Farming Chit Chat

Tora Bora

whelan1 wrote: »

just aswell he's not here any more:D

They don't last long in your place:rolleyes:

whelan1

just have myself to row with now.... infairness he had been here since last august and it was his choice to leave , the guy beofre thay i sacked as he drove my tractor with no oil

Muckit

There's alot to be said for havin a farm enterprise of a size suitable to run yourself, or just family. Paid labour is extra hassle and for what? Another opportunity to have the taxman on your back.

At least with machinery/fixed assets you might qualify for a grant or be able to offset it. And if it breaks down, you can f*ck it out of it without it being able to do it back to you

C0N0R

In fairness we have been very lucky with paid help. Have had the same guy running the farm for the last 25 years or so! Doesn't cost a fortune and very committed to the job. Don't know what will happen when I eventually take over the farm though....

Dazzler88

Great thread guys.Im sheep farming at present and thinking of renting land with sheds this year and getting into cattle.Is there good money to be made in cattle?

whelan1

welcome dazzler... had a cow calved in cubicle shed this morning , typical on st patricks day , anyway alls well , happy st patricks day everyone

C0N0R

Just finished all our scanning. Out of 1000 cows milking at the moment we have 85 empties and roughly 140 to be induced. Of those 85 we are keeping 48 for winter milk and will cull the rest. Out of 160 heifers all are in calf bar 7 and one of those 7 is a free Martin and one other had a cist. All in all happy enough with it, cows to be induced is a bit high is the only thing.

Might be moving to a new farm in June, cousin might be taking over a 400 cow farm and if he does he wants me to come run it with him. We can do it on only two labour units and the odd relief milker. Hopefully he goes for it as it will be better paid than this and less time in the parlour and a greater opportunity to learn.

jeff greene

C0N0R wrote: »

Just finished all our scanning. Out of 1000 cows milking at the moment we have 85 empties and roughly 140 to be induced. Of those 85 we are keeping 48 for winter milk and will cull the rest. Out of 160 heifers all are in calf bar 7 and one of those 7 is a free Martin and one other had a cist. All in all happy enough with it, cows to be induced is a bit high is the only thing.

Might be moving to a new farm in June, cousin might be taking over a 400 cow farm and if he does he wants me to come run it with him. We can do it on only two labour units and the odd relief milker. Hopefully he goes for it as it will be better paid than this and less time in the parlour and a greater opportunity to learn.

How far gone will the cows be when you induce them? Its a disgusting thing to have to do, do the cows give their full milk potential after, is there any effect on subsequent fertility?


Are there any farmers in Ireland doing this. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kiwi wannabes are.

whelan1

jeff greene wrote: »

How far gone will the cows be when you induce them? Its a disgusting thing to have to do, do the cows give their full milk potential after, is there any effect on subsequent fertility?


Are there any farmers in Ireland doing this. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kiwi wannabes are.

my vet was telling me last week of a farmer who aborts all cows that havent calved by the end of march:eek: think its a horrible thing to do tbh

jeff greene

whelan1 wrote: »

my vet was telling me last week of a farmer who aborts all cows that havent calved by the end of march:eek: think its a horrible thing to do tbh

He can go around boasting he has 100% calved in 10 weeks then, makes him out to be a good farmer. NOT


I assume its Progesterone thats used, may have been better used in May/June that in April to induce calving. What would the public make of it here? It would lead to a lot of negative press for sure, and banning of the drug.

whelan1

would it not make more sense to sell the ones that havent calved as springers and buy in new fresh calved ones in their place

C0N0R

jeff greene wrote: »

How far gone will the cows be when you induce them? Its a disgusting thing to have to do, do the cows give their full milk potential after, is there any effect on subsequent fertility?


Are there any farmers in Ireland doing this. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kiwi wannabes are.

I'm not sure on the answers to that, I'll find out though. I think they are slowly trying to outlaw it here, so over the next few years you will only be allowed to do fewer and fewer cows. I know heifers can't be done nor can cows over a certain age.

funny man

C0N0R wrote: »

Just finished all our scanning. Out of 1000 cows milking at the moment we have 85 empties and roughly 140 to be induced. Of those 85 we are keeping 48 for winter milk and will cull the rest. Out of 160 heifers all are in calf bar 7 and one of those 7 is a free Martin and one other had a cist. All in all happy enough with it, cows to be induced is a bit high is the only thing.

Might be moving to a new farm in June, cousin might be taking over a 400 cow farm and if he does he wants me to come run it with him. We can do it on only two labour units and the odd relief milker. Hopefully he goes for it as it will be better paid than this and less time in the parlour and a greater opportunity to learn.

I thought that induction was banned or to be banned in New Zealand. did you here anything like that?
It dosn't portray a good picture of farming and should not be allowed or accepted over here as this would damage our image, which to my mind is our most important sales pitch to the outside world where we depend on selling our products.
400 cows sounds like a doddle after what you have been working with, just a word of caution there is a saying; Never work for family!, but it's just a saying, make sure you set out you're stall and have a written agreement as it will prevent ill feeling and give both of ye something to refer to in the event of a dispute, best of luck with the new venture, i hope ye get it.

pakalasa

Good advice there in the last post.

