cow roads

jersey101

http://m.donedeal.ie/mobile/for-sale/farmsheds/5274808

Would this stuff be any good for topping cow roads. All the cow roads here are just field stones and clay so it has a good solid base and is okay but not fantastic.

What way did you do you cow roads??

If ye have prices that would be handy.
Thanks

delaval

That's whats used around here we call it slig. I compacts very well but doesnt take heavy machine traffic well.

We pay 160+vat delivered but are close to pit. I cost new roads at 17/meter

Timmaay

Paid 160+vat for stuff awhile ago also. Jersey I know a chap near tinahealy who might have stuff for sale for cheap enough, can pm you on hos details.

jersey101

delaval wrote: »

That's whats used around here we call it slig. I compacts very well but doesnt take heavy machine traffic well.

We pay 160+vat delivered but are close to pit. I cost new roads at 17/meter

thanks.

How far does a load go?

We've been driving on these roads for the last 9 yr so there fairly compacted now. So just really need to top it. Would this stuff still not work well if i was driving on it all tge time?

jersey101

Timmaay wrote: »

Paid 160+vat for stuff awhile ago also. Jersey I know a chap near tinahealy who might have stuff for sale for cheap enough, can pm you on hos details.

ye do please. I was going to try get the number of the lad that did the roads this year in the greenfeilds. He brought the stone and did all the work

Sharpshooter82

I'm sure it's much the same but we use quarry dust around here for topping roads

delaval

jersey101 wrote: »

thanks.

How far does a load go?

We've been driving on these roads for the last 9 yr so there fairly compacted now. So just really need to top it. Would this stuff still not work well if i was driving on it all tge time?

By driving I mean it doesn't make a good yard

jersey101

delaval wrote: »

By driving I mean it doesn't make a good yard

ah okay. Ill be driving up and down these with tankers and trailers and fert spreader and the likes

bob charles

do roads not belong in the high cost system

mf240

jersey101 wrote: »

ah okay. Ill be driving up and down these with tankers and trailers and fert spreader and the likes

Will be fine for that. Where it wouldn't suit is around the yard where you would be on it every single day.

Put down slig here and it's a great job. No bruised feet as it tracks in smooth. Would need other stuff in the bottom if it's a new road.

mahoney_j

bob charles wrote: »

do roads not belong in the high cost system

Good man bob keep it up!!!!!

mf240

bob charles wrote: »

do roads not belong in the high cost system

No bob your allowed roads as long as you put them in in a bad year.

The rules are really simple. Borrow as much as possible. No paying out of cash flow.
No meal no diet feeders no roofs and no big cows.

Black and white cows allowed as long as they have brown tips to their ears.

Cull cow value and calf value is to be minimised as its not real money and only hassle. Our local shop still takes money from the calf sales and the factory but this is being kept under review.

Any increase in solids is to be rejoiced like the second coming even if a lot of it is got from a reduction in volume.

Cows must be released from the stand of pad in early jan so they can stand under the ditch for a few hours.
It is imperative that the are allowed do this before the first discussion group meeting as if you still had your cows in (or should I say on). You would be a laughing stock.

bob charles

mf240 wrote: »

No bob your allowed roads as long as you put them in in a bad year.

The rules are really simple. Borrow as much as possible. No paying out of cash flow.
No meal no diet feeders no roofs and no big cows.

Black and white cows allowed as long as they have brown tips to their ears.

Cull cow value and calf value is to be minimised as its not real money and only hassle. Our local shop still takes money from the calf sales and the factory but this is being kept under review.

Any increase in solids is to be rejoiced like the second coming even if a lot of it is got from a reduction in volume.

