milking parlour build

mf240

keep going wrote: »

I transfer 10 clusters in 2 minutes which is 12 seconds per cluster-hard to see done any faster without pulling clusters off under vacuum.slowed down tonight as fractured a couple of ribs this morning soim well b#######d.ipresume that was just putting them on.

Any of ye that were saying tillage farming is hard going just like dairying have a read of above post.

Out of parlour feeders are madness, if your feeding is correct you could feed as much as any cow needs in two feeds at milking.

Feed to yield has a place in high yielding herds where split calving may mean that you have fresh and stale cows that will need different feeding and also some cows may need/justify a further top up.

The most important thing is to focus on profit not Just yield, all to easy to spend a fortune chasing that last ten percent of yield and lose all sight of what its costing. And dont believe everything salesmen tell you.

delaval

maxxuumman wrote: »

Naa

Would you get much use from feed to yield. I feel that it has more to offer than TMR. We are considering upgrading our drafting to electronic and it can be added

delaval

keep going wrote: »

I transfer 10 clusters in 2 minutes which is 12 seconds per cluster-hard to see done any faster without pulling clusters off under vacuum.slowed down tonight as fractured a couple of ribs this morning soim well b#######d.ipresume that was just putting them on.

No it was just putting on to dummy udders and if in real parlour there would be more shyte than milk in the tank

stanflt

delaval wrote: »

Would you get much use from feed to yield. I feel that it has more to offer than TMR. We are considering upgrading our drafting to electronic and it can be added

I would never ever put in a parlour again if it didn't have feed to yield- no matter if it were spring calving or not-

Since we put in the new parlour 3 years ago we have priduced 2000 litre more per cow with the same total amount of meal used per cow

Calving interval has gone from 427 to 389 and will be below 375 next year
Feed to yield had increase BCS on all cows which has had a positive effect on ci

jaymla627

stanflt wrote: »

i do my own service on my parlour- its actually very simple if your computer literate

id be more a vice grips and hammer kind of guy, you have to remember most acrs/electrical systems have a shelf life of 10 years before they need replacing/over hauling, worked for one guy who had a 50 bail rotary was 10 years old and just before i started all the acrs had to be replaced the 60 thousand euro bill he got was eye opening to say the least.

jersey101

stanflt wrote: »

I would never ever put in a parlour again if it didn't have feed to yield- no matter if it were spring calving or not-

Since we put in the new parlour 3 years ago we have priduced 2000 litre more per cow with the same total amount of meal used per cow

Calving interval has gone from 427 to 389 and will be below 375 next year
Feed to yield had increase BCS on all cows which has had a positive effect on ci

theres awful lot of extra cost with them though you have to be recording yeilds in parlour and all that goes with it

stanflt

jersey101 wrote: »

theres awful lot of extra cost with them though you have to be recording yeilds in parlour and all that goes with it

Part of the package- you also know straight away when a cow is sick

jersey101

stanflt wrote: »

Part of the package- you also know straight away when a cow is sick

father has a hankering for it alright but im not really interested in them

stanflt

jersey101 wrote: »

father has a hankering for it alright but im not really interested in them

Worth it if your selling 100000 litres per unit IMO

jersey101

stanflt wrote: »

Worth it if your selling 100000 litres per unit IMO

will only be putting half that through it. But a different type of herd makes money in a different way

stanflt

jersey101 wrote: »

will only be putting half that through it. But a different type of herd makes money in a different way

profit per litre should be well over 20cent a litre this year

delaval

stanflt wrote: »

Worth it if your selling 100000 litres per unit IMO

Do you mean per milking unit?

stanflt

delaval wrote: »

Do you mean per milking unit?

yes

maxxuumman

stanflt wrote: »

Part of the package- you also know straight away when a cow is sick

Stan, is yours measuring conductivity. Mine is, and alarms if there is a change in it. It's a great indicator of being in heat ( or sick)

delaval

stanflt wrote: »

Worth it if your selling 100000 litres per unit IMO

We are selling just shy of 80k litres per unit. I never heard of it measured this way before

maxxuumman

delaval wrote: »

Would you get much use from feed to yield. I feel that it has more to offer than TMR. We are considering upgrading our drafting to electronic and it can be added

