New entrant dairy

Sligofarmer19

Becoming a new entrant to dairy farming hopefully in 2017
Looking to buy 2nd hand parlour on donedeal and in calf heifers for a MP ground of 110 acres so hoping for 140 cows

Came on here to know is it just a matter of setting up the milking parlour and away ya go or do you have to do courses or the likes amd if so would i have these done before calving
I am finishing beef cattle and keep sheep at the moment but just want a change to something that is making money😉

Sam Kade

Setup and away you go, depends on what co op you'll be supplying some will require you to buy shares depending on how many cows you'll have. There's also a contract to be signed. Are you going to be milking 140 the first year?

freedominacup

We had our last dg meeting for the year this week indoors for a change. The three lads in a row beside me were all new entrants. Two converts and one favoured nephew. All powering away and seemingly happy with their descision. The two concerts were doing a very good job at their previous enterprises and hit the ground running. The other lad was reared on a well run dairy farm and had plenty of knowledge and experience. He left a trade to go milking. Best of luck with it. My only reservation with your plan is that you may not get all the stock you want at €1100.

Sligofarmer19

Sam Kade wrote: »

Setup and away you go, depends on what co op you'll be supplying some will require you to buy shares depending on how many cows you'll have. There's also a contract to be signed. Are you going to be milking 140 the first year?

Thats grand yes i had heard about the shares alright... Ahm i wouldnt say so i dont know some people are telling me when im doing it at all i might aswell start as big as i can and start paying back loans althoughothers saying to go for less than a 100 and get to grips with it all for first year look im not sure as yet a long way to go...

What would be yer advice on a 2nd hand parlour?

Sligofarmer19

freedominacup wrote: »

We had our last dg meeting for the year this week indoors for a change. The three lads in a row beside me were all new entrants. Two converts and one favoured nephew. All powering away and seemingly happy with their descision. The two concerts were doing a very good job at their previous enterprises and hit the ground running. The other lad was reared on a well run dairy farm and had plenty of knowledge and experience. He left a trade to go milking. Best of luck with it. My only reservation with your plan is that you may not get all the stock you want at €1100.

Yeah quite a few new entrants around here believe it or not alot of lads are saying even in the low milk price year its better than nearly any other sector and especially with this brexit driving everything mad.... Thats going to be bother alright getting all stock but we'll manage it some way

Waffletraktor

Sligofarmer19 wrote: »

Thats grand yes i had heard about the shares alright... Ahm i wouldnt say so i dont know some people are telling me when im doing it at all i might aswell start as big as i can and start paying back loans althoughothers saying to go for less than a 100 and get to grips with it all for first year look im not sure as yet a long way to go...

What would be yer advice on a 2nd hand parlour?

If you are new to dairy?, could you work for someone good for the year who will give you the pro-tips/ cow management. Will give you time to pick up the parlour, younger stock and avoid rushing into a mistake you regret a year or 2 later from in experience setting up your system?

Icelandicseige

There is grants available for milking machines, bulk tank , sheds basically anything. There is a good bit in the journal this week about it.

Don't write off new equipment if you can get it for the same price as second hand with the grant. Also a good setup is going to be the difference between you enjoying dairy farming or not especially if you are on your own. It's the end of 2016 now I think you should be aiming for spring 2018 to get going.

Icelandicseige

I was at a dairy dispersal sale during the week
Frisen in calf cows calving in February going for 300-700 depending on quality
Jersey x were going for 130-300 no joking.
No farmer buyers. Dealers were having right fun.
I had so much pitty for the seller.

Grueller

Icelandicseige wrote: »

I was at a dairy dispersal sale during the week
Frisen in calf cows calving in February going for 300-700 depending on quality
Jersey x were going for 130-300 no joking.
No farmer buyers. Dealers were having right fun.
I had so much pitty for the seller.

Enniscorthy? Heard there was one there that was a disaster this week.

pedigree 6

Icelandicseige wrote: »

I was at a dairy dispersal sale during the week
Frisen in calf cows calving in February going for 300-700 depending on quality
Jersey x were going for 130-300 no joking.
No farmer buyers. Dealers were having right fun.
I had so much pitty for the seller.

I was at the same sale. I didn't want to post prices as it would give some people here a heart attack.
They all had horns on and didn't look their best when not in milk.
They weren't bad sort of cows and I would nearly have bought some of the jersey cows only I'm at my limit already.

Timmaay

Sligofarmer19 wrote: »

Thats grand yes i had heard about the shares alright... Ahm i wouldnt say so i dont know some people are telling me when im doing it at all i might aswell start as big as i can and start paying back loans althoughothers saying to go for less than a 100 and get to grips with it all for first year look im not sure as yet a long way to go...

What would be yer advice on a 2nd hand parlour?

Jezz defo don't launch right into 140 cows, especially if your not use of stocking the 110acres to anything like that now. 80/100 the 1st year is plenty enough, and cut silage if you have any excess grass. Even if you have the shed space now its better to be understocked, and have plenty of space during your 1st calving season to find your feet. Might well be worth while buying in some already calved down cows also. All depends on how use of a calving cows you are now also.

In terms of the parlour, yep fair few 2nd hand ones on donedeal, but make sure you make good friends with someone who knows what they are looking at before you drive off with a flatbed ready to bring home a random parlour that jsut got ripped out ha, find out who installs and services parlours local to yourself, bring them along to look and any parlours and factor in their installation fee into the price of the parlour, alongside whatever else they recommend, like electrical/plumbing work etc.

