Expansion: What system?

dasheriff

Lads I have been running 25 suckler cows to wealings on 55 acres i have the rest of the farm back now which is 80 acres in total..would ye just up cow numbers or would ye change the system abit..I need to make the whole thing more viable as the day job isnt going great at the moment..

alderdeer

Buy Donkeys there seems to be great go on them at the moment :D:D

Bodacious

dasheriff wrote: »

Lads I have been running 25 suckler cows to wealings on 55 acres i have the rest of the farm back now which is 80 acres in total..would ye just up cow numbers or would ye change the system abit..I need to make the whole thing more viable as the day job isnt going great at the moment..

Have you considered dairy and jacking the day job altogether?! Or a niche market like organic milk production? Could look into milking goats even but i think set up can be fairly expensive and alot of people gone into it already so it'd depend on market/location etc

You could also try keeping some nice quality heifers and sell them on point of calving in jan/feb to ai limousin 1500- 1600 euro this year anyway no hassle:)

Tipp Man

Are you making money in your current suckler system??

Would you need to spend much capital to increase the current sytem??

could you current housing be easily adapted for beef or for dairy?

If you are making money and don't need to spend much then i would say just increase what you have.

If your not making much at the moment then having more of it isn't going to make you a whole lot better off.

Are you looking just to adapt your suckler system (so bring animals to factory stage) or are you looking at a different enterprise??

How good is your land? suitable for dairy or tillage?? all in 1 block etc etc

Sorry more questions than answers

JohnBoy

But more questions need to be asked before a decision like that can be made.

The main question is about profitablility.

Are you profitable? if not, why not?

If you are then will how will expansion impact on your current system?

Sit down and do all the maths first, dont rush into anything.

Dont be afraid to rent out the ground for a year if you're not ready to make use of it, or maybe even rent some of it.

if you need to make investment in housing then a few years rent could go be a nice aid to cashflow while you do it.

dasheriff

Im not very profitable at the moment just a small bit..
I would consider any cattle based system, i have a slatted unit that will hold 40 to 50 cows or beef stock..I will have to invest on extending the unit for a creep area if expanding my suckler cows,or id have to invest in a parlour and all that goes with it for milking..
I havent enough housing to run my weanlings to beef with the cows, so what im really wondering is should i expand my suckler to weanling business, buy weanlings for beef or dive head first into big investment i really dont know at this stage..

JohnBoy

Possible dumb questions here..... (I'm more book learnin than real experience)

Are you spring or autumn calving?

what is the purpose of the creep area in the shed?

Are all calves weaned before housing? (i'm figuring not if you have a creep area, if I understand correctly)


What sort of ground do you have?

do you plan on doing any reseeding?

are you in REPS?

dasheriff

JohnBoy wrote: »

Possible dumb questions here..... (I'm more book learnin than real experience)

Are you spring or autumn calving?

what is the purpose of the creep area in the shed?

Are all calves weaned before housing? (i'm figuring not if you have a creep area, if I understand correctly)


What sort of ground do you have?

do you plan on doing any reseeding?

are you in REPS?

Im spring calving they are born in the shed jan and feb thats why i need the creep area, they do be sold then in the autumn..
My land is average to good, i plan on reseeding 10 acres if i have increased cattle numbers by august..
My REPS is out the end of th year..

JohnBoy

if you calved two months later what impact would it have on your system?

Could you then house more cows, and let them out to grass as soon as they calve?


Or if you wanted to finish cattle could you work some sort of kale/forage outwintering setup into your reseeding plans for the cows? thus freeing up housing?


I think you'd be mad to be spending money on housing if you dont have to.

I dont actually have any concrete suggestions, just ilde pondering.

dasheriff

I dont think the kale would work great around here but its something to look into...I wouldnt like to let them go too late as they would be alot smaller in the fall..

Grecco

i think the easiest option would be to hold on to the bull weanlens and try and finish them at 18 to 20 months on grass and nuts without housing them for the second winter.
It wouldn't cost much extra, only you would have to wait longer to sell but you should be getting a lot more €€€
More suckler cows means more work, there not easy in fact if you were going upping the numbers you may have to give up the day job!!

leg wax

Grecco wrote: »

i think the easiest option would be to hold on to the bull weanlens and try and finish them at 18 to 20 months on grass and nuts without housing them for the second winter.
It wouldn't cost much extra, only you would have to wait longer to sell but you should be getting a lot more €€€
More suckler cows means more work, there not easy in fact if you were going upping the numbers you may have to give up the day job!!

how much will he get for keeping them for 18-20 months?

Bizzum

Did you consider keeping the heifer weanlings and finishing them?
Depending on type some could be bulled and offered for sale incalf or springing. You could pick up a few extra throughout the year to boost numbers if required.

dasheriff

ya maybe the heifers would be a good idea its hard to know what to do im sick of wastin money but i will spend it if i think its a sound investment thanks for all yer advice lads and wud love to hear a few more opinions if ye have them, its good to have a few ouside thoughts for a change..