First Time at This

First Time Farmer

Hi all,
I am a 28 year old male looking for a lot of advice on taking over my late fathers farm in sothh west limerick. The farm consists of 25 acre's and it is dry-ish, even after the rain we just had. He used to have to have 3 dry cattle and sell them on to slaughter house. He never kept them over Winter.

I am thinking of giving the farm yard and land a complete overhaul. I want to add extra sheds for storage of bales, turf and machinery. I also want to put down proper concrete yards and a lot of the fencing has been overgrown so dunno weather to strim all the overgrowth on the fencing around the perimeter of each field or pull it all out and re-fence it??

At current i own a Massey Ferguson 165 in very good condition, 10x6 trailer with rails, bale handler, rotary mower (5'6" cut stroke), very old hay turner, cock lifter, horsebox(maybe fit 2 small cows).

I want to invest in a tractor with a front loader. I was thinking would a 150hp tractor be enough. What other machinery would be handy to have?? Was going to invest in a topper for when its too wet to use rotary..

Any advice on which cattle to get, when to get them and how long to keep them. As for machinery any suggestions about make and models greatly appreciated.

Conmaicne Mara

Not trying to be smart but have you figured a way on turning a profit first, as you have a fair expensive list of prospective purchases.

moy83

First Time Farmer wrote: »

Hi all,
I am a 28 year old male looking for a lot of advice on taking over my late fathers farm in sothh west limerick. The farm consists of 25 acre's and it is dry-ish, even after the rain we just had. He used to have to have 3 dry cattle and sell them on to slaughter house. He never kept them over Winter.

I am thinking of giving the farm yard and land a complete overhaul. I want to add extra sheds for storage of bales, turf and machinery. I also want to put down proper concrete yards and a lot of the fencing has been overgrown so dunno weather to strim all the overgrowth on the fencing around the perimeter of each field or pull it all out and re-fence it??

At current i own a Massey Ferguson 165 in very good condition, 10x6 trailer with rails, bale handler, rotary mower (5'6" cut stroke), very old hay turner, cock lifter, horsebox(maybe fit 2 small cows).

I want to invest in a tractor with a front loader. I was thinking would a 150hp tractor be enough. What other machinery would be handy to have?? Was going to invest in a topper for when its too wet to use rotary..

Any advice on which cattle to get, when to get them and how long to keep them. As for machinery any suggestions about make and models greatly appreciated.

I think 150hp is overkill , 80 to 100 hp should be loads for general farm work .
Is there any particular type of cattle you like ? I suppose a few weanlins to eat the grass would do the trick and hopefully leave a few pound in the autumn if you get a bit of weight on them
Dont go too wild with machinery if you can , even the 165 will do alot of work yet

caseman

Not sure if 150 hp is enough you might need to go bigger.

yellow50HX

First Time Farmer wrote: »

Hi all,
I am a 28 year old male looking for a lot of advice on taking over my late fathers farm in sothh west limerick. The farm consists of 25 acre's and it is dry-ish, even after the rain we just had. He used to have to have 3 dry cattle and sell them on to slaughter house. He never kept them over Winter.

I am thinking of giving the farm yard and land a complete overhaul. I want to add extra sheds for storage of bales, turf and machinery. I also want to put down proper concrete yards and a lot of the fencing has been overgrown so dunno weather to strim all the overgrowth on the fencing around the perimeter of each field or pull it all out and re-fence it??

At current i own a Massey Ferguson 165 in very good condition, 10x6 trailer with rails, bale handler, rotary mower (5'6" cut stroke), very old hay turner, cock lifter, horsebox(maybe fit 2 small cows).

I want to invest in a tractor with a front loader. I was thinking would a 150hp tractor be enough. What other machinery would be handy to have?? Was going to invest in a topper for when its too wet to use rotary..

Any advice on which cattle to get, when to get them and how long to keep them. As for machinery any suggestions about make and models greatly appreciated.

Not trying to be a smart arse but it was looking ok and sensible until I saw the 150 hp tractor. Why would you need it for 25 acres?

Fixing up the yard and fencing all makes perfect sense but what do you plan to farm on it? If your looking to keep some cattle and finish off grass then what you already have will be fine.

First Time Farmer

No have not figures out a way of getting a profit i want to know from here if possible how to make most money from dry cattle like when to buy and sell them and which breed and age are best. If i need to get that shopping list i will get it i was just assuming i would need it to keep land in good condition.

farmerjj

I really think you need some expert advice like teagasc or someone, because u have 25 acres and you plan on getting a 150hp tractor!!! Where is the money coming from????

sawdoubters

could you keep more sheep on it

First Time Farmer

Going to talk to my teagasc adviser this week just want a rough idea of whats involved in making a profit before i go in to see him. As for the tractor i just want a solid powerful tractor able to do all tasks effortlessly

exercise is the antidote

Instead of the 150hp tractor, have two older tractors in good order it's fierce handy, to have two workable tractors around!

TITANIUM.

