If you knew then what you know now...

locky76

A light hearted look at the tumultous last few months:
I wouldn't have sold silage all winter only to be buying it back at €35 a bale for the past three weeks...
I wouldn't have upped numbers as agressively last year...
I wouldn't have killed those heifers for the quick buck in November, they'd have killed out better and at higher weights & grades now and be worth far more per kg...
I wouldn't have turned out the cattle in mid February to have all the grass grazed by 1st April (as per teagasc), only to be looking at bare fields for the past six weeks

Conmaicne Mara

I would have closed up grass earlier.
I would not have steamed up ewes at tipping.
I would have sold a % of ewes I can't let to the hill.
I would have looked for more land, to rent, to buy if I could swing it.
I would have invested in more stock.

mauser77

I wouldn't have put out 2 ton of fertilizer last sat

simx

would of sold the majority of my weanlings 3/4 weeks ago, would of sourced silage earlier when there was choice and some bit of quality around, would off rented more ground

delaval

I wouldn't have done anything different

larrymiller

i wouldnt of went for a few pints last night

freedominacup

delaval wrote: »

I wouldn't have done anything different

I thought you were away for the weekend. You can't just drop little nuggets like that into the conversation and then do a runner. Ye're either in or yer out:D

whelan1

if i knew then what i know now.... i'd have found a way to make things work out some how:D who sang that its doing my head in all morning, thanks op

sh1tstirrer

If I knew then what I know now now I'd be a wiser man.

I would be 10-15k better off today if I knew then what I know now and it wouldn't from selling over priced silage.

sh1tstirrer

whelan1 wrote: »

if i knew then what i know now.... i'd have found a way to make things work out some how:D who sang that its doing my head in all morning, thanks op

Squeaky nearney

farmertipp

I think alot of young dairy farmers areway over stocked and are not well enough prepared for contingencies..we should by right have silage till middle of may at least..only a fool would sell silage early

whelan1

farmertipp wrote: »

I think alot of young dairy farmers areway over stocked and are not well enough prepared for contingencies..we should by right have silage till middle of may at least..only a fool would sell silage early

so each farmer should have enough silage to do from july til may:rolleyes:

jomoloney

whelan1 wrote: »

if i knew then what i know now.... i'd have found a way to make things work out some how:D who sang that its doing my head in all morning, thanks op

Kenny Rogers

Well, hello girl, tell me, how have you been?
By the way, I'll never make the same mistake again


Personally don't think I would have done anything different

been around among time and learned a long time ago not to chop and change

whelan1

i still would have voted no

farmertipp

whelan1 wrote: »

so each farmer should have enough silage to do from july til may:rolleyes:

Well what do you suggest?

whelan1

farmertipp wrote: »

Well what do you suggest?

realistically, what farmers have had enough silage to do for 11 months.... 6 months is the norm on most farms

Timmaay

Hmmm for me, not a major lot differently, main mistake was letting the cows onto low covers in round2 too quick, Only a bit of luck with being allowed to graze the cows on rented land now got me away with that! The second would have been to graze out the wetter paddocks when I got the chance, I could have avoided having to bring the cows back in for as long during the wet spill in the middle of March if I had been kept afew of the drier paddocks in reserve!

Timmaay

whelan1 wrote: »

realistically, what farmers have had enough silage to do for 11 months.... 6 months is the norm on most farms

Hmm I'll actually agree with tipps point that only a fool would have sold early, in terms of if you were already relatively low in silage stocks after feeding more silage during last summer/autumn, then back in Jan/Feb you probably should not have being banking on an early spring, and were taking a big gamble for a quick buck then! Obviously back last May nobody in their right might would should have been aiming to hold 11months of silage ha, unless they had a crystal ball! Most of us have been through what has to be the worst possible disaster scenario, once we can keep afloat during this we can survive anything!

sh1tstirrer

Hindsight is a great thing if You knew that the winner of the grand national had odds of 88/1 the day before the race cattle and fodder would be the last thing on your mind now.

delaval

Timmaay wrote: »

Hmmm for me, not a major lot differently, main mistake was letting the cows onto low covers in round2 too quick, Only a bit of luck with being allowed to graze the cows on rented land now got me away with that! The second would have been to graze out the wetter paddocks when I got the chance, I could have avoided having to bring the cows back in for as long during the wet spill in the middle of March if I had been kept afew of the drier paddocks in reserve!

