what the most neccessary machinery you need for your livestock farm

I said

Front loader got this year godsend

F.D

A post driver, fencing has never been easier and is done when it needs to be not put off because its too much work to get a stake into the ground

GrandSoftDay

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Stick and a dog

+1, I have been told by a few auld lads that's all I need too. Don't actually have much machinery work bar a bit of spraying to do and throwing out a handful of bales.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

I'll go most unnecessary.
Diet feeder no.1
Hedge trimmer
If I could get someone to bale it would be bsler as well.
Hard to have time to service baler and know how to look after it right.
Hate diet feeder most though

Most certainly wouldn't have diet feeder there gg,very handy piece of kit especially on a dairy farm for mixing in silage,straw ,maize,beet ,brewers etc.i don't have one but if I do it'll be an abbey tub.

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Most certainly wouldn't have diet feeder there gg,very handy piece of kit especially on a dairy farm for mixing in silage,straw ,maize,beet ,brewers etc.i don't have one but if I do it'll be an abbey tub.

I think its very unnecessary tbh. 30k again all interest is included and its only worth a third of that 7 yrs later

131spanner

Bale splitter, if you've one lad driving and another taking off plastic and net it makes putting in 7 or 8 bales a handy job

Farmer Pudsey

I think a lot of fellas are getting caught up between what is necessary and what makes life handy. If you bought a farm and had nothing but land what would you need in the line of machinery.Remember most of you spare cash would be going into stock so as to make money. OP mentioned livestock farm.

Having been there and done that my own thinking is

Tractor first and Fertlizer spreader. It would not have to be top spec a 20-30 year old 2WD would get you going. You cannot grow grass with out a fertlizer so fertlizer spreader. If you consider it a machine a Electric fencer, you would manage away with that and pigtails and electric fence string. If you had the money buy both a battery and mains. After that a bale handlier at the rear will get your cattle fed.

Next a topper and a sprayer grass quality is key and on lots of farms 15-40% of what is grown is weed. If you want to reseed you need to be able to spray off yourself and also post emergence spray. Now if reseeding a frame chain harrow and a roller will it done if you can get a lad to disc.

Baling, mowing and slurry spreading can all be done by contractor. But as money comes along a 4WD tractor with a loader and bale handler. You could run most drystock operations with this amount of equipment

Conmaicne Mara

GrandSoftDay wrote: »

+1, I have been told by a few auld lads that's all I need too. Don't actually have much machinery work bar a bit of spraying to do and throwing out a handful of bales.

An ounce of breeding is worth a ton of feeding as they say

awaywithyou

Greengrass1 wrote: »

I think its very unnecessary tbh. 30k again all interest is included and its only worth a third of that 7 yrs later

Mightn't be the most necessary piece of equipment but I think it's a must have on a dairy farm and we are not machinery heads in anyway shape or form...

Greengrass1

awaywithyou wrote: »

Mightn't be the most necessary piece of equipment but I think it's a must have on a dairy farm and we are not machinery heads in anyway shape or form...

Yes I know but at the time we bought it there was lots of other things that we could have spent the money on that would have given a greater return. Like roadways and building p levels in the soil or putting in a slurry tank.
That's my biggest gripe with the diet feeder

F.D

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Yes I know but at the time we bought it there was lots of other things that we could have spent the money on that would have given a greater return. Like roadways and building p levels in the soil or putting in a slurry tank.
That's my biggest gripe with the diet feeder

It depends what you do with the feeder
if you "diet feed" by making a mix to save or utilise what feed you have
or just lump silage into it burn diesel for 20 mins and then feed it out as some people do

Dont have one but at certain times it would be handy to have especially when running tight on silage to add something else to make up the difference
But i'd need a second tractor first

Timmaay

F.D wrote: »

It depends what you do with the feeder
if you "diet feed" by making a mix to save or utilise what feed you have
or just lump silage into it burn diesel for 20 mins and then feed it out as some people do

Dont have one but at certain times it would be handy to have especially when running tight on silage to add something else to make up the difference
But i'd need a second tractor first

What about the chap who buys the diet feeder, starts feeding a fancy diet, cows milk savage for a while but then milk their backs off, requiring him to go to the nutritionist with either the diet feeder company or the local feed mill, who of course will tell him to buy more feed ha! In the context of this topic (most necessary machines for livestock farmers), I think diet feeders are well down the list for most lads with average spring milking cows!

sheebadog

Would the electric fence qualify as a machine?
I'm a bit short on hedgerows.

