Dairy chit chat II

Water John

It's a difficult choice for him. My heart is always with the people who just don't fit into our rigid system.

Could he do Ag Science and Ag economics, along with the 4 basic subjects?
It's quite possible to do the 2 Ag, outside of standard school. Lots of schools, around Cork County have them in the evening. Always Bruce College as well.

That way he'll have both, a LC and a good start in Ag. I think it would be a fair compromise.

kowtow

whelan2 wrote: »

Young lad here going into 6th year too. Not a day goes by without him saying can I stay at home instead of doing 6th year. He gets the same answer everytime. A year isnt that long .

I know what you mean - although to be fair to my boy it's not staying at home which he is after, whatever he does he'll be away to college to do it.

Where do the level 5 students at Gurteen come from generally, are they all there as an alternative to Leaving Cert?

kowtow

Water John wrote: »

It's a difficult choice for him. My heart is always with the people who just don't fit into our rigid system.

Could he do Ag Science and Ag economics, along with the 4 basic subjects?
It's quite possible to do the 2 Ag, outside of standard school. Lots of schools, around Cork County have them in the evening. Always Bruce College as well.

That way he'll have both, a LC and a good start in Ag. I think it would be a fair compromise.

Yes - it's Bruce I had in mind if tutorial is the way forward.

He missed an Irish exemption by 6 days when he arrived here so whatever he does I suppose he would do 6+1... might have a look into coupling Ag Sc & Ag Economics..

Mooooo

I didn't go that route so have no advice really but perhaps contact fetac and the ag colleges to make sure there is a route he can take and that he could gain entry to ucd etc via that route. While the leaving cert and secondary may not suit him he could well excel in a third level scenario

Water John

I know there are Ag Economic classes around the county, in nearly every town. One or two lectures a week are enough. Same lecturer does Bruce.

Daughter did it years ago. Easy subject to get points in the LC.

yosemitesam1

kowtow wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Teagasc FETAC level 5,6,7 etc. programmes as an alternative to leaving cert?

Seriously thinking of letting the boy apply to go to Gurteen in the Autumn instead of doing his last year of LC - if he stays at his boarding school he's going to get results way short of what he is capable of and all he wants to do is work & farm anyway. He could go to a tutorial college if he wants but he would prefer - he says, and we think - to work his way right through the farming degrees in a pure ag. environment.

He's young (not yet 17) and bright but having never attended a traditional school of any kind until secondary school here he doesn't think much of the setup and I think I agree with him that Leaving Cert. won't do him justice. What he wants to do - and I'd be happy for him if he could - is end up with a serious dairy management degree but via a vocational route with plenty of worthwhile placements, perhaps with a couple of years in the UK or elsewhere to finish off. He works more or less full time anyway for a Contractor and seems to thrive at anything he does, at least judging by the feedback I get from farms he is at.

Obviously Leaving Cert is the more traditional approach especially if he eventually wants to move outside agriculture - but leaving the risks of not doing that aside - what do people think of the Teagasc route and Gurteen Level 5 in particular?

Was in a similar enough position a few years ago, did the lc and a degree in Wit in the end. Wasn't hugely impressed by anyone in wit/kildalton, it was only really teaching the very basics that teagasc are spouting the whole time and the lecturer's were only really passing on the message from the 'experts'.
There wasn't much focus on understanding the fundamentals (eg instead of learning the timings for a spray program on wheat, I was always of the opinion it would be more beneficial to learn about how/why a disease gets a foothold)
Didn't really think it was worthwhile from a learning perspective but the craic with the lads was what got me through the 4 years.
But I was probably a bit odd in that I was fairly widely read and had a very different perspective on farming before I started.

Having the level 5 and 6 courses means you can head straight into second year in college.

Water John

Yosemite, that's looking further. Would a place like Harper Adams or like, be more beneficial?
Know little on options in other countries, but I'd research it, Kowtow.
I'f someone is going to spend 4 years in college, I'd look for a good one. Not sort of waste the time.

yosemitesam1

Water John wrote: »

Yosemite, that's looking further. Would a place like Harper Adams or like, be more beneficial?
Know little on options in other countries, but I'd research it, Kowtow.
I'f someone is going to spend 4 years in college, I'd look for a good one. Not sort of waste the time.

I don't really know about any other colleges but a lot of the American universities have very good people working in them. That would be my choice if I was starting again and could afford it.

GrasstoMilk

kowtow wrote: »

I know what you mean - although to be fair to my boy it's not staying at home which he is after, whatever he does he'll be away to college to do it.

Where do the level 5 students at Gurteen come from generally, are they all there as an alternative to Leaving Cert?

