Cattle back indoors

vanderbadger

had to put cows and calves in today..suppose it was on the cards but still depressing, they arent long out! how is everyone coping with the damned weather?

phancydan

Might be doing the same thing myself. This is really depressing.

leg wax

how are you for fodder for the winter

vanderbadger

leg wax wrote: »

how are you for fodder for the winter

well if its going to be another 9 month winter then i wil deffo be well short, have grass but no point letting them into it at the mo, hope for the best for sept i suppose

DanFindy

Things are getting pretty bad, i work for Teagasc myself and was on a couple a farms yesterday where farmers were gearing up to put in stock, for most they have no fodder ready as it was all used last year and ive seen men out with twin wheels cutting grass and bringing it to the housing....not ideal at all but needs must. Many men are also caught with some slurry left in the tanks which could again spell disaster come xmas with many tanks i saw last yr overflowing.....

bbam

We're understocked and grass is still tight, fields are cutting up and some are swamps by now.. Second cut of silage is looking to be a sticky affair...

Was in an accident earlier in the year so all other jobs are well out of hand...

Our slatted tank is 3/4 full and dung pit is needing emptying on the fields after the silage is cut...

One tractor sitting up cos bro wouldnt listen and busted the clutch !!

And still it rains !

red_diesel

I'm not a farmer but from a farming family. Has there ever been such bad summers as 08 and 09?
We're lucky enough at home that we have dry land, but gateways are like bogs, cows are tracking fields, should be unheard of for this time of year!

westwicklow

And still it rains.... yesterday, I saw a JD6920 with double bale lift bogged to the sump being pulled out by a MF399 4x4 which was in turn bogged to the sump and was being pulled out by a MF165 which was, yes you already guessed.... bogged to the sump...... things don't look all that promising around here! Farmer had to abandon the remaining 20 acres!! Not good, not good at all my friends.

Sam Kade

I know this is no good to any of ye but I should have enough grass till December. I have too much bale silage and even though it's raining nonstop the cattle are doing no damage. The advantages of owning a farm in Cork however a lot of farmers around me that are more heavily stocked are very short of grass.

irish_bob

red_diesel wrote: »

I'm not a farmer but from a farming family. Has there ever been such bad summers as 08 and 09?
We're lucky enough at home that we have dry land, but gateways are like bogs, cows are tracking fields, should be unheard of for this time of year!

you simply cannot have enough dry land in this country , i often hear nonesense about how in 1995 ( all 14 years ago ) those with dry land struggled , big deal , worst case scenario , those on dry land of a dry year ( once every ten years ) have to buy in feed for thier stock , at least they can feed it outside , those with heavy land every other year not only have to buy in feed , they have to feed it inside so thier challenges are two fold , feed and slurry

i know most dont like me saying it but with the advent of climate change , farming as we once knew it will change in ireland , will be more indoor based and will render the heaviest of land unusable for cattle

mooverlive

bob i hope it doesnt come to that . here in cork nw 1.5 yrs olds in with 3.5 weeks about 30 bales used already resigned to the fact they are not going back out, i have mixed farm here dairy stock doing ok under circumstances but back on milk, no matter if it clears its too late do a bit of contracting as well some fields are destroyed they will need lots of attention next spring ,as for monetary situation its fairly grim heard stories of fellas looking for advances of there milk cheques, and its still raining

irish_bob

mooverlive wrote: »

bob i hope it doesnt come to that . here in cork nw 1.5 yrs olds in with 3.5 weeks about 30 bales used already resigned to the fact they are not going back out, i have mixed farm here dairy stock doing ok under circumstances but back on milk, no matter if it clears its too late do a bit of contracting as well some fields are destroyed they will need lots of attention next spring ,as for monetary situation its fairly grim heard stories of fellas looking for advances of there milk cheques, and its still raining

the weather is by far and away the biggest challenge facing farmers going forward , bad prices , come and go and costs can be looked at , in years like this , its impossible to be low cost

vanderbadger

people talk about these bad weather cycles every x amount of years but I cartainly never remember housing cattle in aug before lsat year and I never heard the auld fella on about it either in his day, the thought of the daily cleaning the sheds every morning before going to work for months to come isnt pretty, pricing a auto scraper, 5k on 1 passage look is what im hearing so far, seems like awfal money to me, anyone familiar with the costs of them?

itsallaboutheL

vanderbadger wrote: »

people talk about these bad weather cycles every x amount of years but I cartainly never remember housing cattle in aug before lsat year and I never heard the auld fella on about it either in his day, the thought of the daily cleaning the sheds every morning before going to work for months to come isnt pretty, pricing a auto scraper, 5k on 1 passage look is what im hearing so far, seems like awfal money to me, anyone familiar with the costs of them?

Can't remember what we paid for ours, but they are absolutely worth it!!

mooverlive

just think about walking out in the morning and seeing a nice clean shed