C0N0R

funny man wrote: »

I thought that induction was banned or to be banned in New Zealand. did you here anything like that?
It dosn't portray a good picture of farming and should not be allowed or accepted over here as this would damage our image, which to my mind is our most important sales pitch to the outside world where we depend on selling our products.
400 cows sounds like a doddle after what you have been working with, just a word of caution there is a saying; Never work for family!, but it's just a saying, make sure you set out you're stall and have a written agreement as it will prevent ill feeling and give both of ye something to refer to in the event of a dispute, best of luck with the new venture, i hope ye get it.

It is to be banned, possibly next year I'm not sure, I'll get back to you on that one! I have to agree, it's not what i would class as good clean farming anyway.

400 cows should be good, the only thing is the irrigation requires slightly more work and it's alot more hands on than this as there are five of us working here and only will be two of us so it's probably slightly more work in some ways. It's a 40 aside herring bone. But the people who own that farm and also the one I'm working on at the moment also own another few, and one of them will be available for a contract milker role in two seasons which I should have a good chance of getting I've been told. As for working for family, I know where your coming from and in most things I've done in life it's been either for or with family. But advice most certainly heeded. I should know by Friday what the story is so I'll let ye know. I'll grab answers on those other questions this evening and get back to you to.

whelan1

does anyone know can the department just call and walk around your farm alone and unannounced ? My friend has been hounded by them recently and thinks she is being victimised :cool:

johngalway

I thought only wildlife rangers could enter your property at will? But, don't take that as gospel.

Box09

County council inspectors can too.

whelan1

she has just rang me back , she has had a second unannounced visit today , there was a different guy there this morning:eek:

theroad

I asked the inspectors about that at their last unannounced visit. If I remember it rightly, they can enter the yard unannounced for welfare and to check the numbers are straight. You can require them to give notice for any other type of inspection. If you stop them they'll dock the sfp.

C0N0R

jeff greene wrote: »

How far gone will the cows be when you induce them? Its a disgusting thing to have to do, do the cows give their full milk potential after, is there any effect on subsequent fertility?

Induction normally happens about six weeks before they are due to calve I think. If it is done there is no effect on milk supply and it causes no problems when trying to get the cow in calf again. It is been slowly phased out I think this year your only meant to do 8% but as with most things in life I think there are ways round this.

All fairly quiet here at the moment, have had seven cows calve now and now have one heifer calf. Got my first rugby match for a local team tomorrow so that should be interesting.

whelan1

how much liquid parafin or similar would you give a 50kg calf with a bit of collic ? i gave him 60cc was this enough

Bizzum

whelan1 wrote: »

how much liquid parafin or similar would you give a 50kg calf with a bit of collic ? i gave him 60cc was this enough

The full of the dosing syringe, which is 60 or 70 ml. I can't for the life of me remember if we gave anything else the following day. I can't even remember did it even work.
It's been a long time!

keep going

there was meeting in clon last nite about the future of dairying.turns out it was a bank of ireland do and boy were they chatting up farmers must have been 30 or 40 of them trying get off with us.wondering were we planning expansion, what bussiness bank do we use etc.i just wonder given their record is it a vote of confidence or should i be getting worried.

Bizzum

keep going wrote: »

boy were they chatting up farmers must have been 30 or 40 of them trying get off with us.

Sounds more like a Thai bride convention.

5live

keep going wrote: »

there was meeting in clon last nite about the future of dairying.turns out it was a bank of ireland do and boy were they chatting up farmers must have been 30 or 40 of them trying get off with us.wondering were we planning expansion, what bussiness bank do we use etc.i just wonder given their record is it a vote of confidence or should i be getting worried.

If banks are giving away money its time to run for the hills and dont look back. Just look at morgages(?)

keep going

or maybe they are try to get some of it back.they were on about a "bisiness card" akind of a laser card for farmers instead of checks any one have one

alderdeer

keep going wrote: »

or maybe they are try to get some of it back.they were on about a "bisiness card" akind of a laser card for farmers instead of checks any one have one

That Business card is a Credit card, I got one myself there in january just for buying something online or god forbid maybe get a chance to go to the cinema or something like that. The money comes out of your account at the end of each month and they will try hard to give you as mach credit on it as possible :eek:, Ill be getting rid of mine again, seems to be alot of charges with it. Dont ever give up on the cheques, you wont write a cheque if you dont have the money;)

whelan1

alderdeer wrote: »

That Business card is a Credit card, I got one myself there in january just for buying something online or god forbid maybe get a chance to go to the cinema or something like that. The money comes out of your account at the end of each month and they will try hard to give you as mach credit on it as possible :eek:, Ill be getting rid of mine again, seems to be alot of charges with it. Dont ever give up on the cheques, you wont write a cheque if you dont have the money;)

yes but if you write a cheque today the person you are giving it to mightn't cash it for months when you dont have the money . my cousin wrote a cheque for 15k before christmas and it still hadnt been cashed by the start of march:eek:

JohnBoy

Yeah that's the killer with checques, you've no control over the transfer.

EFT is the future, but I think banks need to up their physical security for it to work.