2015-New entrant to milk

TheSunderz

Hi all
I am a young student/farmer from county wexford. At present we have a suckler herd of cows but i have always dreamed of milking cows. My plan would be wen i finish college in 2016 possibly converting to milking cows in a no quota situation. We have 90 acres of land around the yard and have the possibility of accessing another 40 for silage/youngstock. I think we would be able to carry around 70 cows as our land is heavy in nature. i would plan to housed the herd under straw beds and bed with a straw chopper. This would be cheaper than new tanks and cubicles as we have no slatted tanks on the farm (all loose housing) . The extr dung wud also be very good for the fertilityof the land.
The only extra cost would be roadways/upgrading watersupply and the milking parlour. The suckler herd would pay for a batch of high quality frxjr calves and i would start from there.
I was just wondering would this be a good option to boost my income from the farm. I relief milk for other farmers and ran a 90 cow herd for a few days while one man was away-which i thoroughly enjoyed.
I know im still only 17 but i like to plan ahead and coming out of college in 2016 i could c wat way things are. Is this a simple worthwhile plan?
Open to your advice.
Thanks.:)

royalmeath

Your going to need a tank under your cows where you intend to feed them, you will also need to catch all your dairy washings.

funny man

Is this a simple worthwhile plan?

simple answer yes, you seem to have "an old head on young shoulders", your plan sounds like it may work, education, related work experience and a clear vision on how to go about it, look like a recipe for sucess. i'll give you my thoughts firstly if there are more people (family) to earn money from this farm while your expanding then money may be tight/non-existent for capital expenditure.

If your going into 3rd level education look to do placements out of this country and if it has to be in this country, ask for help to identify someone at the top of the game, never be afraid to ask for advice, good advice is generally free poor advice always costs money.

you mentioned Jex heifers, so you have pretty much selected your system on how you intend to run your farm, just be open to other systems out there, while less profitable they do offer insights and good practices than the system you intend to employ.

you mentioned no tanks for slurry, you will need some form of storage, be it lined lagoon or tower etc, as dairy washings and feeding areas will need to be caught/stored. i thought that you sounded a bit dismissive about the capital expenditure to be done on the farm; roadways, watersystems/well, paddock fencing?, Milking parlour, bulk milk tank, meal bins, calf shed, reseeding, soilfertility P&Ks etc,etc, some of the above you may have but these are usually aquired by established dairy farmers over a period of years, you on the other hand will have to try to buy all at onest.

Dont worry too much about the how you do it,as it can be done. Get your education, travel the world and if it's still for you then you'll be in a better position to take it on.

TheSunderz

@Funny man
Very good points, i do intend on goin to new zealand as my brother is managing farms there. I myself will be the only one earning a living from the farm as my father wil reduce his involvement/ workload with the farm but will not retire haha. i would prob have to set up a slurry collection were the cows feed( at the moment we clean out every week were they feed) and the parlour washings will either have its own tank or link into the slurry tanks. a second hand parlour could be an option but i think a 12-14 unit new parlour would last a long time and milk 70 cows no bother, as i unlikely will be able to expand beyond tat unless land becomes available around the yard, but there is alot of big dairy men around me(150 cows+) which wud make this harder. roadways and fencing wil be a big cost but i would be able to convert so sheds to calf pens quite cheaply. Slow and steady is the only job i think. :-)

grazeaway

TheSunderz wrote: »

@Funny man
Very good points, i do intend on goin to new zealand as my brother is managing farms there. I myself will be the only one earning a living from the farm as my father wil reduce his involvement/ workload with the farm but will not retire haha. i would prob have to set up a slurry collection were the cows feed( at the moment we clean out every week were they feed) and the parlour washings will either have its own tank or link into the slurry tanks. a second hand parlour could be an option but i think a 12-14 unit new parlour would last a long time and milk 70 cows no bother, as i unlikely will be able to expand beyond tat unless land becomes available around the yard, but there is alot of big dairy men around me(150 cows+) which wud make this harder. roadways and fencing wil be a big cost but i would be able to convert so sheds to calf pens quite cheaply. Slow and steady is the only job i think. :-)

All makes sense so far, I'd say if your going to go for the cows you'll need to invest in proper slurry storage. The straw bedding will be fine as long as you have access to cheap straw. Once the sheds are in good nick, and if they have a concrete floor they can be converted for slats.

The parlour and holding area could be built new and integrated with the existing shed and used as a feed zone this would reduce your straw usage.

Markcheese

It's going to be young farmers doing new things .... And pushing boundaries that are going to drive on farming ..... If you're not getting better every year you're going nowhere..

