Robot milking 60 cows

farmerman

Hi folks I'm looking for a bit of advice so any ye have would be greatly appreciated!
I'm currently finishing my degree in ag science and when I finish I hope to find a job suitable job in maybe a feed merchants or something similar. However we also have a farm at home which i am very interested in running and feel my parents would be on board with me having a say in the running of the farm and its direction. The farm we have is not big, it only consists of 60 acres with 40 acres around the yard but I am an ambitious lad and wish to convert the farm from its current tillage and beef operation to possibly a dairy farm. I know that I haven't the land to run a large scale farm but my plan is (and this is where I'm looking for the advice): I would hope to possibly build a cubicle shed and put in robot with the view to milking 60 cows on the land around the yard, I am however wondering would this be viable as I would hope to maintain a job aswell. I wound obviously have to have a flexible job where I could fit work in around the farming. I do realise that having 60 cows on 40 acres is stocking at 3.7 cows/ha which is high but I would look to possible rent some neighbouring land while using the other 20 acres block along with some rented ground for silage and replacements. The reason for my interest in dairy is I have worked on dairy farms since I was very young and have a very good knowledge of what's involved so I'm certainly not going in obvlious to the work requirement.
Would ye reckon it is economically viable idea or is it just a pipe dream that will always remain that way?? Any advice and tips would be greatly appreciated

Farmer Ed

farmerman wrote: »

Hi folks I'm looking for a bit of advice so any ye have would be greatly appreciated!
I'm currently finishing my degree in ag science and when I finish I hope to find a job suitable job in maybe a feed merchants or something similar. However we also have a farm at home which i am very interested in running and feel my parents would be on board with me having a say in the running of the farm and its direction. The farm we have is not big, it only consists of 60 acres with 40 acres around the yard but I am an ambitious lad and wish to convert the farm from its current tillage and beef operation to possibly a dairy farm. I know that I haven't the land to run a large scale farm but my plan is (and this is where I'm looking for the advice): I would hope to possibly build a cubicle shed and put in robot with the view to milking 60 cows on the land around the yard, I am however wondering would this be viable as I would hope to maintain a job aswell. I wound obviously have to have a flexible job where I could fit work in around the farming. I do realise that having 60 cows on 40 acres is stocking at 3.7 cows/ha which is high but I would look to possible rent some neighbouring land while using the other 20 acres block along with some rented ground for silage and replacements. The reason for my interest in dairy is I have worked on dairy farms since I was very young and have a very good knowledge of what's involved so I'm certainly not going in obvlious to the work requirement.
Would ye reckon it is economically viable idea or is it just a pipe dream that will always remain that way?? Any advice and tips would be greatly appreciated

My advice would be to wait a while and see how this whole dairy thing starts to pan out. If it improves maybe its not a pipe dream. But at the moment the way things are to be honest it's not looking good.

As for keeping down a job with a robot? Your boss would need to be flexible.
A robot is labour saying for sure,but you will get alam calls. Think of it as being a bit like having a pregnant wife.

Kilmac1

Put in a robot this year and you would need to be working close or be able to leave at anytime if something goes wrong and it isn't as easy as throw the robot in and let's the cows at it you need to spend time training the cows and watching them for aleast first few weeks

Greengrass1

Kilmac1 wrote: »

Put in a robot this year and you would need to be working close or be able to leave at anytime if something goes wrong and it isn't as easy as throw the robot in and let's the cows at it you need to spend time training the cows and watching them for aleast first few weeks

Nice to see a poster here with a robot. Hopefully you'll keep up the posting. Love the idea of robots but not for us atm

Greengrass1

Op what state is the land in? Was tillage land well looked after? I'd strongly urge you not to stock at 3.7 day 1. You won't be able to grow the grass imo. Build up the stocking rate from 2.6 over a few yrs when you grow the grass.

