dairy stock

whelan1

ok, going to have to back track on my previous posts here:o i have come to the conclusion the only way to fill my milk quota is to buy in 10-12 dairy cows. I was badly bitten the last time i bought in and swore never again- still trying to settle that one:mad:- anyways if you had €15000 to spend what stock would you buy? rang an ad in the journal yesterday he was looking €1650 for second calvers.... i want milk, i dont want high falunting(sp) breeding, just milk, low scc , so what do ye think... had bank man out yesterday and he seems to think this is ok

Timmaay

Hmm, why can't you breed the replacement heifers yourself? We have been underquote for the past 2 years, due to not noticing that the bull was firing blanks and a good few cows didn't go in calf, and the an outbreak of fluke which reduced yield. We bought in afew replacements to try push closer to the quote, but ultimately, I'm happy enough just to rear the replacements ourselves, and instead concentrate on having as efficient a setup as we can. Paying €1650 a head for 2nd timers is risky, considering the whole cattle market is in a massive bubble at the minute, and the milk price is easing back now also. You need to weight up the risk of this against the extra return that you will get with the cows.

As you said you were bitten badly your last time, this is more often the not the case, look at it from the farmer who selling the cows point of view, he is not going to let go of the good cows in his herd, its going to be ones with high scc/constantly lame/fertility problems that he offloads!

whelan1

Timmaay wrote: »

Hmm, why can't you breed the replacement heifers yourself? We have been underquote for the past 2 years, due to not noticing that the bull was firing blanks and a good few cows didn't go in calf, and the an outbreak of fluke which reduced yield. We bought in afew replacements to try push closer to the quote, but ultimately, I'm happy enough just to rear the replacements ourselves, and instead concentrate on having as efficient a setup as we can. Paying €1650 a head for 2nd timers is risky, considering the whole cattle market is in a massive bubble at the minute, and the milk price is easing back now also. You need to weight up the risk of this against the extra return that you will get with the cows.

As you said you were bitten badly your last time, this is more often the not the case, look at it from the farmer who selling the cows point of view, he is not going to let go of the good cows in his herd, its going to be ones with high scc/constantly lame/fertility problems that he offloads!

i wouldnt pay €1650, i have 40 heifers calved this year, 40 for next year and 40 for the following year, whats the point in getting 1 cpl for temporary leasing when you could be producing it yourself

Tipp Man

Think you should be able to buy good heifers for 13-1500

Your cull cows would be making nearly that in the factory

I also notice you have a lot of calves/heifers coming through in the pipeline - if you buy 15 cows now and bring in 40 heifers next year will you have too many cow for your quota then? (if this is the case you could always go on a big cull and get rid of anything that is causing any problems)

whelan1

i see on dd there are a good few incalf cows/heifers for sale. would i be better buying them or calved,as i am liquid milk may calvers would still fit in with my system. aim would be down the line to sell off surplus heifers please god...

vinne

whelan1 wrote: »

ok, going to have to back track on my previous posts here:o i have come to the conclusion the only way to fill my milk quota is to buy in 10-12 dairy cows. I was badly bitten the last time i bought in and swore never again- still trying to settle that one:mad:- anyways if you had €15000 to spend what stock would you buy? rang an ad in the journal yesterday he was looking €1650 for second calvers.... i want milk, i dont want high falunting(sp) breeding, just milk, low scc , so what do ye think... had bank man out yesterday and he seems to think this is ok

The only advice i would give you is to keep the bank man as far away from your farm as possible .You saw what happened to the house market, they inflated that, and their doing the same now with cattle prices

milkprofit

I am selling the last 15 cows and heifers that calved not going to risk being over again-- too much STRESS milk records available herd health records vaccinations etc you can come and milk them before you buy

whelan1

vinne wrote: »

The only advice i would give you is to keep the bank man as far away from your farm as possible .You saw what happened to the house market, they inflated that, and their doing the same now with cattle prices

i am hardly borrowing a mortgage tbh

snowman707

whelan1 wrote: »

i see on dd there are a good few incalf cows/heifers for sale. would i be better buying them or calved,as i am liquid milk may calvers would still fit in with my system. aim would be down the line to sell off surplus heifers please god...

well immediate answer is you are looking for milk so calved heifer ...