Cows must be released from the stand of pad in early jan so they can stand under the ditch for a few hours.
It is imperative that the are allowed do this before the first discussion group meeting as if you still had your cows in (or should I say on). You would be a laughing stock.

now, now

mahoney_j

bob charles wrote: »

now, now

Oh Jesus

Sam Kade

That shale or pencil as it is sometimes called here will only last a couple of years as it will go into dust and dissapear. Waste of time using it for anything.

jersey101

Sam Kade wrote: »

That shale or pencil as it is sometimes called here will only last a couple of years as it will go into dust and dissapear. Waste of time using it for anything.

Thanks for that. I dont want to be having tore do it in 5yr time. Ill go gor the proper slig so. The lad that did the greenfields this year broyght the stone and did the whole job.

jersey101

mf240 wrote: »

No bob your allowed roads as long as you put them in in a bad year.

The rules are really simple. Borrow as much as possible. No paying out of cash flow.
No meal no diet feeders no roofs and no big cows.

Black and white cows allowed as long as they have brown tips to their ears.

Cull cow value and calf value is to be minimised as its not real money and only hassle. Our local shop still takes money from the calf sales and the factory but this is being kept under review.

Any increase in solids is to be rejoiced like the second coming even if a lot of it is got from a reduction in volume.

Cows must be released from the stand of pad in early jan so they can stand under the ditch for a few hours.
It is imperative that the are allowed do this before the first discussion group meeting as if you still had your cows in (or should I say on). You would be a laughing stock.

Ah now come on everyine to there own.

My Father startef out 35 year ago with nothing and had bought 40 acres and was milking 50 of these bad jerseys and crossbreds ye all talk about Had no sheds and built it all from the ground up now he's farming 120 acres and milking 80 of these. Not a bad goin for a man that started with nothing and got laughed at all his life

delaval

jersey101 wrote: »

Ah now come on everyine to there own.

My Father startef out 35 year ago with nothing and had bought 40 acres and was milking 50 of these bad jerseys and crossbreds ye all talk about Had no sheds and built it all from the ground up now he's farming 120 acres and milking 80 of these. Not a bad goin for a man that started with nothing and got laughed at all his life

Jersey
Don't worry that's meant for me. Remember my post about lads laughing at us.
But in fairness it's a good post. If Daddy had set us all up I might be worried about keeping up appearances but that's not something that worries me. Keeping up payments for buying land is what I'm most concerned about.

jersey101

delaval wrote: »

Jersey
Don't worry that's meant for me. Remember my post about lads laughing at us.
But in fairness it's a good post. If Daddy had set us all up I might be worried about keeping up appearances but that's not something that worries me. Keeping up payments for buying land is what I'm most concerned about.

ha well daddy will be setting me up now but ill have alot of loans dumped on me too i prefere keep to meself any way right nosey lot of neighbours i have around me wouldnt want to listen to any thing they say normally half lies ha

moy83

Would it be regular enough for loans to be passed down when taking over a farm ?

keep going

We have plenty old rock around this place for roads thats for sure but the surface is not great, often wondered could these stone crushers used in land reclamation be used on farm roads

Mulumpy

moy83 wrote: »

Would it be regular enough for loans to be passed down when taking over a farm ?

Loans left on farm when I took over but only couple of years left on them. Def no complaints cos gives me a platform for budgeting for anything I borrow in the future.

jersey101

moy83 wrote: »

Would it be regular enough for loans to be passed down when taking over a farm ?

would expect so cant expect to take over a place and not be handed the loans too.

moy83

jersey101 wrote: »

would expect so cant expect to take over a place and not be handed the loans too.

I suppose if its for expansion its probably no harm , but if I was coming up to retirement age I would like a few years debt free first to sit back and put a few bob into my own pocket

bob charles

loans bigger than the value of the place are often passed on aswell to unfortunate young guys and girls.

moy83

bob charles wrote: »

loans bigger than the value of the place are often passed on aswell to unfortunate young guys and girls.