We're nearly into our 13th yr here after we bought and turned a tillage farm that was rented out and turned it into dairying. Only last 3 yrs were growing proper grass and we'll be at 2.6 cows/ha for the coming season and my parents had 30 yrs of dairy farming under there belts

Farmer Ed

Kilmac1 wrote: »

Put in a robot this year and you would need to be working close or be able to leave at anytime if something goes wrong and it isn't as easy as throw the robot in and let's the cows at it you need to spend time training the cows and watching them for aleast first few weeks

To be fair the first year is the hardest it gets better when both man and beast get used to it.

Timmaay

Unless you can milk 100+ moving forward forget about it

Farmer Ed

Timmaay wrote: »

Unless you can milk 100+ moving forward forget about it

Maybe? Maybe not? I think the key thing is not to stretch yourself.

The size of your borrowing may have more to do with your likelihood of survival than the size of your herd.

I'd wait and see. Just remember. If you install a robot. A big part of the cost is the installation. So if you decide to get out in a year or two. You're going to take a big hit on the value of it. This is a long term commitment. Dairying at the moment isn't the licence to print money some would have you believe. I'm not trying to pour cold water over your dream, but it's a very uncertain time in dairying. I'd definitely wait a year or two before I'd make up my mind if I were you.

djmc

I will just add that dairying is a full time job and it would be hard to hold down another job and do it right especially around calving time and even summer time will be busy with grass management slurry silage.
It's not a job for ageing parents either as its probably more labor demanding than any other type of farming.

farmerman

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Op what state is the land in? Was tillage land well looked after? I'd strongly urge you not to stock at 3.7 day 1. You won't be able to grow the grass imo. Build up the stocking rate from 2.6 over a few yrs when you grow the grass.

We're nearly into our 13th yr here after we bought and turned a tillage farm that was rented out and turned it into dairying. Only last 3 yrs were growing proper grass and we'll be at 2.6 cows/ha for the coming season and my parents had 30 yrs of dairy farming under there belts

Hi greengrasss I understand where your coming from fully as I've always wondered about the ability to grow grass given that most of the farm has been in continuous spring barley for 20 years or more, but in recent years I've began to convince my father to rotate crops more with beans and wholecrop silage being sown and grass fields being rotated. We also for the last5 years have been sowing cover crops in the winter to help soil structure and also OM content. I would be sceptical to the difference these would've made to the ground though in such a short time. As regards soil levels we'd be index 2 for both P& K.
Also just in regards profitability I see a lot of figures thrown around of people making between 500-700 profit per cow, given that your a dairy farmer would you agree with these figures or are they over inflated and blow out of proportion?? Regards

kowtow

I suppose what would concern me is that robot or not in a small herd you are always going to need to maximise milk sale value / animal value to make any sense of fixed costs.

And however you do that, from milk solids to niche products to pedigree breeding.... it's unlikely to be a part time operation if it is to succeed.

Selling commodity milk and hoping to expand in due course is one approach but with high initial and maintenance costs I can't see it leaving enough to be worth expanding.

farmerman

kowtow wrote: »

I suppose what would concern me is that robot or not in a small herd you are always going to need to maximise milk sale value / animal value to make any sense of fixed costs.

And however you do that, from milk solids to niche products to pedigree breeding.... it's unlikely to be a part time operation if it is to succeed.

Selling commodity milk and hoping to expand in due course is one approach but with high initial and maintenance costs I can't see it leaving enough to be worth expanding.

As a second income to supplement my job would you not see it as viable given the fact that I wouldn't be relying on this as my sole wage?

stretch film

farmerman wrote: »

As a second income to supplement my job would you not see it as viable given the fact that I wouldn't be relying on this as my sole wage?

you forgot to pay the folks!!!!!

kowtow

farmerman wrote:

As a second income to supplement my job would you not see it as viable given the fact that I wouldn't be relying on this as my sole wage?

Whether or not you have an external income doesn't make a jot of difference to the economic viability of your dairy farm in the strict sense.