HOWEVER my policy is that gallons in the tank doesnt mean €€€ in the bank

if you can buy in calf for same money and calf prices hold I would be inclined to go this route especially since you are in liquid milk , a lot of the calved stock would have been calved a few weeks at this stage (maybe longer) and beginning to go stale


just wondering did the bank manager mention that price he expects milk to be this time next year? would have been first question to him

whelan1

now this bank manager is quite nice:) young guy... 31cpl he was working out figures at, had my profit monitor etc interest is at 6.1% ... i have a massive overdraft that i pay nearly 4k a year in interest never a chance of being out of it so we are wiping that out also in the loan.. i have a fear of getting a call that the overdraft is being pulled and i would be left up shi$creek..... i just want to buy stock that are 100% what i pay for , still a fear in me after last time...

vinne

I"d be working on a figure of 28 cpl, milk price is on the way down

whelan1

yup , have done my own figures too... waiting til tuesday whe he comes back to me

keep going

if i was in your shoes id put an ad in the journal for late calving cows-usually their only fault is late calving.in my books these are going to be the cheapest stock of any stock bought this year including beef animals.milk them on and then you can either bull them for winter milk next year or milk until feb march and the fatten cheap on grass killing in june when cows prices peak.i personally think buying heifers is nuts as they dont have much milk and you are moving stock when they are most vulnerable.i would expect to get 20 cows for 15 or 16 k and they could put up to 30000gls in you tank by march if you fed them well and they would be nearly fat as well. that could be 70000e all things being eqaul and subtract your cost of feed i put at ration 10k,silage3k grass-fert only 5k.thats my take on your situation

snowman707

whelan1 wrote: »

now this bank manager is quite nice:) young guy... 31cpl he was working out figures at, had my profit monitor etc interest is at 6.1% ... i have a massive overdraft that i pay nearly 4k a year in interest never a chance of being out of it so we are wiping that out also in the loan.. i have a fear of getting a call that the overdraft is being pulled and i would be left up shi$creek..... i just want to buy stock that are 100% what i pay for , still a fear in me after last time...

we all take knocks, and make bad decisions (well personally I have made my fair share) just put it behind you & move on , getting rid of the OD is a good move

vinne wrote: »

I"d be working on a figure of 28 cpl, milk price is on the way down

outlook isn't great just now but hopefully we won't have another 2009

whelan1

thanks have to wait now til the money comes through ... also i assume after quotas go that there will be something based on your supply of the last few years, so want to get my butt in gear now

bob charles

sounds to me like your bank are getting a much better deal than what you will get out of this change over. Why would you prefer a loan over a properly run overdraft? bank converts your unsecured overdraft and probably sticks a charge on some asset and hand you back a loan which you will have to repay the principle plus interest. bank puts your asset on its balance sheet and its a win win for the bank while they make you feel like they are going really out of their way to accommodate you. The rate that the bank are able to provide for a properly run overdraft wont be too north of the loan amount and you only pay for what credit you use with overdraft where as with the loan you are paying for the full amount for the entire term. Dont under-estimate your farm and business importance to the bank, when dealing with them

whelan1

bob charles wrote: »

sounds to me like your bank are getting a much better deal than what you will get out of this change over. Why would you prefer a loan over a properly run overdraft? bank converts your unsecured overdraft and probably sticks a charge on some asset and hand you back a loan which you will have to repay the principle plus interest. bank puts your asset on its balance sheet and its a win win for the bank while they make you feel like they are going really out of their way to accommodate you. The rate that the bank are able to provide for a properly run overdraft wont be too north of the loan amount and you only pay for what credit you use with overdraft where as with the loan you are paying for the full amount for the entire term. Dont under-estimate your farm and business importance to the bank, when dealing with them

have heard of a few lads that the bank just pulled their overdraft... would prefer not to be on od at all.... i am never out of it, even last year when sfp and milk cheque came in same day i was still in o/d.... 2.5% difference in o/d and term loan rate