Thankfully my father was not a borrower , except for 22000 he had to borrow for one of the sheds when his back got too bad to barrow out ****e from the cubicles the cows were in . Ironicly he wouldnt go the extra 5000 for automatic scrapers so he was still shoving the hand scraper :rolleyes:

bob charles

moy83 wrote: »

Thankfully my father was not a borrower , except for 22000 he had to borrow for one of the sheds when his back got too bad to barrow out ****e from the cubicles the cows were in . Ironicly he wouldnt go the extra 5000 for automatic scrapers so he was still shoving the hand scraper :rolleyes:

pitty he didnt borrow it a good few years earlier and looked after his physical health better. Somehow I dont fancy not being able to move from work inflicted injuries if im around in 30 yrs time.

moy83

bob charles wrote: »

pitty he didnt borrow it a good few years earlier and looked after his physical health better. Somehow I dont fancy not being able to move from work inflicted injuries if im around in 30 yrs time.

Tru dat , but he said when he had 4 young kids he was happier to put it on the table and not to have to worry about the bank manager . He also has an ulcer the size of my fist on his stomach from his hardworking days .
In fairness since he gave up milking and started taking it easier the back hasnt bothered him at all

mf240

delaval wrote: »

Jersey
Don't worry that's meant for me.

Not aimed at anyone in particular, just a tongue in cheek post about the extreme grass men.

Dont think anybody would try to knock what you have achieved.

cattle man

mf240 wrote: »

No bob your allowed roads as long as you put them in in a bad year.

The rules are really simple. Borrow as much as possible. No paying out of cash flow.
No meal no diet feeders no roofs and no big cows.

Black and white cows allowed as long as they have brown tips to their ears.

Cull cow value and calf value is to be minimised as its not real money and only hassle. Our local shop still takes money from the calf sales and the factory but this is being kept under review.

Any increase in solids is to be rejoiced like the second coming even if a lot of it is got from a reduction in volume.

Cows must be released from the stand of pad in early jan so they can stand under the ditch for a few hours.
It is imperative that the are allowed do this before the first discussion group meeting as if you still had your cows in (or should I say on). You would be a laughing stock.

The facts are simple grass is cheapest feed available to every farmer in this country and good roads are critical to maxsimising this cheap feed. and targeting the grass based system allowing the 290 day grazing season to be targeted. Then obviously the meal won't be need the feeder would be parked and the sheds would be left empty if the road network is there to get the grass into the cow. we are now payed on solids so why focus on anything else and if a small Cow can do this while not damaging pastures and maximising ms per hectare then she is obviously the cow for the job. Finally if you are in the business of producing maximum milk solids per hectare at a low cost then cull value shouldn't be taking priority over this.

bob charles

cattle man wrote: »

The facts are simple grass is cheapest feed available to every farmer in this country and good roads are critical to maxsimising this cheap feed. and targeting the grass based system allowing the 290 day grazing season to be targeted.

Is "this country" you speak of Ireland, cos if so, allot of what you said is B*****ks for many on here. 290 day grazing season where there is actually enough grass to have the cow/cattle out grazing is pie in the sky for 75% of farms in Ireland. Dont be completely blinkered about some of the sh*te what our dairy advisory Teagasc spout out. A good farming mix of everything will always win out.

keep going

bob charles wrote: »

Is "this country" you speak of Ireland, cos if so, allot of what you said is B*****ks for many on here. 290 day grazing season where there is actually enough grass to have the cow/cattle out grazing is pie in the sky for 75% of farms in Ireland. Dont be completely blinkered about some of the sh*te what our dairy advisory Teagasc spout out. A good farming mix of everything will always win out.

Maybe you are right but if you do manage it you can certainly make nice money at it and thats my experiance not teagasc or someone elses.lhave swedes kale and beet this year but still think grass is the king.the price per ton is only so much of the story, its the way you can simplify the system thats where the money is

cattle man

bob charles wrote: »

Is "this country" you speak of Ireland, cos if so, allot of what you said is B*****ks for many on here. 290 day grazing season where there is actually enough grass to have the cow/cattle out grazing is pie in the sky for 75% of farms in Ireland. Dont be completely blinkered about some of the sh*te what our dairy advisory Teagasc spout out. A good farming mix of everything will always win out.

