oliver mc donnell in farming indo

whelan1

was away for a few days and i just read his article for this week about poor results for winter ai fertility wise and sex of calf wise what do you think , i think he has stepped one step too far this time , also was always amazed that he runs 2 friesian bulls or more with his cows from different breeding so how does he know the sire of the calf?

Indubitable

Record which bunch of cows went with which bull. calf of cow is most likely the bull with that particular cow.

whelan1

from the way i read it there are 2 bulls with the cows at most times

Indubitable

together?

whelan1

ye , this has been bugging me for years there is no way they could be 100% sure of the sire or maybe i am missing something

Indubitable

whelan1 wrote: »

ye , this has been bugging me for years there is no way they could be 100% sure of the sire or maybe i am missing something

The bulls would kill each other.....

Casinoking

Not necessarily, I've often seen 2 and 3 bulls with a herd without any problems

Indubitable

was one vasectomised? or maybe all cows were in calf or they were sissy bulls

dar31

if you are using two or three bulls with herd, usually give them one day on one day off, if there are a lot bulling any day then they are changed after each milking, usually 5 or so serves each.
the herd is checked 5 -6 times a day for bulling, along with good records, there is usually no problems with sires
recon its more important that they are in calf than who the daddy is:D
if you let the two bulls with the cows together then they would compete with each other and ware them selves out and end up not serving the cows

tismesoitis

whelan1 wrote: »

was away for a few days and i just read his article for this week about poor results for winter ai fertility wise and sex of calf wise what do you think , i think he has stepped one step too far this time , also was always amazed that he runs 2 friesian bulls or more with his cows from different breeding so how does he know the sire of the calf?

100% right there whelan!! could wel b their own management or the sons ai skill, lets b honest if hes running 2 bulls most of the year every year they're not going to get much practice which from experience is very important!!! sa for running the two bulls i think there is no way he knows whoch calf is out of which bull.......not very good management imo!!!

Indubitable

tismesoitis wrote: »

100% right there whelan!! could wel b their own management or the sons ai skill, lets b honest if hes running 2 bulls most of the year every year they're not going to get much practice which from experience is very important!!! sa for running the two bulls i think there is no way he knows whoch calf is out of which bull.......not very good management imo!!!

In my head i too was questioning the sons ai skills. The success rate seems extremely low compared to mine

whelan1

i always noticed that he never ever faults his own but gives out about everyone else very publicly

cjpm

When i read it i immediately thought, either the son's methods aren't up to the job or else the flask wasn't cold enough..... I'd be very slow to suggest the straws were duds.... Also interesting that he never mentioned who he bought the straws off.... possibly in case someone would sue

whelan1

you dont have to be a genius to know who he bought them off

Tipp Man

How much land does this guy have?? (between him and sons) He seems to be stuck in everything, year round milking, tillage, bull beef, think he is also buying weanlings, rearing calves

And he seems to be quite large in all enterprises. Where is he from, Meath??

I generally enjoy his coulmn but sometimes finds he moans just a bit too much, maybe it just the form i'm in when i read it.

However he is a farmer with a public voice and from what i can see he is about the only voice that is criticising the factories, creameries and grain buyers for the ridiculous prices they are paying, so from that point of view at least he's getting the word out there. We need a few more to stand up and make their voices heard

whelan1

he is suppossed to be retired isnt he :rolleyes:

irishh_bob

Tipp Man wrote: »

How much land does this guy have?? (between him and sons) He seems to be stuck in everything, year round milking, tillage, bull beef, think he is also buying weanlings, rearing calves

And he seems to be quite large in all enterprises. Where is he from, Meath??

I generally enjoy his coulmn but sometimes finds he moans just a bit too much, maybe it just the form i'm in when i read it.

However he is a farmer with a public voice and from what i can see he is about the only voice that is criticising the factories, creameries and grain buyers for the ridiculous prices they are paying, so from that point of view at least he's getting the word out there. We need a few more to stand up and make their voices heard

he farms in a place called hill of down which is in the south western part of county meath , very close to kinegead in westmeath , i was on his and his sons farm once and they have a huge scope of top quality land , never met oliver himself but met one of his sons

as for his collumn , its ok , i know its a sort of a personal diary but im not really a fan of people talking about themselves in print

roadtripman

whelan1 wrote: »

he is suppossed to be retired isnt he :rolleyes:

If you were to go by he's column he must be homeless because neither him nor his lads dont seem to be making a penny from any enterprise. Given that they seem to own half of Meath are they just useless farmers! The Farming Indo should have someone more possitive that is actually making some profit in these tough times writing instead of that old moaner, look at that tillage guy from co Down on the journal two weeks ago, he's gross margin from spring barley was £517/ha for 2009. We should be focusing on suscessful people like him and learn from them, listening to Oliver whinging week in week out dos'nt do much for me anyway. Sorry for the rant!

