Dairy Farming General

Greengrass1

stanflt wrote: »

No mid June

Six weeks after first cut

Your first must be near fit?

mahoney_j

stanflt wrote: »

I hope to have the silage cut by mid June

Is that the second or third cut stan.going to cut my first cut in 2 stages,first lot between 15-20 mYand rest by late may.second and subsequent cuts every 5 to 6 weeks

visatorro

Must ring contractor in the morning. I haven' decided whether to go with wagon or trailed harvestor. Looking around may 15

freedominacup

visatorro wrote: »

Must ring contractor in the morning. I haven' decided whether to go with wagon or trailed harvestor. Looking around may 15

If you're cutting lighter early cuts and he'll cut by the hour I'd go with the wagon. Silage cut with the wagon by the hour cost me 60 euro per acre plus my own cost for mowing last year and the year before incl vat. Standard cost around here for sp is 100 plus vat.

sheebadog

Breakfast before grass.

freedominacup

sheebadog wrote: »

Breakfast before grass.

That's a big buffer feed.

sheebadog

freedominacup wrote: »

That's a big buffer feed.

Enough to do until tomorrow night.

kevthegaff

nice shed sheebadog, did u have to build or was it there with the lease?

sheebadog

kevthegaff wrote: »

nice shed sheebadog, did u have to build or was it there with the lease?

Owned. Came with first purchase.
I thought ye would have meas in a shed with a roof!!

visatorro

freedominacup wrote: »

If you're cutting lighter early cuts and he'll cut by the hour I'd go with the wagon. Silage cut with the wagon by the hour cost me 60 euro per acre plus my own cost for mowing last year and the year before incl vat. Standard cost around here for sp is 100 plus vat.

75 euro per acre with wagon here. he's mows it but he throws the two rows on top of each other. not gonna let him do that this year so price might go up. he didnt have a rake last year anyway. two tractors on pit keeping her packed.

freedominacup

visatorro wrote: »

75 euro per acre with wagon here. he's mows it but he throws the two rows on top of each other. not gonna let him do that this year so price might go up. he didnt have a rake last year anyway. two tractors on pit keeping her packed.

That's not bad. If you put any value on your own work I wouldn't be far off the €75 mowing it myself.

freedominacup

sheebadog wrote: »

Enough to do until tomorrow night.

Any bother with heating? Your pit face must be very fresh if you don't.

mf240

I know I'll be shot but would ye not bale those light crops. no problem with secondary fermentation with high dry matter bales.

I do All bales and I make stronger silage for dry cows and can feed both at the same time.

freedominacup

mf240 wrote: »

I know I'll be shot but would ye not bale those light crops. no problem with secondary fermentation with high dry matter bales.

I do All bales and I make stronger silage for dry cows and can feed both at the same time.

That's the beauty of the hourly rate you're not subsidising some fella who won't cut until mid June and who will be getting twice your tonnage/volume clamped for the same per acre rate. Pit is far handier than bales for me. BIL does 1400+ bales per year I don't know how he does it.

sheebadog

freedominacup wrote: »

Any bother with heating? Your pit face must be very fresh if you don't.

Small pit made especially for when cows on grass so it's always fresh.
Just use it to get fibre and maize crimp into them.

freedominacup

sheebadog wrote: »

Small pit made especially for when cows on grass so it's always fresh.
Just use it to get fibre and maize crimp into them.

It's on my to do list as cow numbers rise. Was thinking of around 22-25 ft wide with 5 ft walls. Build it in a place where it could be easily lenghtened in the future if needs be.

Timmaay

freedominacup wrote: »

It's on my to do list as cow numbers rise. Was thinking of around 22-25 ft wide with 5 ft walls. Build it in a place where it could be easily lenghtened in the future if needs be.

Sounds like a plan. I only realised how much hassle bales are this winter, when we only had 16 of them in total, the rest in the pit and is so much less hassle. I'm thinking a narrow pit for high quality silage/maize /wholecrop also, I'd probably put it right beside the existing one and use one wall. Would I need to strengthen that middle wall?

sheebadog

freedominacup wrote: »

It's on my to do list as cow numbers rise. Was thinking of around 22-25 ft wide with 5 ft walls. Build it in a place where it could be easily lenghtened in the future if needs be.

2 widths of the bucket or grab is enough for 150 to 200 cows. No more than one metre high. Then no waste or secondary fermentation.

Greengrass1

Have a heifer here that isn't due till sept and us bagging up like mad.
Anyone else have a fly problem yet? Heifers being plagued here

sheebadog

Results
Milk 33litres
Scc. 166k
Bf. 4.1
Pr. 3.4
Tbc. 5000

kevthegaff

is it possible to put a wall on an existing slab??

sheebadog

kevthegaff wrote: »

is it possible to put a wall on an existing slab??

Why not get the portable walls with 'feet' on them. You would see them in grain intakes for seperating different types of grain

farmersfriend

sheebadog wrote: »

Why not get the portable walls with 'feet' on them. You would see them in grain intakes for seperating different types of grain

We use them to hold beet in yard, and for barley in the shed.

whelan2

farmersfriend wrote: »

We use them to hold beet in yard, and for barley in the shed.

we have them to extend our silage pit wall. Have them about 15 years now

kevthegaff

would they hold a pit with a lad rolling it

stop thelights

kevthegaff wrote: »

would they hold a pit with a lad rolling it

We have the 8ft type for splitting our maize pit. Grand as when we filling we filling both sides so no pressure to move. When feeding out the maize then it doesn't move.

We also put grass into one pit one year it but wouldn't go higher than 6ft and kept out from the wall as any higher and they'll move!

I think each one it 1.9 ton which out loader just lifts. There's 10ft ones you can get. Think there around 2.5 t and you can fill away up against them and over with out them moving. But if I was driving the loader I'd be watching them like a hawk when going over 10ft as when they move its good luck Charlie!!!!!

sheebadog

Was planning breeding program yesterday with AI technician and he mentioned 'Kamars'. He said that they are new to the market and cost €25 for 12.

I've heard them mentioned here before, are they worth it?
He said that they are self-adhesive, does it stay on?
Any opinions??

RightTurnClyde

Been using them for a few years now on the heifers. I find them the best of the bubble type detectors. The glue is seperate to the detectors and is applied from a toothpaste like tube, it can be a bit messy but you'll need a pliers to get them off. They are the best of the bubble detectors. In a big bunch of heifers they are very easily spotted.
There are a lot of products similar to the kamars with the glue already on them, in my experience they are rubbish. I used them 2 years ago, never again. Had the local aI station in pushing them this year, his solution to them falling off was to put a spray on carpet glue onto the heifer to aid the glue on the patch.
Just be sure if you order kamars that you get kamars and not the copy. They ain't as good

frazzledhome

sheebadog wrote: »

Was planning breeding program yesterday with AI technician and he mentioned 'Kamars'. He said that they are new to the market and cost €25 for 12.

I've heard them mentioned here before, are they worth it?
He said that they are self-adhesive, does it stay on?
Any opinions??

Will be aiing heifers later today after church!

I'll post a pic of one bulling and not bulling. They are the business. If you get in to the LIC/Eurogene website you should be able to buy.

BTW on the market here for years!!! Ye may have no stones but that's not everything

kevthegaff

what time do ye start milking lads? I get up at 6 and bring them before 4, put in a sound system last night in the milking parlour, the cows done some looking this morning!