Yes this is Ireland and yes 75% or even more of the farms in Ireland aren't achieving this. But the question is. this because its not possible or because they simlple aren't trying to achieve it. I have seen a lot of good farms over the last couple of years both here and in Nz and realistically it's down to the manager and management not the land. I was on the teagasc wet farm sole head in Tipperary this year and through on off grazing this was still targeting and achieving 290 days at grass.

moy83

Does on off grazing effect the milk flow ?

delaval

jersey101 wrote: »

Ah now come on everyine to there own.

My Father startef out 35 year ago with nothing and had bought 40 acres and was milking 50 of these bad jerseys and crossbreds ye all talk about Had no sheds and built it all from the ground up now he's farming 120 acres and milking 80 of these. Not a bad goin for a man that started with nothing and got laughed at all his life

Imagine if he had real 'good' cows and built the shed and parlour with the bells and whistles before he got the cows.
He'd have done a lot better starting from scratch.
Remember you can only milk cows if you have all the toys. Most important to have the toys in place because whatever happens the cow comes first even if you don't have any

Going forward...

Imagine if he had a sense of humour though.

delaval

Going forward... wrote: »

Imagine if he had a sense of humour though.

Think we should leave the good humour posts to MF240 as there are some classics in his posts

jersey101

delaval wrote: »

Imagine if he had real 'good' cows and built the shed and parlour with the bells and whistles before he got the cows.
He'd have done a lot better starting from scratch.
Remember you can only milk cows if you have all the toys. Most important to have the toys in place because whatever happens the cow comes first even if you don't have any

he loved the toys had a fork and shovel and a little farmall.

cattle man

moy83 wrote: »

Does on off grazing effect the milk flow ?

Yes there would be a increase in solids when compared to feeding silage and obviously at a reduced cost compared to silage and meal. I tink the Sole head farm were doing 400 ish solids per cow and stocked at 2.8 ish Ish if I remember correctly it was last march when I was there.

bob charles

cattle man wrote: »

Yes this is Ireland and yes 75% or even more of the farms in Ireland aren't achieving this. But the question is. this because its not possible or because they simlple aren't trying to achieve it. I have seen a lot of good farms over the last couple of years both here and in Nz and realistically it's down to the manager and management not the land. I was on the teagasc wet farm sole head in Tipperary this year and through on off grazing this was still targeting and achieving 290 days at grass.

Cattleman do you consider the Solohead farm wet?

joejobrien

cattle man wrote: »

Yes this is Ireland and yes 75% or even more of the farms in Ireland aren't achieving this. But the question is. this because its not possible or because they simlple aren't trying to achieve it. I have seen a lot of good farms over the last couple of years both here and in Nz and realistically it's down to the manager and management not the land. I was on the teagasc wet farm sole head in Tipperary this year and through on off grazing this was still targeting and achieving 290 days at grass.

the teagasc farm in solohead is not that wet, I know it may be wet to some ,however alot of people would be very glad of there farm. There farm has lots and lots of drainage done, some people say well in excess fifty years!!!
Very few farms would have the funds to carry out the drainage programme that teagasc have. so it maybe easy to get 290 days ....if that is beliveable

bob charles

joejobrien wrote: »

the teagasc farm in solohead is not that wet, I know it may be wet to some ,however alot of people would be very glad of there farm. There farm has lots and lots of drainage done, some people say well in excess fifty years!!!
Very few farms would have the funds to carry out the drainage programme that teagasc have. so it maybe easy to get 290 days ....if that is beliveable

I would agree, Solohead land is not wet land coupled with oodles of money spent each year on drainage. I would like to put the Teagasc lads into some proper wet land and see the outcome. Do they run a farm in west Clare?

Cows maybe out 290 days but are they actually grazing or just standing waiting to come back in so that the farmer can willy wave to all and sundry.