Viewtodiefor

bob charles wrote: »

sounds to me like your bank are getting a much better deal than what you will get out of this change over. Why would you prefer a loan over a properly run overdraft? bank converts your unsecured overdraft and probably sticks a charge on some asset and hand you back a loan which you will have to repay the principle plus interest. bank puts your asset on its balance sheet and its a win win for the bank while they make you feel like they are going really out of their way to accommodate you. The rate that the bank are able to provide for a properly run overdraft wont be too north of the loan amount and you only pay for what credit you use with overdraft where as with the loan you are paying for the full amount for the entire term. Dont under-estimate your farm and business importance to the bank, when dealing with them

Agree with bob on this one, I don't know how many cows you are milking or what your overheads are but from what you say it seems you want to spend money you don't have just to fill your quota, at the moment you can barely service an overdraft of 4k and you want to borrow 15k! Now look at it logically wouldn't it be better for yourself to become more efficient with what you have first and get into a cash surplus situation thereby clearing your overdraft, there is no point buying more cows if you cannot make the ones you have viable, just because there is extra milk in the tank doesn't mean you are making more money!
Also get a good breeding plan going and maximize your heifer numbers in the next two years, don't chase the idea of more more more numbers etc as this year n last the price is good but could you survive at 22cent a liter?? As it will be that low again maybe not in next few years but it will happen and everyone needs a buffer for that.
Talking to my feed supplier today and he said he wanted 3k from a guy milking 180cows and he couldn't get it! I'm milking 30 and could pay out ten times that right now! My point more cows don't equal more money in your pocket but they certainly do equal more expense !

whelan1

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Agree with bob on this one, I don't know how many cows you are milking or what your overheads are but from what you say it seems you want to spend money you don't have just to fill your quota, at the moment you can barely service an overdraft of 4k and you want to borrow 15k! Now look at it logically wouldn't it be better for yourself to become more efficient with what you have first and get into a cash surplus situation thereby clearing your overdraft, there is no point buying more cows if you cannot make the ones you have viable, just because there is extra milk in the tank doesn't mean you are making more money!
Also get a good breeding plan going and maximize your heifer numbers in the next two years, don't chase the idea of more more more numbers etc as this year n last the price is good but could you survive at 22cent a liter?? As it will be that low again maybe not in next few years but it will happen and everyone needs a buffer for that.
Talking to my feed supplier today and he said he wanted 3k from a guy milking 180cows and he couldn't get it! I'm milking 30 and could pay out ten times that right now! My point more cows don't equal more money in your pocket but they certainly do equal more expense !

i have the facilities and grass/land for the extra cows, the main out lay is buying the stock, i cannot justify paying 4k interest on an overdraft i cant get out of... i understand you have very little overheads, very easy for a feed supplier to say a farmer owes him x amount at this time of year, that farmer could also have a superlevy bill and mightnt have had a milk cheque in months to pay that 3k, tbh i would say 3k is very small compared to what alot of people owe.Also i would not be impressed with sales rep telling other farmers what i owe:rolleyes:

bob charles

4k interest is an overdraft of circa 50k unless your getting ridden altogether which could be the case if you have not being able to put the OD into credit for 30 days. Paying back principle for stock in my eyes is madness especially if the farm is evolving/expanding etc. The objectives of your bank manager is to make the bank as much interest as possible, not to be doing you a good turn. Commission is still the major driver for bankers. As has always being said a bank will give you an umbrella when the sun is shining but will take it off of you when the rain comes.

Im of the opinion that allot of this talk about OD being taking away is hearsay. The business people that have their OD taken off of them must not be playing ball at all, as again the bank want ever business to be making money so they can make more themselves.