If you are using your present income to fund the growth of a dairy farm in anticipation if it becoming a full time operation that's a slightly different thing... either way front loaded Costs like robots would make me nervous.

Successful dairy farming in my experience tends to be something of a vocation... be careful that you are not developing a very expensive hobby indeed.

Farmer Ed

farmerman wrote: »

Hi greengrasss I understand where your coming from fully as I've always wondered about the ability to grow grass given that most of the farm has been in continuous spring barley for 20 years or more, but in recent years I've began to convince my father to rotate crops more with beans and wholecrop silage being sown and grass fields being rotated. We also for the last5 years have been sowing cover crops in the winter to help soil structure and also OM content. I would be sceptical to the difference these would've made to the ground though in such a short time. As regards soil levels we'd be index 2 for both P& K.
Also just in regards profitability I see a lot of figures thrown around of people making between 500-700 profit per cow, given that your a dairy farmer would you agree with these figures or are they over inflated and blow out of proportion?? Regards

Human nature being human nature. few people want to be the worst farmer in the discussion group. Profit per cow will depend on a lot of things of course but milk price is a huge factor at the moment. I don't know but I think it would take a very clever person to predict with certainty what profit will be going forward.
There has been a lot of speculation about us all getting rich feeding Chinese babies. There are so many other factors at play I'm convinced that's all it is just speculation. There may well yet be a silver lining to this yet. But I certainly would be adapting a wait and see approach. Maybe rear some heifers and make up your mind when they are nearly ready to be milked? Could also be a good way of testing how much grass the place can grow.

ganmo

Find a meal rep and ask them what's their busy & quiet times
Then think of the busy times on dairy farms.
You'll be limiting your career hugely if you're tied to a dairy farm

farmerman

stretch film wrote: »

you forgot to pay the folks!!!!!

That could be the hardest paid bill of the whole lot!!!!! I'd still like to think though that given what we're making now on the farm ( very little if any ) that between myself and the parents we'd make more at the bit of dairy even though it obviously won't be a fortune, but between there wages and my own wage that it'd top them up.

farmerman

Farmer Ed wrote: »

Human nature being human nature. few people want to be the worst farmer in the discussion group. Profit per cow will depend on a lot of things of course but milk price is a huge factor at the moment. I don't know but I think it would take a very clever person to predict with certainty what profit will be going forward.
There has been a lot of speculation about us all getting rich feeding Chinese babies. There are so many other factors at play I'm convinced that's all it is just speculation. There may well yet be a silver lining to this yet. But I certainly would be adapting a wait and see approach. Maybe rear some heifers and make up your mind when they are nearly ready to be milked? Could also be a good way of testing how much grass the place can grow.

I had also though of contract heifers rearing as a start of venture with the aim depending on how it goes to transition to dairying after a few years. I have a field reseeded last autumn form continuous tillage which I am going to start measuring grass growth on this year to hopefully give myself a rough idea of what capability the farm has to grown grass. But given the fact it's good land I suspect that if I had P&k levels right and raise OM a bit that it would have good potential. Dairy farmers around me have told me that they are growing anywhere in the range of 12 - 14 DM/ha. So the land certainly has the potential to get it out of it is the main thing.

Farmer Ed

farmerman wrote: »

I had also though of contract heifers rearing as a start of venture with the aim depending on how it goes to transition to dairying after a few years. I have a field reseeded last autumn form continuous tillage which I am going to start measuring grass growth on this year to hopefully give myself a rough idea of what capability the farm has to grown grass. But given the fact it's good land I suspect that if I had P&k levels right and raise OM a bit that it would have good potential. Dairy farmers around me have told me that they are growing anywhere in the range of 12 - 14 DM/ha. So the land certainly has the potential to get it out of it is the main thing.

