DAS changes

Juniorhurler

It seems that the payment rates for the DAS scheme will remain the same afaik, the savings will be found by:
1. Stopping payments on land blocks over 80km from the main farm
2. A reduced rate of payment if all of your land is not disadvantaged

The details are in here
http://www.merrionstreet.ie/index.php/2011/12/coveney-outlines-main-features-of-2012-estimates-for-his-department/?cat=12

This may cause me a problem as I share a herd number with my father and none of his land is disadvantaged while all of mine is. If I go and get my own herd number it will mean investing in infrastructure at the out farm and rearranging the way we winter our stock (We keep all cows at home to calve over winter and allow weanlings/yearlings off to the slatted shed on the out farm). Or the other option is to transfer all of my stock into his herd no. for the winter and back out in the spring.

I have 2 questions arising from this,
1. How long does it take to get a herd no.?
2. Is it worth all this hassle, or what will the reduction be for farmers with both land types?

Thanks for reading.

blue5000

Sorry I don't know how long it will take to get a herd no

It might be worth the hassle, you say you have a slatted shed on the outfarm, do you have a crush there?

How far away is the outfarm from where you live/homefarm?

JohnBoy

herd number shouldnt take too long to get, ours only took a few weeks.

as regards infrastructure from what I remember you only need a holding pen and crush, they can be quite simple, a few gates and strainer posts on some hardcore will suffice (done tidily, not baler twined toegether).


obviously you will have implications for wintering cattle and the into/out of herd movement stuff if you're sending the cattle to your dad's sheds.

Dont know whether the cost of doing all this will outweigh the benefits, only time will tell I suppose

mallethead

it'll take about 3 to 4 months to get a herd register , i had a flock number before i got my herd number

Juniorhurler

blue5000 wrote: »

Sorry I don't know how long it will take to get a herd no

It might be worth the hassle, you say you have a slatted shed on the outfarm, do you have a crush there?

How far away is the outfarm from where you live/homefarm?

Ya I have a crush there blue. I also have a slatted house. I probably wasn't clear about the crux of the problem. My dad and I farm the same system. Sucklers, sell the weanlings that will make the ship, fatten the remainder ourselves, although this year I may bring these out in the spring. We keep the cows at home to have handy for calving and let the yearlings off to the outfarm as it only takes a short time every day on my way home from work to herd and feed them. The problem with having cows down there is that it is eight miles from home so calving down there is impractical.

If I want to keep the DAS at its top level I may get a herd no. and gtransfer cows out of my herd and into the bossmans for the winter and transfer yearlings from his into mine and reverse it every spring. The joys of it, more paperwork.

If the reduction were to be only small I wouldn't bother, but if I were guessing I would say it will go like this. Boss has 49ha, I have 32. 49 + 32 = 81. Therefore I will get 32/81 of the rate which would be about €35/ha or a cut of roughly €1600. Guess I better apply for this herd no.

JohnBoy

what testing implications will there be with all these herd movements? that would be my worry, will you end up spending a lot more on vet's fees?


(I dont know the testing requirements, just wondering)

Juniorhurler

JohnBoy wrote: »

what testing implications will there be with all these herd movements? that would be my worry, will you end up spending a lot more on vet's fees?


(I dont know the testing requirements, just wondering)

Good point. Hadn't envisaged that problem. If I had to blood test all the cows on each movement it would cost a fortune.

mallethead

you do have to blood test them on the way into your fathers herd and if you have them in the same sheds you must tb and blood test them when transfering back to your herd.