Anyway Im probably no one to be giving advice on dealing with banks as my farming (beef finishing) operates purely on someone elses credit. Im just waiting for the pop! I would be nervous doing budget at the moment with a milk price of 28c/l never mind 31c/l, maybe 26c/l will be more realistic, at least there cant be much of a downside to that price but hopefully a large upside

whelan1

2 local farmers 1 a progressive young dairy farmer same age as me , had his o/d pulled so its not hearsay, he just had to get on with it... bankman is coming back to me on tuesday with figures so i will go from there he is giving me 3 or 4 different scenarios.... thats my point current o/d is never in credit not 1 day in the last 15 months, i spend what i take in every month and never go over the o/d limit

Viewtodiefor

whelan1 wrote: »

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Agree with bob on this one, I don't know how many cows you are milking or what your overheads are but from what you say it seems you want to spend money you don't have just to fill your quota, at the moment you can barely service an overdraft of 4k and you want to borrow 15k! Now look at it logically wouldn't it be better for yourself to become more efficient with what you have first and get into a cash surplus situation thereby clearing your overdraft, there is no point buying more cows if you cannot make the ones you have viable, just because there is extra milk in the tank doesn't mean you are making more money!
Also get a good breeding plan going and maximize your heifer numbers in the next two years, don't chase the idea of more more more numbers etc as this year n last the price is good but could you survive at 22cent a liter?? As it will be that low again maybe not in next few years but it will happen and everyone needs a buffer for that.
Talking to my feed supplier today and he said he wanted 3k from a guy milking 180cows and he couldn't get it! I'm milking 30 and could pay out ten times that right now! My point more cows don't equal more money in your pocket but they certainly do equal more expense !

i have the facilities and grass/land for the extra cows, the main out lay is buying the stock, i cannot justify paying 4k interest on an overdraft i cant get out of... i understand you have very little overheads, very easy for a feed supplier to say a farmer owes him x amount at this time of year, that farmer could also have a superlevy bill and mightnt have had a milk cheque in months to pay that 3k, tbh i would say 3k is very small compared to what alot of people owe.Also i would not be impressed with sales rep telling other farmers what i owe:rolleyes:

Hi whelan I'm not trying to knock you or your ideas of expanding quiet the opposite. I'm just saying try and make yourself efficient first and profitable first and foremost then your options will be easier to see and make, if you want to supply more milk then do it on your terms and not a banks terms for the sake of following the flock as it's the buzz thing to do at the moment! Remember we were all there before and will be again when loads guys got into milk then everyone got out it's all swings n roundabouts,

Farmer Pudsey

Whelan1
How much of an overdraft most overdrafts sare about 10-12% I presume when you say 4k it is slightly above 4K. On that assumption your overdraft is averageing 30kish over the year.
Very hard to pay this back in an overdraft facility because of intrest.Assumeing borrowing 40K pay back at intrest rate of 6.1% payments over 10 years is 5250/year. Have you any money that you can invest yourself?

However if you have a continous overdraft it is not sustainable longterm. You also have a short term problem you need cows. I would look at late calvers. But it will be a long hard winter have to milk them until next march. Buy the minimum to fill quota consider scanning you own and also milking on any that are not in calf or going to calf late you could milk until wiyhin eight weeks of calving or even 6, You have to scan early enough to get exact dates.

If you have a lot of heifers coming on stream next year consider what cows you are going to cull. Can you avoid getting these in calf. If so you can milk until March. Think a little outside the box if you are not feeding ration would it pay to feed 1-2kg's on grass to boost summer production. Again I am only giving option's to consider have not got any experience in milking but think outside the box. Remember cull cow might not be a good trade next year as there will be a lot of young cattle about.