It could be a great way of dipping your toe in the water.

alps

farmerman wrote: »

Hi greengrasss I understand where your coming from fully as I've always wondered about the ability to grow grass given that most of the farm has been in continuous spring barley for 20 years or more, but in recent years I've began to convince my father to rotate crops more with beans and wholecrop silage being sown and grass fields being rotated. We also for the last5 years have been sowing cover crops in the winter to help soil structure and also OM content. I would be sceptical to the difference these would've made to the ground though in such a short time. As regards soil levels we'd be index 2 for both P& K.
Also just in regards profitability I see a lot of figures thrown around of people making between 500-700 profit per cow, given that your a dairy farmer would you agree with these figures or are they over inflated and blow out of proportion?? Regards

Your profitability figures are correct and are underestimated for a good efficient operation. However straight off, the system you propose will set you back up to 6,000 per cow to initiate, and that won't be viable.

I would believe that you will need to give commitment time and effort to your job to make the very best of it, to get results for yourself and for your employers. Tipping off to look after small issues at home just won't cut it with most employers, especially in a sales environment. You will need to be consistent with your time and effort and cannot be sure of that with a robot.

It's obvious that you have a serious interest in milking cows, and I'm sure there are many ways that you can achieve that. Have you given any thought to a full time career in Dairy farming? Your interest and educational background would give you a distinct advantage over most. Your home Farm could be a back up to a rented platform with existing facilities. Are you really interested in a job?

tractorporn

Farmer Ed wrote:

It could be a great way of dipping your toe in the water.

+1

Contract rearing could be a good way of getting yourself set up, and by that I mean you could start working, have stock and experience built up, have some capital for investment and most importantly have figured out if working and milking was a feasible option.

If you have a good working relationship built up with your employer over a few years they may allow you to drop to a 3 day week, not many would be that flexible from day one of working.

Farmer Ed

If milk price is to improve significantly and stay at sustainably high levels then maybe you might have a shot at making a go of it. But some Co Ops are privately predicting lows of 22c this year. Not much money in that for a full time farmers renting land at 300 per acre.

I did a business course a while back the lecturer gave us an example of two types of businesses. Blue ocean businesses and red ocean business.

Blue ocean businesses were given as an example of businesses that have little competition and no sharks to attack you.
Red ocean businesses were given as a example of businesses that are very competitive and full of sharks.

My own view is that competing for land at 300 per acre and producing milk that will be processed it to a commodity for sale on a very competitive world market, falls very much it to the model of a red ocean business..Proceed with caution.

Dawggone

Timmaay wrote: »

Unless you can milk 100+ moving forward forget about it

I nearly got my head blown off for saying that a couple of years ago.

Bass Reeves

Timmaay wrote: »

Unless you can milk 100+ moving forward forget about it

Not necessiarly. 70 cows is calculated to be the most efficient for a single labour unit above that you have to allow for external labour. A well run 60-80 cow herd will give a good living. Milk is unlike beef or Tillage in that as scale rises other factor come in to play faster as labour, production and skill become overriding factors.

It is taught that milk at about 23/24c/l is equivlent to drystock and a small tillage operation may be no better. A robotic unit milking 60 cows or slightly less may well be viable. I think they are grant funded at a low level. However if working capital allowances and farm losses are allowable against external income.

Biggest issue will be training cows first day to system after that on average about 10/year will need to be trained in. Would hybrid cows be better in this system. Cost you system off an average milk cost of 32c/L. If you parents are still young enough to give a hand it may well be a good time to start. Even if you fail the unit will have a second hand value maybe at 50% of it first day value.

Your land block is a bit small idealy 50 acres in one block would be minimum required and idealy 60. However if able to lease adjacent to you at an affordable rate then this may change the econimics in your favour. As other lads point out be slow to push stocking rates at the start. Usually with robot's high production cows are usually used to spread cost over more litres. In your case longterm maybe a low to mid production may be more viable giving less issues.

Is it viable with an average turn over of 1800/cow in a low cost operation.