We were upgrading the tractor a few years back and the lad selling it had a neat ford 46 with front loader and a concrete counter balance on the back. Perfect for a tight yard and twould go anywhere. Don't go mad machinery wise sure most of it will be sitting idle most of the time. I don't know what kind of sheds are there but if you could make the existing infrastructure work that would be great. Maybe a small two or three bay unit if you need it. Try and get your land in some kind of order first id say.
Best of luck with it anyway. And condolences to you and your family about the old man.

yellow50HX

TITANIUM. wrote: »

We were upgrading the tractor a few years back and the lad selling it had a neat ford 46 with front loader and a concrete counter balance on the back. Perfect for a tight yard and twould go anywhere. Don't go mad machinery wise sure most of it will be sitting idle most of the time. I don't know what kind of sheds are there but if you could make the existing infrastructure work that would be great. Maybe a small two or three bay unit if you need it. Try and get your land in some kind of order first id say.
Best of luck with it anyway. And condolences to you and your family about the old man.

+1

willfarmerman

Pick up a loader for your 165. A tine grab a bale fork and a 4 or 5 foot bucket. Hire in a tracked excavator for a day or two to pull heavy scrub. Burn it after extracting firewood. Fence with one strand electric fence. Assuming grass is reasonable. Buy 5 good straight bullocks born in 12 475kgs and make your debut into farming with these. Make sure to submit application for single farm payment if your dad had one. If he didn't you can rent out the maps.

farmerjj

First Time Farmer wrote: »

Going to talk to my teagasc adviser this week just want a rough idea of whats involved in making a profit before i go in to see him. As for the tractor i just want a solid powerful tractor able to do all tasks effortlessly

Not been a smartass but would you make more money renting it out?

First Time Farmer

I want to do it myself. There are 2 fields that have alot of rushes in them, i will see if its worth the effort when i speak to teagasc advisor this week

b_mac

How many acres would you need to have to be able to run a decent operation?

49801

You might make 100-150 per head in a year excluding direct payments... If your lucky.

Like others have said... Don't go mad spending money.

Miname

leave the 165 where it is. It could run a farm 3 times the size comfortably. Start clearing back the ditches and stick up a few pigtail posts and put up temp electric fence. Buy a share of cheap weanlingss and work from there. 25 acres will easily swallow up 30k just to get it in good working order. What do you need the concrete and all the sheds for? Get the farm working first before you start looking for luxuries. i know a lad with nearly identical a situation to yours, even the same machinery and he decided to stick up a shed that was just shy of 100k. He hasnt had the price of a jersey calf nor an animal on his land since. Be realistic about what you have and what you can make out of it.

Bactidiaryl

Oh ooooh. Did someone say rushes.

micraX

Plough it all and sow corn.

Dont be daft

Sounds like your starting from a very low knowledge base.

I'd hold off spending a penny until you've improved on that.

You'll spend a fortune on fencing and then, after a while, realize the handles are in the wrong place.
You'll build a shed and, after a year, realize its an awkward area in the yard.

My advice would be to follow the example of a lad I know who was in your exact position. He inherited the family farm and hadn't a clue about farming.
So he did the Green Cert. online and rented the land to a neighbour. He helped the neighbour out in the evenings when he got back from work. He eventually took back the land and yard.

I was down at his place a few weeks ago and I'm not joking, his set up would put a lot of beef guys to shame.
This is a guy who one day on a discussion group asked what a Steer was! But he wasn't afraid to ask questions or make an eijit of himself and he's the one laughing now.

micraX

Dont be daft wrote: »

Sounds like your starting from a very low knowledge base.

I'd hold off spending a penny until you've improved on that.

You'll spend a fortune on fencing and then, after a while, realize the handles are in the wrong place.
You'll build a shed and, after a year, realize its an awkward area in the yard.

My advice would be to follow the example of a lad I know who was in your exact position. He inherited the family farm and hadn't a clue about farming.
So he did the Green Cert. online and rented the land to a neighbour. He helped the neighbour out in the evenings when he got back from work. He eventually took back the land and yard.

I was down at his place a few weeks ago and I'm not joking, his set up would put a lot of beef guys to shame.
This is a guy who one day on a discussion group asked what a Steer was! But he wasn't afraid to ask questions or make an eijit of himself and he's the one laughing now.

What is a steer?

Miname

micraX wrote: »

What is a steer?

I had my ear pierrced years ago and a lad said that there are only two things that wear those steers and (something else) i presume its got to do with ear rings so. I COULD BE WRONG!

moy83

micraX wrote: »

What is a steer?

A bullock

Timmaay

I'm sorry if you are genuine here, but this whole thread sounds like a pisstake.

bogman_bass

The auld lad ran 100 acres with a 135 for years. The 165 will have no problems with 25

on the river

YOU have a great foundation to start with so slowly you can make a job of it.

165 is perfect for a small farm and you can get loaders fitted on them

I would buy a few weaning heifers and go from there.

Surely you can improve on your existing sheds before considering a new one.

on fencing i would advise you hire out a mini digger for a week and clean up any crap.

Good luck

Base price

To be honest I cannot figure out why you would need a loader at all. As the others have said the MF is more than enough. My Uncle farmed nearly 50 acres (some of it rough) with a 168, a bale lifter, PZ mower, very old Lely turner/rower and a transport box. The sheds were old but in reasonable condition.
When he died the only thing I did was got a local man in with a digger to clean the drains. I spent a few weeks redoing some of the fencing with thorny wire. I have a running battle with rushes in 2 fields but I think I am winning
Spend as little money as possible until you establish what sort of return you can get out of it.
However if you won the Lotto then go for it

milkprofit

dont buy machinery it wears out
use a contractor
put u money into stock and learn the trade first