John_F

no fear of him id say, fine cheque in the door with dept headed paper i reckon when hes involved in so much and so much land

tabby aspreme

Tipp Man wrote: »

How much land does this guy have?? (between him and sons) He seems to be stuck in everything, year round milking, tillage, bull beef, think he is also buying weanlings, rearing calves

And he seems to be quite large in all enterprises.

he dosent keep sheep as they would never give him anything to whinge about :D

Indubitable

tabby aspreme wrote: »

he dosent keep sheep as they would never give him anything to whinge about :D

Give him enough time and he might find something.....

whelan1

think he had sheep years ago ....

whelan1

see theres an apology to pg today and no article in farming independent from oliver mc donnell:D

wiggy123

is there..didn't see the paper yet!
hes an awful b.........r, always whingin--and him+his sons are one of the wealthiest farmers around the country!

johngalway

tabby aspreme wrote: »

he dosent keep sheep as they would never give him anything to whinge about :D

I believe he bought some blackfaced sheep years back. He expected hedges to keep them in the fields, hedges keep hill sheep in! I ask ya. We're still laughing about that here.

irishh_bob

whelan1 wrote: »

see theres an apology to pg today and no article in farming independent from oliver mc donnell:D

have you a link to that collumn and if not , what exactly did mc donell say about PG

Box09

I didn't see the article - who is PG?

whelan1

pg is progressive genetics the ai company , he made out that they where to blame for the poor conception rates in his cows - without actually mentioning their name iykwim

wiggy123

was he not giving out about the sexed semen from them..its ratings..ratio was brutal

whelan1

yes but he didnt actually say who he got it from .... i wonder why isnt his coloumn vetted before printing

wiggy123

true..
well-he is a man of huge wisdom...:-)

John_F

irishh_bob wrote: »

have you a link to that collumn and if not , what exactly did mc donell say about PG

looks like the independent website took it done, they are missing his article on the 22nd of February. http://www.independent.ie/search/?q=oliver+mcdonnell but hs rticle the following week (here) he said

"The autumn calvers, who were allowed out to graze for a couple of hours daily three weeks ago, are now back inside again because there is no growth behind them. But their short sojourn outdoors served its purpose.

The change did help to get them all actively cycling again and the two breeding bulls were extremely busy accommodating them.

Hopefully, they are all now back in calf, albeit at least three months behind schedule."

on the 16th he said "Our spending on AI has been wasted- and it's not the first time" referring to the AI programme to be an 'unmitigated disaster'. He said they did not opt for AI previously due to 'cost and dependability, and much prefer to breed from carefully chosen breeding bulls for the dairy herd'. He said

"decided to run with a programme which prompted a 60/40 ratio in favour of female progeny". "Alan and David are fully trained in the art of AI and AI is used on the farm selectively every year among the cows and the autumn calf heifers".

then he says that 50% of the submitted animals are in calf with the ratio looking to be 60/40 bulls to heifers.

McDonnell states

"the lads are experienced and practised at the art of AI, we personally are blaming poor quality AI straws. In fact we are so convinced of the poor quality of these straws that those few remaining straws in the flask has since been discarded. The lads had no faith in using them and it most certainly is too late now to even consider a further risk of loosing time". "Our expenditure on AI has been money wasted as far as we are concerned and, indeed, I have written on this aspect in the past" "I don't know where all these supposedly wonderful conception rates for AI come from - certainly not from our farm". "We have always found good breeding bulls to be much more reliable and for us this is the way forward".

The programme of 60/40 ratio is a certain AI company programme who received an apology today saying the semen quality was not to blame for the breeding difficulties on Mr McDonnell's farm.

John Shirley is writing in the column this week, what ever will happen next week. I think he was using the column for his own good, e.g. tell the factory 'pay me more unless you want me writing about ye next week' kind of job

sea12

I have to say I did enjoy his column most weeks but prefered if he kept talking about what was happening on the farm rather than constantly talking about the Retailers, factories etc. Not that I disagree with what he was saying about these but there are enough journalists commenting on that. I like to see what he was doing on the farm.

I think one of teh sons still has sheep I remember him mentioning it a few weeks back.

Anyway i wonder is he gone for good, did he have a row with the indo or will he be back.

whelan1

if as he put it they prefer to run with bulls they cant have been getting too much practice at ai - or maybe they didnt need any training as they are so good:D

tabby aspreme

his column is about as pleasent to read as eastenders is to watch:D

whelan1

maybe he got a better offer

tabby aspreme

whelan1 wrote: »

maybe he got a better offer

hope its not with the samaritans

Worth

True to form Indo did stand behind there man.

Independent are more interested in the advertiser this time pg, as opposed to a farmer come journalist who told what he saw as the truth.
:mad:
Oliver was a blower at times but it was genuine colum and closer to agri that the crap some of those teagasc gob****es

whelan1

i think the indo saw the oppurtunity to get rid , about time me thinks as some one said on this thread it would be alot better to see some one who has a successful farm there instead , i think you are wrong how often do you see pg ads in the farming indo , he crossed the line full stop , got away with it before

John_F

whelan1 wrote: »

i think the indo saw the oppurtunity to get rid , about time me thinks as some one said on this thread it would be alot better to see some one who has a successful farm there instead , i think you are wrong how often do you see pg ads in the farming indo , he crossed the line full stop , got away with it before

a big one this week. . . freebie i bose :P

whelan1

could be but i wonder how much oliver was getting per week and how many businesses he put down or promoted over the years

Worth

You know you could be right ,
Dovea could be paying the man

Doubt it do , be very dis pointed ,

mossfort

i doubt dovea are that concerned about progressive as there is more than enough business for them both. oliver mcdonnell made the mistake in thinking that his sons couldnt get it wrong without doing a bit of research first before he wrote his column. the independant are as much to blame for not reading over his article before publishing it.

whelan1

just thought last night does john shirley work for ncbc which pg is a part of, if so its funny to see his coloumn in omcd's place:D

Worth

Actually your prob right about Dovea.
Ans yes editorial should have spotted it -thats their remit !

zoostorm

whelan1 wrote: »

yes but he didnt actually say who he got it from .... i wonder why isnt his coloumn vetted before printing

It's not vetted before printing because that'd take someone to know what they're talking about, not too many of them in the media. Oliver Mc Donnell is a self serving man, no more, no less.

whelan1

amazing when the lads went to get the semen analysed it had amazingly been dumped :eek: