planning ahead

Toplink

My dad is in his early 60s so it will be another 6 or seven years before I take over the reins.

Im in a well paid job at present anyway and wouldnt have much in the way of spare time to be farming along with having a young family and my wife working full time.

I did the green cert online a few years ago so that box is ticked.


Just wondering over the next few years what I should be planning in terms of making life easier for myself when the time comes.

We farm about 130 acres, 25 suckler cows, selling the cattle at 18 months or so. also 20 ewes. I would help out with paperwork and most saturdays for an hour or so doing tagging debudding etc. I wouldnt make any of the big decisions so I let the old man plug away and do his own thing. To be honest I am interested in farming but I have been out of the loop for a long time.

We are understocked at present from what I can make out but after this spring maybe he right to keep the numbers low.

I want to start making small changes now to make my life easier as the reality is I will be partime for the first few years anyway.

kinda rambling here but said id ask anyway.

1chippy

25 cows on 130 acres is way understocked. double the number to 50 sell the weanlings. loose the 20 sheep you would be as well off keeping 100 as keeping 20. and run one group this will cut down some work and pull in a bit more cash hopefully, you could lean towards drystock either that you might even just run for summer grazing. We cant really tell you what to do as we dont know your ground or inclination towards farming but letting it might be your best option.

mf240

If you turned to dry stock your dad could tip away into his old age and you could continue working and farming at the weekend.
Sounds very understocked but maybe land is poor?

Toplink

mf240 wrote: »

If you turned to dry stock your dad could tip away into his old age and you could continue working and farming at the weekend.
Sounds very understocked but maybe land is poor?

Average grazing ground on the edge of the burren. dry land. short wintering period.

90 acres in one plot, 40 in another 6 miles away. the 40 acres is used to winter the cattle before selling them in spring. no shed on that plot.

I love the idea of farming but I am well aware of the realities of running your own business. once mortgage is paid and kids are educated ill go full time myself with the help of god. ill be nearly 50 by then so plenty changes.

id more than lightly stick with sucklers and I prefer the idea of selling them as weanlings but he has his own way of doing things.

Tipp Man

Toplink wrote: »

Average grazing ground on the edge of the burren. dry land. short wintering period.

90 acres in one plot, 40 in another 6 miles away. the 40 acres is used to winter the cattle before selling them in spring. no shed on that plot.

I love the idea of farming but I am well aware of the realities of running your own business. once mortgage is paid and kids are educated ill go full time myself with the help of god. ill be nearly 50 by then so plenty changes.

id more than lightly stick with sucklers and I prefer the idea of selling them as weanlings but he has his own way of doing things.

REmember more cows equals more calvings equals more work if you go down the weanling route. Your auld man mighn't be too far off the mark by bringing them on as he has less work to do overall. And as he gets older he won't want to be calving more cows and with your job will you have the time??

And cows cost money - at least when an animal is growing he is growing into money - a cow isn't.

to ensure an easy life then you need to ensure your set up is good - so good handling facilites, sheds, crush, good fencing. Those are the things that lead to an easy life imo

bob charles

more numbers :rolleyes:, if thing arent bad enough with what you have they will be twice as bad with more

Toplink

bob charles wrote: »

more numbers :rolleyes:, if thing arent bad enough with what you have they will be twice as bad with more

Yeah... I need to look closer at the figures but I think you may have a point Bob.

You obviously have a very grim outlook on Suckler farming so?

Username John

You asked in original post

I want to start making small changes now to make my life easier as the reality is I will be partime for the first few years anyway.

I think you have your answer here...

Toplink wrote: »

Yeah... I need to look closer at the figures but I think you may have a point Bob.

Dont make any changes til you know where the money is being spent, and the money is being made...
The answers to this might decide where you want to make changes...

I wouldnt make any of the big decisions so I let the old man plug away and do his own thing

I would say get more involved, not try to take over now. Just be involved in the big decisions... You might learn something, and am sure your old man would appreciate the input... well, most of the time anyways...

By all means take all advice on board, but only you know what you like doing, and where the right balance is re job vs family life vs farming... cos from what I have seen, its a constant compromise...

I would agree with Tipp man's comment re good handling facilities, fencing & sheds

tanko

Whatever you do make sure you look after your well paid job. You say that you have little spare time so keeping drystock sounds like the way to go.

Viewtodiefor

Toplink wrote: »

My dad is in his early 60s so it will be another 6 or seven years before I take over the reins.

Im in a well paid job at present anyway and wouldnt have much in the way of spare time to be farming along with having a young family and my wife working full time.

I did the green cert online a few years ago so that box is ticked.


Just wondering over the next few years what I should be planning in terms of making life easier for myself when the time comes.