Feed to yield is a brilliant job. I'm not feeding hard at the moment ( super levy), but there is 4 different feed levels going on at the moment in the herd. 1st calvers, to be dried off, empty and rest of herd.
The control it gives is excellent. Take this spring, as cows calved and joined the herd, their meal was slowly ramped up, while the earlier calving cows could be getting 5kgs in the stall beside her. Too fat, thin,early, late, lame, sick, all getting what they should be.
With regards oopf's,I know you think they are gone with the arc, but once you have A system for identifying the cows , the actual oopf is cheap. It's only an aerial beside a feed hopper.
Ive been watching 2 farmers now that have them for the last two years and they are getting their cows into great condition in the few weeks before calving, and getting great yields from day one of lactation, with brilliant icr. Unlike TMR, the exact cow is getting exactly what she needs, when she needs it. Wouldn't touch TMR with a barge pole

bob charles

maxxuumman wrote: »

Feed to yield is a brilliant job. I'm not feeding hard at the moment ( super levy), but there is 4 different feed levels going on at the moment in the herd. 1st calvers, to be dried off, empty and rest of herd.
The control it gives is excellent. Take this spring, as cows calved and joined the herd, their meal was slowly ramped up, while the earlier calving cows could be getting 5kgs in the stall beside her. Too fat, thin,early, late, lame, sick, all getting what they should be.
With regards oopf's,I know you think they are gone with the arc, but once you have A system for identifying the cows , the actual oopf is cheap. It's only an aerial beside a feed hopper.
Ive been watching 2 farmers now that have them for the last two years and they are getting their cows into great condition in the few weeks before calving, and getting great yields from day one of lactation, with brilliant icr. Unlike TMR, the exact cow is getting exactly what she needs, when she needs it. Wouldn't touch TMR with a barge pole

I assume if say your cows are averaging 35l that you feed TMR for the first 30 litres and feed to yield after this. Cow at 35l get shag all and the cow at 45 ltrs get a good few bonus kilos. surely this is the most cost effective way of working. Considering your base can be grazed grass, silage, tmr, whatever you want

maxxuumman

bob charles wrote: »

I assume if say your cows are averaging 35l that you feed TMR for the first 30 litres and feed to yield after this. Cow at 35l get shag all and the cow at 45 ltrs get a good few bonus kilos. surely this is the most cost effective way of working. Considering your base can be grazed grass, silage, tmr, whatever you want

Ya, you can set it for "base+", so depending on your grass situation every cow gets Xkg amount + Ykg per litre over a certain yield. Stops the high yielders milking off their backs.

awaywithyou

maxxuumman wrote: »

Ya, you can set it for "base+", so depending on your grass situation every cow gets Xkg amount + Ykg per litre over a certain yield. Stops the high yielders milking off their backs.

what make of parlour you got??? is it one by my neighbours (dairymaster)

we're looking at a new parlour... and we will definitely get drafting... acrs.. meters, auto id and then feed-to-yield.... have to agree with whats said here already bout feed-to-yield... its a winner true and true...

ned harty of dairymaster was telling me farmers they have installed feed-to-yield for have on average cut there feed bills by 15%... and cows have done better as the feed is given to those cows who will turn it into loads of milk.... if you were looking for a good return on an investment... feed-to-yield is guaranteed to deliver a super return on your investment.... i sound like a dairymaster sales rep!!!

not all bells and whistles are bad...!!

maxxuumman

awaywithyou wrote: »

what make of parlour you got??? is it one by my neighbours (dairymaster)

we're looking at a new parlour... and we will definitely get drafting... acrs.. meters, auto id and then feed-to-yield.... have to agree with whats said here already bout feed-to-yield... its a winner true and true...

ned harty of dairymaster was telling me farmers they have installed feed-to-yield for have on average cut there feed bills by 15%... and cows have done better as the feed is given to those cows who will turn it into loads of milk.... if you were looking for a good return on an investment... feed-to-yield is guaranteed to deliver a super return on your investment.... i sound like a dairymaster sales rep!!!

not all bells and whistles are bad...!!

Fullwood.

freedominacup

awaywithyou wrote: »

what make of parlour you got??? is it one by my neighbours (dairymaster)

we're looking at a new parlour... and we will definitely get drafting... acrs.. meters, auto id and then feed-to-yield.... have to agree with whats said here already bout feed-to-yield... its a winner true and true...

ned harty of dairymaster was telling me farmers they have installed feed-to-yield for have on average cut there feed bills by 15%... and cows have done better as the feed is given to those cows who will turn it into loads of milk.... if you were looking for a good return on an investment... feed-to-yield is guaranteed to deliver a super return on your investment.... i sound like a dairymaster sales rep!!!

not all bells and whistles are bad...!!

Feed to yield is fine up to around 5-6 kgs of meal per day, after that you are playing russian roulette with your cows health with 3 bullets in the the cylinder. Ketosos, acidosis and laminitis are the bullets. It's only luck rather than good judgement that avoids them above this level of concentrate feeding. The only way to feed high yielding cows is with a TMR/TMR buffer at grass. In the past we have had a 9000kg plus herd average feeding around 1.8 tonnes of concentrate per cow. A good bit higher than this with autumn calvers. No in parlour/straight concentrates whatsoever.