Dawggone

Kilmac1 wrote: »

Put in a robot this year and you would need to be working close or be able to leave at anytime if something goes wrong and it isn't as easy as throw the robot in and let's the cows at it you need to spend time training the cows and watching them for aleast first few weeks

Hi Kilmac, I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on robots.
Has scc remained the same as pre robots?


The 'big' question...can you head off for long weekends and trust the robots?

Farmer Ed

Dawggone wrote: »

Hi Kilmac, I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on robots.
Has scc remained the same as pre robots?


The 'big' question...can you head off for long weekends and trust the robots?

Scc should be ok I haven't seen any difference. Some claim they have improved. As for long weekends you will still need someone on call.

Dawggone

Farmer Ed wrote: »

Scc should be ok I haven't seen any difference. Some claim they have improved. As for long weekends you will still need someone on call.

Have you robots?

Sam Kade

Why do new entrants have to jump in at the deep end? You'd want a wagon load of money stashed away to start from scratch to build up a dairy herd or else a very friendly bank manager.

ganmo

Sam Kade wrote: »

Why do new entrants have to jump in at the deep end? You'd want a wagon load of money stashed away to start from scratch to build up a dairy herd or else a very friendly bank manager.

haven't you heard, they're 'backing brave'

Farmer Ed

Dawggone wrote: »

Have you robots?

Maybe? But I wouldn't be bosting too much about it on here. Their rare enough yet around these parts yet. Let's say I do have a fair bit of experience with them yes. First year is the hardest and maintenance cost are a bit higher than a basic milking parlour. But alarm calls seem to be getting fewer and farther between as both farmer and the robot manufacturer learn to iron out avoidable problems.

Dawggone

Sam Kade wrote: »

Why do new entrants have to jump in at the deep end? You'd want a wagon load of money stashed away to start from scratch to build up a dairy herd or else a very friendly bank manager.

Talking to an uncle of mine over the Xmas and he was thinking the same. He reckons that it's a hangover from the tiger years...everyone wanted a new house but it had to be turnkey...move in and cut the lawn!

Deepsouthwest

Farmer Ed wrote: »

Maybe? But I wouldn't be bosting too much about it on here. Their rare enough yet around these parts yet. Let's say I do have a fair bit of experience with them yes. First year is the hardest and maintenance cost are a bit higher than a basic milking parlour. But alarm calls seem to be getting fewer and farther between as both farmer and the robot manufacturer learn to iron out avoidable problems.

That's a no so!

Dawggone

Farmer Ed wrote: »

Maybe? But I wouldn't be bosting too much about it on here. Their rare enough yet around these parts yet. Let's say I do have a fair bit of experience with them yes. First year is the hardest and maintenance cost are a bit higher than a basic milking parlour. But alarm calls seem to be getting fewer and farther between as both farmer and the robot manufacturer learn to iron out avoidable problems.

Had the Dept. here this am to inspect milking parlor. It's free, they send out a technician and test the milking machine, if there are any probs you have to repair them yourself. Anyhow we got talking on robots which is his main sphere of expertise and he said that scc in robots is very hard to control. This is also the experience of neighbors with robots.

Farmer Ed

Dawggone wrote: »

Talking to an uncle of mine over the Xmas and he was thinking the same. He reckons that it's a hangover from the tiger years...everyone wanted a new house but it had to be turnkey...move in and cut the lawn!

I do think it's not a bad thing to have a bit of ambition. Without it no one would ever achieve anything., but your uncle has a point. I know of at least two new entrants who got no milk cheque this year in July. Maybe intelligent young people may be better off using their talents somewhere that would give them a better return.

Did you hear the one about the farmer who won the lotto? When asked what he would do with the money, he replied.

"Era I think I'll stay farming away until i'll have it all spent."

alps

Farmer Ed wrote: »

Maybe? But I wouldn't be bosting too much about it on here. Their rare enough yet around these parts yet. Let's say I do have a fair bit of experience with them yes. First year is the hardest and maintenance cost are a bit higher than a basic milking parlour. But alarm calls seem to be getting fewer and farther between as both farmer and the robot manufacturer learn to iron out avoidable problems.