Look on the bright side, you did get into the neighbours. Now that cherry is broken you don't know what it will lead to, so all in all not a bad result!!

farmertipp

whelan1 wrote: »

realistically, what farmers have had enough silage to do for 11 months.... 6 months is the norm on most farms

I did not say 11 months'one should have as much silage as possible before getting up into too much numbers..being gung ho is no good when yoj run out and have nothing inside or outside..

locky76

farmertipp wrote: »

..only a fool would sell silage early

I'm afraid i take offence at this statement farmertipp, i'm a part-timer and have been understocked sinve 2010 when we had our first child and i sold a good few stock while the wife was on unpaid leave to tide us over.
Since then my reserves of silage have been building and I had over 500 bales in the yard coming into this winter, 250 of which were 2011 silage.
We had another child in October and I made the decision to try and clear the yard of silage by the end of the winter time for a few reasons-

• to get rid of the 2011 stuff and also to get rid of the poor quality 2012 stuff, i didn't think the 2012 stuff would carry for a second winter
• I had a few mates who were caught for silage and decided to help them out
• I was getting €20 a bale from the yard s it paid a lot of bills throughout the winter while my wife is off work again

I was carrying out a fodder budget on a monthly basis and got the young stock out early, I had a farm walk here in January and discussed my various options, the general consensus was that if i budgeted to haqve enough silage to the middle of April I would be fine and the yard would clear of poor silage.
However where i came unstuck was that the grownth stopped and I had to bring stock back in- it meant i had to buy fodder, i ran short by 20 bales, that will get me to next Friday and I'll have a nice cover of grass over the entire farm.
Anyway sorry for the long winded reply but I think with the winter just past it's a bit insensitive to say the least to be going around calling people fools... (although i do feel a bit foolish:()

Farmer

locky76 wrote: »

........... (although i do feel a bit foolish:()

Aw 20 bales at €15 euro extra isn't such a bad premium v the risk of having a load of rotten stuff round the yard next winter. If you can get away with the 20 I'd say you didn't call it too bad

bob charles

sold every animals a week before they get an ailment and die on farm:D only joking,

what would I do differently, nothing

farmertipp

locky76 wrote: »

I'm afraid i take offence at this statement farmertipp, i'm a part-timer and have been understocked sinve 2010 when we had our first child and i sold a good few stock while the wife was on unpaid leave to tide us over.
Since then my reserves of silage have been building and I had over 500 bales in the yard coming into this winter, 250 of which were 2011 silage.
We had another child in October and I made the decision to try and clear the yard of silage by the end of the winter time for a few reasons-

• to get rid of the 2011 stuff and also to get rid of the poor quality 2012 stuff, i didn't think the 2012 stuff would carry for a second winter
• I had a few mates who were caught for silage and decided to help them out
• I was getting €20 a bale from the yard s it paid a lot of bills throughout the winter while my wife is off work again

I was carrying out a fodder budget on a monthly basis and got the young stock out early, I had a farm walk here in January and discussed my various options, the general consensus was that if i budgeted to haqve enough silage to the middle of April I would be fine and the yard would clear of poor silage.
However where i came unstuck was that the grownth stopped and I had to bring stock back in- it meant i had to buy fodder, i ran short by 20 bales, that will get me to next Friday and I'll have a nice cover of grass over the entire farm.
Anyway sorry for the long winded reply but I think with the winter just past it's a bit insensitive to say the least to be going around calling people fools... (although i do feel a bit foolish:()

Maybe fool is a bit strong ok.. no offence ment..i do think from now on we have to budget our silage requirment to cover as many contengincies as possible

delaval

bob charles wrote: »

sold every animals a week before they get an ailment and die on farm:D only joking,

what would I do differently, nothing

That's what we do any trouble from a cow and she's sold. Hard calving foot trimmed twice held cleanings they get the gate before we need to treat. We have a guy locally who feeds a lot of cows and he takes all and sick ones at a discount. Cheaper than knacker and vet treated cows are in the way

bob charles

delaval wrote: »

That's what we do any trouble from a cow and she's sold. Hard calving foot trimmed twice held cleanings they get the gate before we need to treat. We have a guy locally who feeds a lot of cows and he takes all and sick ones at a discount. Cheaper than knacker and vet treated cows are in the way

yip same here, but you can't forsee broken legs, damaged backs, health animals that just drop dead as those are or dead ones nowadays. You should never give an animal a second chance in my book.

dar31

what would i have done.... sold me liquid contract when it was making €200+/gl
and bought eu quota instead..
but sure hind sight is a great thing

Timmaay

dar31 wrote: »

what would i have done.... sold me liquid contract when it was making €200+/gl
and bought eu quota instead..
but sure hind sight is a great thing

Sell the liquid contract and buy shares in a feed merchant company would have been the right move ha!

bob charles

Timmaay wrote: »

Sell the liquid contract and buy shares in a feed merchant company would have been the right move ha!

Usually merchant dont make a huge amount of money when things go sky high as allot of their raw material would have to be bought on the spot market

Manoffeeling

bob charles wrote: »

Usually merchant dont make a huge amount of money when things go sky high as allot of their raw material would have to be bought on the spot market

Too true. Far away fields are always green.

locky76

farmertipp wrote: »

Maybe fool is a bit strong ok.. no offence ment..i do think from now on we have to budget our silage requirment to cover as many contengincies as possible

No bother farmertipp, just a bit sensitive about the whole thing at the moment...
We'll save the abuse for each other for the first round of the Munster championship, c'mon Limerick;)

Muckit

Manoffeeling wrote: »

Far away fields are always green.

That's a bad cliché to be using at the moment!