On the overdraft you have to do somthing about it.It is not just a matter of bank pulling it, it just has to be sorted out I bet you are also using co-op/feed merchant credit which is very expensive.You may well have to consider aterm loan however you will still need a overdraft at times.

dar31

buy a go of 3-6 lact late calvers, still young enough cows, but gone past the premium price of heifers/seconds. if they go in calf for next spring well and good, but if decent stock they should milk through and go in calf for next winter.
this is nt by any means the ideal scenario, but it is cheap gallons in the tank, at this point of the year.
some one mentioned cows for €800, maybe they are out there, but they will cause problems trying to carry over a long peroid, they are cheap cause no one want them

bob charles

whelan1 wrote: »

2 local farmers 1 a progressive young dairy farmer same age as me , had his o/d pulled so its not hearsay, he just had to get on with it... bankman is coming back to me on tuesday with figures so i will go from there he is giving me 3 or 4 different scenarios.... thats my point current o/d is never in credit not 1 day in the last 15 months, i spend what i take in every month and never go over the o/d limit

Well if you dont adhere to the rules that it was granted to you by in the first place is hard to say its the banks fault if they pull unsecured credit from any farmer. Had one of my business managers offering/pushing 50% of my monthly turnover as an overdraft facility on me recently. it would be triple my current limit and I wouldnt have a hope of clearing it for 30 days as I never have anything like that sort of cash in my hand anyday of the year. Would have suited the bank lovely as I would be accruing ser-charges left right and centre within 12 months. Its currently time IMO to batten down the hatches in farming as we are heading in the direction of stormy waters. I would advise to get all credit sorted with banks asap for the next 5 years or so.

Term loans should not be used for stock purchase

bob charles

dar31 wrote: »

some one mentioned cows for €800, maybe they are out there,

your dreaming, most canner cows im buying are costing more than that

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Whelan1

How much of an overdraft most overdrafts sare about 10-12% I presume when you say 4k it is slightly above 4K. On that assumption your overdraft is averageing 30kish over the year.



On the overdraft you have to do somthing about it.It is not just a matter of bank pulling it, it just has to be sorted out I bet you are also using co-op/feed merchant credit which is very expensive.You may well have to consider aterm loan however you will still need a overdraft at times.

10%+ for an overdraft is criminal, allot of the high charge is down to the user of the facility. Banks will do much better terms if you adhere to the strict T&C, once you breach these then they have the right to charge whatever they want.

I dont find merchant credit expensive. Its paying cash up front for goods that people get screwed over by when dealing with merchants/coops. Some of the cash prices im told of are very poor considering the price these items are often going on account for.

whelan1

o/d rate is 8.45... when we moved to this bank as part of the deal our o/d rate was actually lower than the loan rate hence the massiveo/d... the o/d rate has now changed... i could reduce the o/d by half and there is a good probability i could be out of it for 30 days... i also approached the bank beofre xmas with a proposition of reducing the o/d by 500p/m this was rejected but i am dealing with a different guy now- last guy was a prick

Tipp Man

Whelan what exactly are you costs per litre?? Last year was a great year in milk and if you can't clear your overdraft when milk is 34 or 35 what chance have you when milk is back down at 24 or 25??

By the sounds of it costs and expenditure are a big problem? Do you know where your money is going exactly??

Cash flow is the single biggest reason that businesses fail, not losses which are only paper. Movement in a persons bank account is the real indicator or whether they are making money or not

whelan1

my profit monitor was showing 9.5cpl profit... i spend what i earn each month... i have no mortgage... house and land are mine... now my tax year ends in september so profit per litre would have been higher if it was til end of december as oct/nov/ dec milk price was higher than year before

dar31

i'd run a fairly considerable o/d and would do well to be out of it for more than a week or two a year, banks had no problem with this, but lately they have been looking to move the hardcore part of the o/d to a term loan, claiming pressure from above, we stuck hard to keep a favorable rate and let them move off a part of the o/d to term, we had to give a little on this as it was part of negotiations on a larger mortgage.
all of my borrowings for the last 10 years has been through the o/d, be it machinery, buildings, or cap ex, which mounted up over time, but it was the cheapest money available at the time.

im a bit surprised the amount of people commenting about poor farming practices by running a constant o/d, it work for some.

why spend your own money....

threeball

Tipp Man wrote: »

Whelan what exactly are you costs per litre?? Last year was a great year in milk and if you can't clear your overdraft when milk is 34 or 35 what chance have you when milk is back down at 24 or 25??