Gillespy

Timmaay wrote: »

What about the chap who buys the diet feeder, starts feeding a fancy diet, cows milk savage for a while but then milk their backs off, requiring him to go to the nutritionist with either the diet feeder company or the local feed mill, who of course will tell him to buy more feed ha! In the context of this topic (most necessary machines for livestock farmers), I think diet feeders are well down the list for most lads with average spring milking cows!

Who gave him the fancy diet at the start? It's not rocket science to feed cows. Same mistakes can happen with feeding in the parlour.

Diet feeders need lots of things in place to work, tractor, loader, grab, bucket, bins and good yard/feed passage layout.

But everyone will justify something if they really want it. And everything, machinery and tools have a job, today it the post driver, slurry gear yesterday, hedgecutter last week. No point trying to say which is the most necessary. Oh, dehorning crush. It would be good fun trying to hold calves by hand:)

GrandSoftDay

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

An ounce of breeding is worth a ton of feeding as they say

A bit of a way to go on that front too I think! Funny because by the time I will have it right will coincide nicely with the demise of the suckler cow in Ireland according to boards

Conmaicne Mara

GrandSoftDay wrote: »

A bit of a way to go on that front too I think! Funny because by the time I will have it right will coincide nicely with the demise of the suckler cow in Ireland according to boards

Yes, a ways to go here too. Have to buy a new ram this year, my least favourite job tbh.

Hill sheep farming days are numbered if you listen to some as well, but if you're a stick & a dog man you'll survive a lot easier than lads with big expense.

frazzledhome

Gillespy wrote: »

Who gave him the fancy diet at the start? It's not rocket science to feed cows. Same mistakes can happen with feeding in the parlour.

Diet feeders need lots of things in place to work, tractor, loader, grab, bucket, bins and good yard/feed passage layout.

But everyone will justify something if they really want it. And everything, machinery and tools have a job, today it the post driver, slurry gear yesterday, hedgecutter last week. No point trying to say which is the most necessary. Oh, dehorning crush. It would be good fun trying to hold calves by hand:)

All dehorning done here with no crate. I find it slows the job but would have someone with

Greengrass1

frazzledhome wrote: »

All dehorning done here with no crate. I find it slows the job but would have someone with

Put them in the corner of the pen between the legs.
Week old. No need to scoop out horns. Job done in two minutes

mahoney_j

Timmaay wrote: »

What about the chap who buys the diet feeder, starts feeding a fancy diet, cows milk savage for a while but then milk their backs off, requiring him to go to the nutritionist with either the diet feeder company or the local feed mill, who of course will tell him to buy more feed ha! In the context of this topic (most necessary machines for livestock farmers), I think diet feeders are well down the list for most lads with average spring milking cows!

Blame the manager for not knowing the genetic potential of his cows and how to feed them adequately throughout the year not the diet feeder which if u have cows like that is essential .agreed though about it been well down the list for ur average spring milk man

TUBBY

Necessary: Loader; bale handler; topper; shaker for machinery

Also necessary - decent contacts list for contractors, suppliers etc on phone
A good spreadsheet for keeping rolling accounts and accurate check on bottom line when a batch of cattle are finished. Helps make decisions before rushing out to buy back.

Bodacious

for me it has to be the quad.. outwintering 30+ cattle is no joke but the quad is the one thing I just cannot manage without

bbam

I would agree with the poster who said about the electric fencer.

We had no proper control on animals until we got a mains fencer. Great comfort since.

If it broke in the morning I'd have a new one bought by lunchtime !

Muckit

bbam wrote: »

If it broke in the morning I'd have a new one bought by lunchtime !

And a lad would be peppering in the meantime!! The single greatest invention of all time on any livestock farm IMO.