TheSunderz

grazeaway wrote: »

All makes sense so far, I'd say if your going to go for the cows you'll need to invest in proper slurry storage. The straw bedding will be fine as long as you have access to cheap straw. Once the sheds are in good nick, and if they have a concrete floor they can be converted for slats.

The parlour and holding area could be built new and integrated with the existing shed and used as a feed zone this would reduce your straw usage.

Yes straw could prob be bought at 8 euro a bale but i could have a reserve each (yr i.e. extra 100 or tat) in case prices increase the next yr.
I dnt know about converting sheds as digging tanks under roofs could cause them to collapse? sheds are perfect but i prob wil have to dig tanks were they stand feeding.

funny man

Good to see you have a contact out there, never been but i know a few out there. Look after the ould fella, Good free labour is scarce these days. always build with extra capacity in mind, 14 units is a good sized parlour for up to 110 cows and don't start looking at expansion before you get started (terriable disease). On a serious note despite the hype and all this money that dairy farmers are supposedly gone to make there will be volitility in world markets ( the likes we have never see before) as supply increases across the world to match demand, so spend wisely as your plans seems to show don't get carried away by this hype that is been drummed up by others for their own gain. I think there will be loads of opportunity for everyone to expand within reason, but i fear some will come at the expense of others.

TheSunderz

funny man wrote: »

Good to see you have a contact out there, never been but i know a few out there. Look after the ould fella, Good free labour is scarce these days. always build with extra capacity in mind, 14 units is a good sized parlour for up to 110 cows and don't start looking at expansion before you get started (terriable disease). On a serious note despite the hype and all this money that dairy farmers are supposedly gone to make there will be volitility in world markets ( the likes we have never see before) as supply increases across the world to match demand, so spend wisely as your plans seems to show don't get carried away by this hype that is been drummed up by others for their own gain. I think there will be loads of opportunity for everyone to expand within reason, but i fear some will come at the expense of others.

Yes!! the father is a wise man haha i wud be comfortable with 70 cows but i wud increase to no more than 100 cows (need a good lifestyle balance) im kinda lucky only starting wen the quotas go as i would be able to c were things stand. Increasing the beef output cud be another option 2. i understand there wil be ups and down but i hope to have money saved from the ''good times'' to help survive the ''bad times''. Efficiency wil be number 1!! i think the lifestyle will limit to how big people go. no point in increasing by 50 cows if u have to hire some one who just takes the profit away from those 50 extra cows, if ya get me.

grazeaway

No need to dig out the sheds if you put in scrapers. Once you have a decent slurry storage you can scrap into it. If you plan it out well you don't need to make wholesale changes.

However all this is fine in theory but things may be different come 2016

funny man

All was going well until you mentioned

Increasing the beef output cud be another option 2.

if your in the business of making money and believe in return on labour forget about that one, Done that wore the T-shirt and got sense.

TheSunderz

funny man wrote: »

All was going well until you mentioned if your in the business of making money and believe in return on labour forget about that one, Done that wore the T-shirt and got sense.

Haha will do!! cows it tis!!

TheSunderz

grazeaway wrote: »

No need to dig out the sheds if you put in scrapers. Once you have a decent slurry storage you can scrap into it. If you plan it out well you don't need to make wholesale changes.

However all this is fine in theory but things may be different come 2016

Yes i agree! A round slurry store could be the answer!!
Thats true we'll have to see wat happens!!!

catch.23

TheSunderz wrote: »

Yes straw could prob be bought at 8 euro a bale but i could have a reserve each (yr i.e. extra 100 or tat) in case prices increase the next yr.
I dnt know about converting sheds as digging tanks under roofs could cause them to collapse? sheds are perfect but i prob wil have to dig tanks were they stand feeding.

Don't underestimate prices, you'll be doing well to get straw for less than €12 now, could easily be more in a few years time.

TheSunderz

catch.23 wrote: »

Don't underestimate prices, you'll be doing well to get straw for less than €12 now, could easily be more in a few years time.

i understand! tats why i plan to have a reserve of a 100 or 2 bales each yr in case de price increases! converting to cubicles slowly cud be another option!

royalmeath

If you do go down the dairy route give alot of thought to the type of cow you want to carry.
Jerseyx cows are getting great publicity but they will always lag way behind freisans in terms
of yield and the quality of there male calves.

TheSunderz

royalmeath wrote: »

If you do go down the dairy route give alot of thought to the type of cow you want to carry.
Jerseyx cows are getting great publicity but they will always lag way behind freisans in terms
of yield and the quality of there male calves.

im aware of the downfall with jerseys but they wnt make up my whole herd. i'd also be planning to breed the jerseys i do have back to british freisans for increased yield. sexed semen could help reduce the possibility of male calves. but i don't want too big a cow as it wnt suit my land type.