By the sounds of it costs and expenditure are a big problem? Do you know where your money is going exactly??

Cash flow is the single biggest reason that businesses fail, not losses which are only paper. Movement in a persons bank account is the real indicator or whether they are making money or not

Gotta echo these sentiments. You have to go back and see where your expenditure is high before you even consider taking on more debt.

I run two businesses, neither farming related. But a business that never leaves overdraft is not a viable business and on top of that its a stressful way to live. Sliding in and out of overdraft is normal practice for alot of businesses but if you never leave it, especially where the amount is quite insignificant then you need to go back to the drawing board and reassess the business model and the expenditure levels.

I wouldn't worry about losing your OD once theres cash movement but you should always try and run a business as if the OD didn't exist.

Farmer Pudsey

[QUOTE=dar31;78522865
im a bit surprised the amount of people commenting about poor farming practices by running a constant o/d, it work for some.

why spend your own money....[/QUOTE]

There is no point in paying 10-12% on an overdraft if you have money drawn all the time take a overdraft that averages 20,000/year costs are 2000 euro/year. This is grand if you may have a big operation and draw down 70-80k for cash flow for 3-4 months and clear overdraft for a couple of months a year.
However if your are constantly over drawn and as a dairy farmer you should have been able to clear it last year. I run a overdraft which I dip into 3-4 times a year it is a small overdraft 20K is the max I never reach it and Bob I pay about 10% but I intend to check out about reducing it however the intrest for last year was about 350 euro. Using an overdraft to borrow money longterm is crazy you have no control over it and the cheapest money for between the last 4-8 years was money tied to ECB rate or interbank rate it was possible to get it at 1-2% over. I have a term loan I am paying 1.5% over ECB. If I had it on overdraft I be paying at least 6-8%.
Banks are under pressure as ECB and Finiancal Regulator is instructing them they cannot charge penal rate if you go over on your overdraft and that they should be cleared at least once a year. So if they are not they want to change some to term loans.

Dar I consider it all my own money wheather it is the farm account or in a seperate deposit account.
Whealan1 maybe it is just time to look at where you can cut costs at 33c/l your profit moniter is showing less than 10c/l what will happen if it drops to 28c/l tempory leaseing at 1c/l might look attractive

threeball

dar31 wrote: »

i'd run a fairly considerable o/d and would do well to be out of it for more than a week or two a year, banks had no problem with this, but lately they have been looking to move the hardcore part of the o/d to a term loan, claiming pressure from above, we stuck hard to keep a favorable rate and let them move off a part of the o/d to term, we had to give a little on this as it was part of negotiations on a larger mortgage.
all of my borrowings for the last 10 years has been through the o/d, be it machinery, buildings, or cap ex, which mounted up over time, but it was the cheapest money available at the time.

im a bit surprised the amount of people commenting about poor farming practices by running a constant o/d, it work for some.

why spend your own money....

Theres no such thing as not spending your own money. An OD is debt owed on your part and as such can only be considered as a deductable from money or assets you may have in elsewhere. It may look good to have 50k in another account but if you have a 40K OD, in reality you only have 10k in the bank.

