well. Transfer that across to AA/HE and it a disaster.

Looking at reducing finishing numbers from a store to finish and changing to a runner/ yearling to finish system. With the pressure to move to slaughtering U24 months the September to March period will beco.e saturated with cattle. A substantial number of them ( along easy calving beef breeds) are too slow growing and need the full 30 months.

Will tweak the system and use the runner/yearling to do the heavy lifting

Shure McCulloch never milked a cow in his live. It is a neighbour running the place for him. A "partnership". What spoofer.

What can you do when you have fellas not even milking claiming costs should be way lower this year by simply shopping around presumably thinking cost of production is low 20s and that milk is making low 40s based off an article mccoulloch wrote…

You can see where discontent towards dairy farmers comes from when you have misinformed viewpoints like the above, lots of established farmers under a great deal of pressure this year not to mind fellas with big out lays. Does dairy farmers no good getting it from every angle including fellow farmers!!

Hopefully the tide turns towards the end of this year.

Actually he did. His father was a dairy farmer, he took over when he came back home from college. I'm not sure if it lost money when he took over, but it certainly didn't perform. The cows and quota were sold and he started writing for the Indo.

More recently he is a silent partner with a neighbour. Think the partnership is milking 600 cows now.

Ration was dropping in price from before Christmas last year. I was paying more in April 2022 than by Christmas '22. Prices have dropped since again. Not substantially but they have dropped.

@GrasstoMilk said it was higher for the same volume. Unless he purchased substantial volumes in Jan/Feb'22 or had a Forward price his meal price should not be more expensive on a whole of year basis.

I am not saying that prices have dropped substantially they are however cheaper this year than last year.

Why do you think fertilizer prices dropped this year. It was because lads shopped around. Ya some lads matched into the Kerry co-op store or only rang the Kerry rep and got rode.

But pricing around is a necessary function of any business