We farm about 130 acres, 25 suckler cows, selling the cattle at 18 months or so. also 20 ewes. I would help out with paperwork and most saturdays for an hour or so doing tagging debudding etc. I wouldnt make any of the big decisions so I let the old man plug away and do his own thing. To be honest I am interested in farming but I have been out of the loop for a long time.

We are understocked at present from what I can make out but after this spring maybe he right to keep the numbers low.

I want to start making small changes now to make my life easier as the reality is I will be partime for the first few years anyway.

kinda rambling here but said id ask anyway.

Have u talked to the old man re what happens a few years down d road? Does he know what your thoughts are and you his? Before you do anything try to get some common ground between ye,
re what to do

Like tipp man says handling facilities and grazing infastructure is best money u will spend to make life easier and hopefully more profitable. U gotta get efficient before u start increasing numbers.
This may mean investing a couple of thousand of your own money into it over the next few years to try set it up as you want. Are you prepared to do this or can u afford it?
Secondly it's very hard to teach a new dog old tricks remember this always!

Cavanjack

Toplink wrote: »

Yeah... I need to look closer at the figures but I think you may have a point Bob.

You obviously have a very grim outlook on Suckler farming so?

Bob has a grim outlook on farming full stop!

darragh_haven

Cavanjack wrote: »

Bob has a grim outlook on farming full stop!

Bob loves hardship. That's why he keeps farming

freedominacup

darragh_haven wrote: »

Bob loves hardship. That's why he keeps farming

Basically Bob's grim:D

bob charles

Cavanjack wrote: »

Bob has a grim outlook on farming full stop!

darragh_haven wrote: »

Bob loves hardship. That's why he keeps farming

freedominacup wrote: »

Basically Bob's grim:D

Unless you guys have suck cows you will never understand the term hardship. I was too much of a softcock, so have very little nowadays



Toplink, there is a reason your dad does what he does. there is also a good reason why prices per kg are so high for store animals from the burren area.

KatyMac

And make sure to keep the farm account separate from your 'own' money! Or you'll end up like me using money from job to pay for farming stuff. Make sure that what you spent on farming is made from farming! It took me a long time to realise what I was doing! Children's allowance paid a vet bill on more than one occasion 'til I copped on.

Toplink

bob charles wrote: »

there is also a good reason why prices per kg are so high for store animals from the burren area.

Why?

Genuine question, as I said im out of loop with being abroad working the past 15 years.

bob charles

Toplink wrote: »

Why?

Genuine question, as I said im out of loop with being abroad working the past 15 years.

because the nature of the animal you are buying is special. they wont be carrying any excess belly weight and the thrive is also better than animals raised elsewhere. I would call them big natural cattle with serious scope to take weight. The breeding of these animals is also spot on for the conditions

Fat Cant

I think I would concentrate on 1 enterprise like say cattle and get rid of sheep , u can gear up your setup better if your just in the 1 enterprise and save time . Build good calving facilities and wintering shed have good paddock sistem ,concentrate on having good cows and a short calving .

Toplink

bob charles wrote: »

because the nature of the animal you are buying is special. they wont be carrying any excess belly weight and the thrive is also better than animals raised elsewhere. I would call them big natural cattle with serious scope to take weight. The breeding of these animals is also spot on for the conditions

So you are saying that the model of farming in the Burren should be based on supplying 'finishers' to farmers with fattening land?

bob charles

Toplink wrote: »

So you are saying that the model of farming in the Burren should be based on supplying 'finishers' to farmers with fattening land?

probably the best use of the ground I would think is to supply suckler calves/stores for the guys with the better land in the midlands. They pay a high premium for these animals

Whatever you do, dont go building sheds for those outwintered animals. build handling facilities if needed

Toplink

bob charles wrote: »

probably the best use of the ground I would think is to supply suckler calves/stores for the guys with the better land in the midlands. They pay a high premium for these animals

Whatever you do, dont go building sheds for those outwintered animals. build handling facilities if needed

I have no plans to add any sheds. Not unless some generous incentive is given.

We are in the process of upgrading the handling facilities alright.

Getting water piped around so that a decent paddock system can be set up sound like another job that should be done. There are too few water points at present.

bob charles

Toplink wrote: »

I have no plans to add any sheds. Not unless some generous incentive is given.

We are in the process of upgrading the handling facilities alright.

Getting water piped around so that a decent paddock system can be set up sound like another job that should be done. There are too few water points at present.

I should think to improve profitability on your system, the small money jobs will show the biggest cash benefit (breeding, fencing, water facilities, etc) Dont know how close to the burren you are, but remember IMV some of the best cattle land in the country is in the burren:). If you start spending lots of money on expensive projects, you would be better off digging an eight by four foot plot, five feet deep