Future opportunities to Dairy farming in Ireland

trixi2011

Hi all thinking about moving home to Ireland next year due to family reasons and just trying to get a grasp of where the dairy industry is headed and what opportunities are available to young qualified farmers. I hear and read a lot about Ireland post 2015 and how dairy farming is set to rapidly expand but I still cant see a path for landless, young farmers to progress in the industry. Any views or advice would be much appreciated

grazeaway

trixi2011 wrote: »

Hi all thinking about moving home to Ireland next year due to family reasons and just trying to get a grasp of where the dairy industry is headed and what opportunities are available to young qualified farmers. I hear and read a lot about Ireland post 2015 and how dairy farming is set to rapidly expand but I still cant see a path for landless, young farmers to progress in the industry. Any views or advice would be much appreciated

This is atopic that has been talked to death on the forum lately. Some of us on here reckon there are going to be fella rushing into cows without realising what they are letting themselves in for. There is also a thought that post 2015 if the price drops and margins are squessed then fellas will be forced out. This would potentially make ready to go farm open for leasing or selling.

What is your farming background? Either way you will need a sizable about of seed money to start up even if just leasing. You might be able to lease a farm and production rights but you will probably need to buy in stock and basic machinery.

trixi2011

worked on family dairy farm with my uncle since I was a child. have been working on farms in nz and Australia since 07. Currently managing a 800 cow farm in nz. Banks out have offered me money unsecured and jobs to progress out here but really prefer to be closer to home.

49801

trixi2011 wrote: »

worked on family dairy farm with my uncle since I was a child. have been working on farms in nz and Australia since 07. Currently managing a 800 cow farm in nz. Banks out have offered me money unsecured and jobs to progress out here but really prefer to be closer to home.

Could you find a partner to go in with?

Timmaay

Despite all this talk, Ireland certainly is not NZ, and the likes of opportunities for 800 cow farms will be extremely thin on the ground here. Land availability/fragmentation will undoubtedly be the biggest limitation. I'm not trying to be negative about expansion in Ireland, it will certainly happen, but it won't be a NZ route, other than grass is the main part of the diet in both countries!

keep going

If you are1 getting good results working on farms over there you will have no problem getting results here.the biggest issue is finding suitable partners but they are out there.the biggest problem most people have is they cant get their heads around not owning land and dont realise the opportunity in being landless.it gives great flexibility in terms of location and you can take alittle more risk as you dont have an asset to lose.

trixi2011

being landless can be an opportunity all right but the only problem is it may be hard to get money from banks as I would have no security. Timmy wouldn be looking to farm 800 cows in Ireland, I've been looking for jobs on smaller herds in the last few years as I find the larger the herds the more you have to rely on staff which can be a problem with the lack of good workers here . Would be looking at something between 200- 500 I would think see a few jobs advertised lately stating that there may be the opportunity of partnership in the future is there much of this happening?

keep going

trixi2011 wrote: »

being landless can be an opportunity all right but the only problem is it may be hard to get money from banks as I would have no security. Timmy wouldn be looking to farm 800 cows in Ireland, I've been looking for jobs on smaller herds in the last few years as I find the larger the herds the more you have to rely on staff which can be a problem with the lack of good workers here . Would be looking at something between 200- 500 I would think see a few jobs advertised lately stating that there may be the opportunity of partnership in the future is there much of this happening?

But not to being nosey but have you much money gathered already, some people complain about not getting money from the banks but you find they havent accumulated any of their own either.would you have the price of 20 cows for example,

trixi2011

prob scrape together 35-40 by the end of this year prob another 7/8 coming to me if I meet all my budgets, but that's unlikely there set in a way that they are unobtainable really. :mad:

keep going

trixi2011 wrote: »

prob scrape together 35-40 by the end of this year prob another 7/8 coming to me if I meet all my budgets, but that's unlikely there set in a way that they are unobtainable really. :mad:

So thats 40000+(thats irish cow prices)nothing to be sniffed at in fairness to you.a scenario that would be ideal is someone thats needs help but has capacity for an extra say 50 cows , you could workout a deal that would suit you both with you providing labour.over time you might build up more money or assets and if could have the price of a herd of cows then you could look at leasinga place yourself .the banks would surely back you for working capital and then sure if things go well maybe they might back you on other stuff.its not easy but it wasnt and isnt easy for me to get going either but if its what you want to do it canbe done.chances are you will make more money in nz but where cdo you want to be

jaymla627

trixi2011 wrote: »

prob scrape together 35-40 by the end of this year prob another 7/8 coming to me if I meet all my budgets, but that's unlikely there set in a way that they are unobtainable really. :mad:

Would yeah not consider headin over to australia...done a year over there milking cows was pullin 1100 euros a week after tax with free house and all that....money in new zealands shockin especially with the exchange rate

milkprofit

put add. in ifj stating what u can bring to the party!!!!
if u dont look nothing will happen

delaval

trixi2011 wrote: »

Hi all thinking about moving home to Ireland next year due to family reasons and just trying to get a grasp of where the dairy industry is headed and what opportunities are available to young qualified farmers. I hear and read a lot about Ireland post 2015 and how dairy farming is set to rapidly expand but I still cant see a path for landless, young farmers to progress in the industry. Any views or advice would be much appreciated

You are right about 2015 major change with the removal of quota but not too sure if there will be dramatic and quick change

Sure there will be expansion on existing farms that have been hamgstrung by quotas for 30 years.

Not too sure if there will be many greenfield conversions. There seems to be a land grab on here at the moment as land prices are rising and letting is making funny money. You will need to be able to compete in this feeding frenzy

There has been a lot of lip service paid to landless trained farmers but the reality is that the critical mass has not been achieved to date. While there is talk and adds it seems to be large farmers looking for staff and putting in the equity line to try and show how enlightened they are, that said I imagine that there are of course genuine offers there.

An add in the Journal will do little other than solicit guys looking for milkers. Whatever you do, don't let it be known how much you can bring to the table.
First rule of negociation is don't let the other side know what's in your pocket or your mind!

You need to generate some contacts here and network as much as you can. I wish you all the best and as others have said if you'll get support there you'll get on here