Good man Ed....We learn something new every day....

That's how you have all that time on your hands to be posting. . .Good ad for robots..

farmerman

alps wrote: »

Your profitability figures are correct and are underestimated for a good efficient operation. However straight off, the system you propose will set you back up to 6,000 per cow to initiate, and that won't be viable.

I would believe that you will need to give commitment time and effort to your job to make the very best of it, to get results for yourself and for your employers. Tipping off to look after small issues at home just won't cut it with most employers, especially in a sales environment. You will need to be consistent with your time and effort and cannot be sure of that with a robot.

It's obvious that you have a serious interest in milking cows, and I'm sure there are many ways that you can achieve that. Have you given any thought to a full time career in Dairy farming? Your interest and educational background would give you a distinct advantage over most. Your home Farm could be a back up to a rented platform with existing facilities. Are you really interested in a job?

So you would reckon that the robot would simple be to high of an investment to make it viable?? I do however plan to commit fully to a job for a few years as you suggest as I need to build my experience and also see can I carve out a job which could suit my system. I also want to see how dairy plays out over the next couple to see if the likes of this venture would be plausible.
I wouldn't have given much thought to full time farming given the fact that I simply don't have the land at this moment and I'd question hugely whether it'd pay to go out and buy a farm given the potential cost. You wou do suggest though possibly renting a dairy farm?? They'd require large scale to make them viable with the cost of renting the farm??
In regards the job I don't suspect that I wouldn't be content if I was in the correct job I just know that if I was to have a dairy farm that I would make a very good go of it given my interest and attention to detail. I always saw myself as having a job and I know very much what is involved as my da is an ag aswell so being in that game always appealed to me along with the farming. I certainly plan whether i go into milk not to run a very efficient and profitable farm at home.

Farmer Ed

Dawggone wrote: »

Had the Dept. here this am to inspect milking parlor. It's free, they send out a technician and test the milking machine, if there are any probs you have to repair them yourself. Anyhow we got talking on robots which is his main sphere of expertise and he said that scc in robots is very hard to control. This is also the experience of neighbors with robots.

Am I right in saying your in France? Did he say it varies from one make of robot to another? I know some of the newer robots have to ability to test for scc on every milking. I only have experience with ones that test conductivity. I can't say it has been a huge issue. I know Lely would claim a big reduction in a lot of cases.I have heard it is common to get a rise when you change over the system, but I understand that's not uncommon even if you change an existing parlor.

Farmer Ed

alps wrote: »

Good man Ed....We learn something new every day....

That's how you have all that time on your hands to be posting. . .Good ad for robots..

You say that as if you were working for the special branch and had just cracked a case.

Dont get too carried away. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. Trial before a jury, before I could be executed and all that sort of thing.. You wouldn't want to going saying anything to prejudice the case now would you .

PS. Farmerman "I love the idea of robots but they're just not for me at the moment" Can very often be code for. I'm up my ears in debt and the bank won't give me any more money. I think you sound like you are taking a wise approach in doing your homework first.

Farmer Ed

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

That's a no so!

It's a maybe.Wouldn't you love to know?:) I think there are rules here about posting one's identity? I remember when there was only 2 farmers with robots in Co Cork.

keep going

striping out milking,how many hours work per day does it take to run 60 cows at 3.7lu/hec and rear heifers on an out farm.have you worked on a dairy farm.if i was you i d look for a job on a dairy farm first,you ll figure out alot and it will do harm on your cv if you are looking for a job in ag related business

farmerman

keep going wrote: »

striping out milking,how many hours work per day does it take to run 60 cows at 3.7lu/hec and rear heifers on an out farm.have you worked on a dairy farm.if i was you i d look for a job on a dairy farm first,you ll figure out alot and it will do harm on your cv if you are looking for a job in ag related business

