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Dairy Expansion: Where to start?

  • 18-11-2013 10:26pm
    #1
    TheClubMan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 269 ✭✭


    Hi folks,

    I hope that you can give me some guidance with regards to developing the farm and expanding with the quota abolishment just around the corner.

    I'm currently doing the 'Green Cert' in college and it's giving me a lot of ideas on how to make my fathers farm more productive but money and land is tight at the moment. We are currently milking 30 holstein-friesians on a 40 acre grazing block. The rest of the 70 acres is divided between younger stock and silage. Two-thirds of the land is reasonably good and well drained but needs to be reseeded and the pH improved. The other third is wet marginal land covered in rushes with drains running everywhere.

    Around the yard we have a 35 unit cubicle shed with a slatted shed, hay/straw shed, straw bedded shed, a 4 unit cow byre milking parlour and dairy, two outhouses and a silage pit. We use an international 474 for tractor work but it's in poor condition and leaking hydraulic oil everywhere.

    I'm of the opinion that 'to get money out you have to put in' and the only way I see happen is through a loan from our bank.

    These are a few areas I would like to invest in:

    * The cows are core to profit in my eyes but our herd at the moment are low yielding and fertility is poor. My plan would be to sell all of our stock and buy in high EBI young cows or heifers from the one farm and build up a new herd from scratch.

    * The parlour is old, outdated, small and not comfortable to work in. I was thinking about raising the roof and putting in a 6/7 unit herringbone on one side of the parlour and bringing the dairy up to date in general. The other option would be to either knock the existing parlour and build a new one. My dream would be to install a robot but obviously if that were to happen it would be further down the road. There is also limited space for an extension on the cubicle shed so a new one would have to be built to house larger numbers but that won't be for another few years.

    * Tackling the problem with the land is the next challenge. Do we invest money in reseeding the land and if so in one go or bit by bit. Land is tight as I said and I don't see any being available for rent or sale anytime soon which is we have to make the most of what we have. I dream of reclaiming the wet marginal land and turning it into lush grassland but how much is that going to cost? Roadways need to be improved also and extended.

    * Every farm needs a tractor. I'd be more than happy with a small cheap basic tractor with a loader that is enough to do the basic jobs around the farm like fertiliser spreading, rolling, muck spreading, feeding etc.

    Any advice on what to invest the money in and when? Maybe your your thoughts on a 5 year plan?

    I'm committed to farming with my father and I know I need to keep an off farm job to make it work but I am excited about the future of farming and taking things to the next level.

    Thanks for any help and advice!

    TheClubMan :)


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