Going forward...

bob charles wrote: »

Cows maybe out 290 days but are they actually grazing or just standing waiting to come back in so that the farmer can willy wave to all and sundry.

Whilst bemoaning the fact their daddies didn't love them.:p I think you're right, 3-4kg/dm isn't of much use in reality but serves that purpose beautifully.

Solohead is an impressive farm, their use of clover especially. Of course we all know clover thrives on wet land.

cattle man

joejobrien wrote: »

the teagasc farm in solohead is not that wet, I know it may be wet to some ,however alot of people would be very glad of there farm. There farm has lots and lots of drainage done, some people say well in excess fifty years!!!
Very few farms would have the funds to carry out the drainage programme that teagasc have. so it maybe easy to get 290 days ....if that is beliveable

Yes I agree the sole head farm is not that wet now after all the drainage works carried out. But does this not tell you that your money would be better invested In drainage and reseeding then in a fancy cubicle house which hopefully the cows will only spend 2 ta 3 months in where as they could potentially be getting the benefit of the investment in drainage and road infrastructure for 290 days of the year.

cattle man

bob charles wrote: »

I would agree, Solohead land is not wet land coupled with oodles of money spent each year on drainage. I would like to put the Teagasc lads into some proper wet land and see the outcome. Do they run a farm in west Clare?

Cows maybe out 290 days but are they actually grazing or just standing waiting to come back in so that the farmer can willy wave to all and sundry.

Yes they have a wet farm project In kilbeg in Clare I think. Also have one In Limerick and that really is a wet wet wet farm, but drainage works were to begin this year on that and I think he said he achieve 270 days at grass last year

jersey101

Ye can give out about teagasc all ye want. But someone has to do the reseach. Ye dont take there word for gospel but ye take from it what ye want. Where would farming in ireland be without teagasc.

My grandad always remembers going to the first discussion group in his area and remembers being told to dump the FYM and forget about it and spread as much N as ye can buy. He never went to a meeting for years which was a bad thing i suppose. I learnt alot listeng to what the grandad used to say when i was young. My point is take what ye want from all these research's don't live by it. After all its all done on perfect scenarios not real working farms. After all they only tell ye what they want you to here. Sure if the greenfeilds in KK worked like its was supposed to dairying in ireland would be expected to go the same way.

nashmach

Don't Teagasc have a research farm in Kilmaley (sp.), thought that was wet heavy land?

bob charles

nashmach wrote: »

Don't Teagasc have a research farm in Kilmaley (sp.), thought that was wet heavy land?

I think so, whether its fully owned and run by them someone else maybe able to tell. That should be better bad land :D

Milked out

cattle man wrote: »

Yes there would be a increase in solids when compared to feeding silage and obviously at a reduced cost compared to silage and meal. I tink the Sole head farm were doing 400 ish solids per cow and stocked at 2.8 ish Ish if I remember correctly it was last march when I was there.

There would be an increase if the winter diet isn't up to scratch, generally I see no increase in yields when cows go out, particularly in feb if weather is difficult, I would hope to be out from feb to nov, but it is totally weather dependant the main reason I can is because about 60% of my land is dry, the other 40% is genrally not grazed till march as the ground needs time after a normal winter to soak up. And yes there are roadways with access to both sides of the paddocks and drainage recently carried out and done so every few years. Strip graze paddocks all year round here

Milked out

delaval wrote: »

That's whats used around here we call it slig. I compacts very well but doesnt take heavy machine traffic well.

We pay 160+vat delivered but are close to pit. I cost new roads at 17/meter

Hi delaval, what process/ material do you use to put down a new road at that price? Would breaking rock on farm be cheaper than buying the necessary material from the quarry, etc

td5man

What material do people find best for finishing roads, i find quarry dust can lift in big patches if you drive on it with dirty wheels.
There used to be inch down from a lime quarry available round here it set like concrete.