Personally I'd rather have 10k in the bank, no OD interest charges and an OD to fall back on if needed. If you don't have the 50k in the bank and you still have a 40K OD then you're living on the edge. Your a foot and mouth crisis from going bust.

keep going

havent had a overdraft since 07 even through 09 10 stayed away from it.my bank charges 13% overdraft but get free banking so i never go in overdraft.as an overview on your biz i would suggest sell the lorry and hubby work full time on the farm and drop hired labour as i dont see either those two adding to bottom line

whelan1

keep going wrote: »

havent had a overdraft since 07 even through 09 10 stayed away from it.my bank charges 13% overdraft but get free banking so i never go in overdraft.as an overview on your biz i would suggest sell the lorry and hubby work full time on the farm and drop hired labour as i dont see either those two adding to bottom line

not a runner i am afraid, he doesnt milk the cows full stop:mad: my labour has reduced as i only have the lad 3 days a week, in the bank mans plans i also asked for a seasonal loan where i could pay back the 15k when i get the sfp.... normally my october sfp goes on insurance and tax

sh1tstirrer

Getting back to dairy stock I was at Corrin mart friday and cows were selling for €800-€900 with a lot of cows unsold. Angus bulls unsold that were bid up to 2.5k.

1chippy

does everyone run an overdraft? I may be lucky that i have another income other than farming, sometimes it means pulling of one to balance the other, but in either operation i try not to have any significant borrowings or loans. At the end of the day the business has to be self sufficent. if it means reorganising or completly changing the setup to suit your needs. I heard a good statement before: You can only p*ss with the c*ck you got.

milkprofit

Bob can you explain this statement


I dont find merchant credit expensive. Its paying cash up front for goods that people get screwed over by when dealing with merchants/coops. Some of the cash prices im told of are very poor considering the price these items are often going on account for.

pbthevet

Slightly off topic here lads but need some info only a farmer/tractor driver will know.

If anyone here has a new holland tm series ( doesnt matter which) with an electric dashboard, could you hold down the speedometer button (pic of tractor and forward arrow) and tell me the four digit number that gets displayed on the screen. Thats the number i need to recallibrate my speedometer to correspond with tire radius. At moment tractor thinks it can do 130 mph which is a slight bit off i think . . . . Just slightly mind

Thanks in advance

whelan1

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Getting back to dairy stock I was at Corrin mart friday and cows were selling for €800-€900 with a lot of cows unsold. Angus bulls unsold that were bid up to 2.5k.

sorry where is corrin? and what where the cows like?

sh1tstirrer

whelan1 wrote: »

sorry where is corrin? and what where the cows like?

It's near Fermoy, Cork. The new mart. The cows were the usual holstien friesian type from 1st calvers up to 6th calvers, some made up to 1300 but the most were sold around 900 and others unsold. There wasn't many buyers there and the few that were bidding had the cows picked out beforehand.

Min

Hey Whelan1, just being nosey, does EBI play any factor in the stock you might buy?

whelan1

Min wrote: »

Hey Whelan1, just being nosey, does EBI play any factor in the stock you might buy?

well i would have a look at ebi but priority would be milk , protein, scc then ebi:o i am sure other people will differ

whelan1

have revised my plans - loan being downsized but have the money now to buy stock... hoping for 10 cows.. anyone know of any?

stanflt

whelan1 wrote: »

have revised my plans - loan being downsized but have the money now to buy stock... hoping for 10 cows.. anyone know of any?

make sure you buy from a closed herd with proof of no bvd ibr or johnes-biosecurity will be the most profitable factor going forward. good luck with your expansion and purchases

whelan1

got 10 cows yesterday, 100% happy with them all 2nd and 3rd calvers, one rotbundt cross in it, kids delighted to be looking for the red cow;)

pakalasa

How do you introduce them into the herd? Just open the gate and let them off or will you keep them seperate until they settle down a bit.

Tipp Man

Best of luck with the new cows

Are they spring or autumn calvers?

dar31

did they set you back much

whelan1

pakalasa wrote: »

How do you introduce them into the herd? Just open the gate and let them off or will you keep them seperate until they settle down a bit.

went very well, when i brought them home i put them in a paddock on their own , brought them to collecting yard first at milking and let rest of milkers down with them, no fighting at all. was very surprised

whelan1

dar31 wrote: »

did they set you back much

straight out 12.5k... one of them had 22 litres this morning