I have worked on several dairy farms since I was younger so I would have a relatively good idea of what is involved in running a dairy farm.

keep going

Farmer Ed wrote: »

It's a maybe.Wouldn't you love to know?:) I think there are rules here about posting one's identity? I remember when there was only 2 farmers with robots in Co Cork.

theres more than a touch of a gerry adams about you.alot of us have figured out who is who so i wouldnt panic over it especially the local ones

Farmer Ed

keep going wrote: »

theres more than a touch of a gerry adams about you.alot of us have figured out who is who so i wouldnt panic over it especially the local ones

If you think there's a touch of Jerry Adams about me you obviously don't know me that well. I don't even have a beard. And no unlike Jerry, hand on heart I've never been in the IRA,but to my shame I have been to a few IFA meetings.

Can I add Farmerman if you do decide to take the plunge. Be sure and shop around for the milk purchaser that offers you the best deal. The milk price, the amount of shares you will have to buy, the length of contract, the compulsion to have to buy your inputs and the level of borrowing that the milk purchaser has should all be taken in to account. Don't be fooled. once you sign that contract the milk purchasers debt also becomes your debt.

kowtow

Bass Reeves wrote:

Not necessiarly. 70 cows is calculated to be the most efficient for a single labour unit above that you have to allow for external labour

"Dairy farms more efficient with unpaid labour"

Now there's a shocking revelation!

kowtow

farmerman wrote:

So you would reckon that the robot would simple be to high of an investment to make it viable?? I do however plan to commit fully to a job for a few years as you suggest as I need to build my experience and also see can I carve out a job which could suit my system.

have you considered training as a robot servicer?

Farmer Ed

kowtow wrote: »

have you considered training as a robot servicer?

Thats a very hard job. On night calls and all that. It's like being a vet

Sam Kade

Farmer Ed wrote: »

Thats a very hard job. On night calls and all that. It's like being a vet

If you could get paid same as a vet out of hours how bad.

Miname

Have you considered heading off for a year or two? Chase a bit of skirt and getting so unbelievably hammered that you won't even know what country your in. You seem like a right lad that's got his head screwed on but go out have a look around and cause a bit of trouble then see if milking is what you really want. You've a decent degree find your feet first. I've seen lads that didn't even use theirs and went completely in an opposite direction and done very well for themselves. It's very easy to get over committed when your younger.

farmerman

kowtow wrote: »

have you considered training as a robot servicer?

I hadn't actually though of that. I'd be more looking for a job along advisory lines more so than as a robot servicer, but as far as I know there would be advisors working for lely as well which could be a job which would interest me. I'll certainly look into it

Bass Reeves

Some on here are advising to wait and see what way milk prices and the general dairy trade goes. However troughs are much more vioable to enter an industry rather than peaks. At present with poor milk prices and a poor outlook waht would one pay to put in place a mixed herd of 50 cows and heifers. Would 50K do the job. In a peak this investment could raise to 100K wioth less of a selection available. Would you put a robot in place for 20% less than at peak milk prices.

We already see it in land prices where they are back 20% from 2014 prices. The other advantage of buying in a trough is that you get the full advantage of the following peak. A 50 cow herd milking 6K [EMAIL="litres@ 37c/L"]litres @ 37c/L[/EMAIL] will turn over 110K euro in a year during a peak cycle in milk sales. Averaged over 5 years at 32c/L gives a turnover in milksales of 96K/Year.

C0N0R

Miname wrote: »

Have you considered heading off for a year or two? Chase a bit of skirt and getting so unbelievably hammered that you won't even know what country your in. You seem like a right lad that's got his head screwed on but go out have a look around and cause a bit of trouble then see if milking is what you really want. You've a decent degree find your feet first. I've seen lads that didn't even use theirs and went completely in an opposite direction and done very well for themselves. It's very easy to get over committed when your younger.

Agreed, I enjoyed it that much I'm considering doing it again!!! And I'm nearly 30 😆