Mooooo

Icelandicseige wrote: »

I was at a dairy dispersal sale during the week
Frisen in calf cows calving in February going for 300-700 depending on quality
Jersey x were going for 130-300 no joking.
No farmer buyers. Dealers were having right fun.
I had so much pitty for the seller.

300? Fecking hell. Sold at that price?

pedigree 6

Mooooo wrote: »

300? Fecking hell. Sold at that price?

No reserve on anything.

Icelandicseige

Mooooo wrote: »

300? Fecking hell. Sold at that price?

Ye pedigree will tell ye. He was there too. Some of the cows were not that old either.

kowtow

From my limited knowledge I would absolutely figure out how to maximise performance from 70 before going up to 140, which is not to say you shouldn't plan for them .. even build some capacity for them.. but to my mind doing it in two stages makes sense. Maybe.. and this is my opinion only... if it seems at the outset you need 140 to make sense of the figures you need to reconsider the figures.

On parlours I think it depends on what sort you are
.. how handy or bloody minded. We built our entire setup from 2nd hand units ourselves without even a service man, and when we did get one to test it it worked perfectly... if I was doing it again I would have bought a newer but 2nd hand parlour whole. There is a lot of value around. The places having robots delivered aren't generally milking from a 3 legged stool the day Lely rock up in the yard.

Good luck with it, keep an open mind and a sense of humour and you'll thrive I'm sure.

Sam Kade

pedigree 6 wrote: »

I was at the same sale. I didn't want to post prices as it would give some people here a heart attack.
They all had horns on and didn't look their best when not in milk.
They weren't bad sort of cows and I would nearly have bought some of the jersey cows only I'm at my limit already.

I'm on the look out for 10 extra cows I suppose they'll be crazy prices in the spring.

Jexbullcalf

The parlour is the easy bit. Do you have enough slurry storage for 140 cows, enough cubicles? Silage slab? Do you have proper roadways for cows? Going by your user name your in the west of Ireland so your generally going to have a longer wetter winter then others so can you realistically stock 110 acres with 140 cows? As others said start with 70 or 80 and grow the business slowly.

davidk1394

Icelandicseige wrote: »

I was at a dairy dispersal sale during the week
Frisen in calf cows calving in February going for 300-700 depending on quality
Jersey x were going for 130-300 no joking.
No farmer buyers. Dealers were having right fun.
I had so much pitty for the seller.

At that price I'd get into dairying myself. If your clever about and willing to put up with a bit if hardship for 2-3 years you could have a simple set up for fairly low cost

croot

Sligofarmer19 wrote: »

Becoming a new entrant to dairy farming hopefully in 2017
Looking to buy 2nd hand parlour on donedeal and in calf heifers for a MP ground of 110 acres so hoping for 140 cows

Came on here to know is it just a matter of setting up the milking parlour and away ya go or do you have to do courses or the likes amd if so would i have these done before calving
I am finishing beef cattle and keep sheep at the moment but just want a change to something that is making money��

This man wont be to far away from you. I'd say you should have a talk to him and maybe a visit or two to see his setup.


http://www.farmersjournal.ie/steady-dairy-expansion-on-sligo-family-farm-184964

freedominacup

Timmaay wrote: »

Jezz defo don't launch right into 140 cows, especially if your not use of stocking the 110acres to anything like that now. 80/100 the 1st year is plenty enough, and cut silage if you have any excess grass. Even if you have the shed space now its better to be understocked, and have plenty of space during your 1st calving season to find your feet. Might well be worth while buying in some already calved down cows also. All depends on how use of a calving cows you are now also.

In terms of the parlour, yep fair few 2nd hand ones on donedeal, but make sure you make good friends with someone who knows what they are looking at before you drive off with a flatbed ready to bring home a random parlour that jsut got ripped out ha, find out who installs and services parlours local to yourself, bring them along to look and any parlours and factor in their installation fee into the price of the parlour, alongside whatever else they recommend, like electrical/plumbing work etc.

I was thinking about tims post and his point on sr is absolutely correct.140 on 110 acres is grand in theory and if you have an outfarm that can keep replacements and provide a lot of your silage requirements. It definitely requires a well developed roadway and paddock infrastructure to have any hope of working. How well set up are you in this regard?

Sam Kade

croot wrote: »

This man wont be to far away from you. I'd say you should have a talk to him and maybe a visit or two to see his setup.


http://www.farmersjournal.ie/steady-dairy-expansion-on-sligo-family-farm-184964

His plan to build a new parlour and use the existing 6 unit and adding 4 units to it won't work, all he'll be using of the existing parlour is the clusters and relays everything else will have to be changed.

croot

Sam Kade wrote: »

His plan to build a new parlour and use the existing 6 unit and adding 4 units to it won't work, all he'll be using of the existing parlour is the clusters and relays everything else will have to be changed.

My point was more to talk to someone near enough geographically that is already in the trade so to speak.

In my opinion moving into a new type of farming and going full on straight away is nuts. If an already established dairy farmer isn't doing it locally find out why.

Basically look before you leap.

Sam Kade

croot wrote: »

My point was more to talk to someone near enough geographically that is already in the trade so to speak.

In my opinion moving into a new type of farming and going full on straight away is nuts. If an already established dairy farmer isn't doing it locally find out why.

Basically look before you leap.

I know that. I was just saying his plan for the parlour won't work.