The guys feeding 15% less for the same milk yield were simply not doing a good management job before they put this task in the hands of a machine. That a machine can do it better than them only emphasises this point.

Trying to manage high yielders without a diet feeder is simply making a difficult job unmanageable. You will end up with good cows being culled for no reason other than deficiencies in management.

delaval

Max
As a matter of interest for comparison, what's your yield and meal per cow?

keep going

I suppose there's no chance of money coming into this conversation

delaval

keep going wrote: »

I suppose there's no chance of money coming into this conversation

Is that not what it's all about?

jersey101

freedominacup wrote: »

Feed to yield is fine up to around 5-6 kgs of meal per day, after that you are playing russian roulette with your cows health with 3 bullets in the the cylinder. Ketosos, acidosis and laminitis are the bullets. It's only luck rather than good judgement that avoids them above this level of concentrate feeding. The only way to feed high yielding cows is with a TMR/TMR buffer at grass. In the past we have had a 9000kg plus herd average feeding around 1.8 tonnes of concentrate per cow. A good bit higher than this with autumn calvers. No in parlour/straight concentrates whatsoever.

The guys feeding 15% less for the same milk yield were simply not doing a good management job before they put this task in the hands of a machine. That a machine can do it better than them only emphasises this point.

Trying to manage high yielders without a diet feeder is simply making a difficult job unmanageable. You will end up with good cows being culled for no reason other than deficiencies in management.

how much is that 15% worth to you in terms of money saved from meal?? How long would it take you to get tge cost of the feeders back from saving that 15%?

bob charles

jersey101 wrote: »

how much is that 15% worth to you in terms of money saved from meal?? How long would it take you to get tge cost of the feeders back from saving that 15%?

if freedom has 50 cows he saves circa 13.5t @ €280 = €3780
100 cows €7560 per year on meal costs.

Edit I didnt read back through the post as dont think Fredom said that in parlor feeders are saving 15% feed, what I taught he said having read you post. So discard my figures

delaval

bob charles wrote: »

if freedom has 50 cows he saves circa 13.5t @ €280 = €3780
100 cows €7560 per year on meal costs.

Have had TMR for years and certainly didn't save me a cent!! Cost time and money.
Very good for incorporating beet or another forage or as a trailer to an out farm.
I accept that finishing cattle is another kettle if fish.

Any cow that requires this type of micro management has no place on my farm. This leads me to thinking feed to yield could suit me better though I'd say it may not happen here. Although if the figure if 15% meal saving is accurate I'd certainly consider it as it would be a massive saving here

bob charles

delaval wrote: »

Have had TMR for years and certainly didn't save me a cent!! Cost time and money.
Very good for incorporating beet or another forage or as a trailer to an out farm.
I accept that finishing cattle is another kettle if fish.

Any cow that requires this type of micro management has no place on my farm. This leads me to thinking feed to yield could suit me better though I'd say it may not happen here. Although if the figure if 15% meal saving is accurate I'd certainly consider it as it would be a massive saving here

TMR doesnt save money on allot of farms if anything it cost allot of money. Case in point - local know all dairy farmer came into the yard 6 months ago enquiring about my feeder. I told him what he didnt want to hear and choose not to listen. The green salesmen had my for dinner and has a nice shinny feeder landed. He parting comments was that he wasnt going feeding a fancy diet like I have but was only going using it for incorporating straw in with the bales of silage. it was face palm stuff. Im delighted he bought it as a bigger B*****ks you couldnt met in a days walk

maxxuumman

delaval wrote: »

Max
As a matter of interest for comparison, what's your yield and meal per cow?

Sr 2.3 (including 42% replacements on milking block)
Yield 6800L ( 40% 1st calvers, no cows over 4th lactation)
Solids 428kgs
Meal 1150kgs , no milk from silage
Cell count 98
Tbc 9
No cases of mastitis, 1

Costs per litre 22.5
Net profit/litre including depreciation, personal wages (28k), tax, leases, etc
6c/l


On the cost of the parlour,
Parlour bought 2002, 40k, shed self build 9.5k, concrete/elec/misc about 9k

Auto wash& drafting 2006 7k

Servicing costs 1400/year, but that includes scrapers(10) and well
I'd say 950-1000 is parlour

Chemicals (acid/alkaline/peracetic/teat dip and filters) €1350

I feel violated after that

Now Delaval, tell us, since we're all baring our souls how many you milking

bob charles

so maximum a net profit of €400 a cow. is this considered excellent, average or poor? is salary of 28k before tax?