I went to Kildalton and there was one lad I became great friends with and still that left after 3rd year and went. Now he only did the 2 years but what a good few did was move into Waterford IT after first year. It was onl the top of the class students that got accepted and they went straight into 2nd year ag in WIT. It's a great option for lads that the LC doesn't suit.
That course was 3 years long in total and some then moved onto the farm managers programme.
Would that scenario appeal to your lad?
Farm managers course is great from the point you spend a 2 full years working on 2 differebt Irish farms or 3 if you go to NZ for 6 months or somewhere abroad
He could of course apply to Harper and head over there. I spent 2 weeks there on an exchange. Best craic I ever had and would send a son of my own there only for the lack of grass based dairying there. But there tillage and all the rest are top class it would definitely be a great collage to send someone to

jaymla627

Is their anyone on here that's had to deal with a company double charging for goods and then point blank refusing to credit them off, said goods weren't signed for and I made numerous calls to get it resolved but no luck....
The whole thing has come to ahead with a claim notice issued and their bringing us to court have offered countless times to settle for amount that is owed but no joy, and on chatting solicitor he basically says its their word against mine even though said goods where never received our signed for

ted_182

KT, there are obviously other routes to higher education besides the lc but at this stage i think nearly all employers want a completed leaving cert, i did my leaving four years ago and i was like your son looking for alternatives, i was lucky to have access to a very experienced and open minded career guidance teacher who explained all pros and cons of all options. Ended up doing the leaving in the end and delighted it turned out that way. As someone said already its only a year.

whelan2

Water John wrote: »

Yosemite, that's looking further. Would a place like Harper Adams or like, be more beneficial?
Know little on options in other countries, but I'd research it, Kowtow.
I'f someone is going to spend 4 years in college, I'd look for a good one. Not sort of waste the time.

A few of us here went to Reaseheath, its in Nantwich, In cHESHIRE, they had a very good dairy course at the time

mf240

jaymla627 wrote: »

Is their anyone on here that's had to deal with a company double charging for goods and then point blank refusing to credit them off, said goods weren't signed for and I made numerous calls to get it resolved but no luck....
The whole thing has come to ahead with a claim notice issued and their bringing us to court have offered countless times to settle for amount that is owed but no joy, and on chatting solicitor he basically says its their word against mine even though said goods where never received our signed for

Would you be prepared to park in their gateway until it's resolved . Company's don't like bad publicity.

The part time boy

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

The part time boy wrote: »

You or your father ? Hope all well

No relation. Employee.
Confirmed heart attack.

When I rang the ambulance they told me to go to the nearest defibrillator and bring it back to the farm, which I did, but they arrived just as I got back with it. Just as well because I could have killed him if I had to use it.

Jesus must be some skock. Hope all turned out ok

visatorro

jaymla627 wrote: »

Is their anyone on here that's had to deal with a company double charging for goods and then point blank refusing to credit them off, said goods weren't signed for and I made numerous calls to get it resolved but no luck....
The whole thing has come to ahead with a claim notice issued and their bringing us to court have offered countless times to settle for amount that is owed but no joy, and on chatting solicitor he basically says its their word against mine even though said goods where never received our signed for

Have they charged for double what you bought or have other items been added?

That's a bolox what the solicitor is saying. Going in front of a judge is like rolling a dice.

Depending on the claimed goods can you provide paperwork from previous years to back up yourself but saying you haven't used extra products? Iykwim, no extra litres produced, no extra Dosing as numbers stayed the same, etc.

cute geoge

All i remember is local contractor got stung for a fill of diesel tank once .He was not in yard when diesel got delivered and expected diesel was not there to fill tractors in the days that followed .As far as i remember he ended up paying and he was a mighty tough man to part with money but i think he could get no law for what happened !!!!

jaymla627

visatorro wrote: »

Have they charged for double what you bought or have other items been added?

That's a bolox what the solicitor is saying. Going in front of a judge is like rolling a dice.

Depending on the claimed goods can you provide paperwork from previous years to back up yourself but saying you haven't used extra products? Iykwim, no extra litres produced, no extra Dosing as numbers stayed the same, etc.

Was been charged for buying twice the amount of dry cow mineral blocks that where been delivered, biggest eye opener was even though I never signed for them they where delivered when I wasn't their it was up to me to prove I hadn't received the amount of blocks I was invoiced for,
Managed to reach a agreement their now, but its a great lesson will be giving all my business to 4 trusted lads from now on and any reps coming in will be politely ran out of the place...
Was looking at 300 euros a hour for a solicitor if it had got to court disputed amount wasn't much more then 2 grand

whelan2

It's amazing how something like that blows up. I paid €600 off an account in a local business in May. It never showed on the statement I got from them in June. I asked them what the story was and they said girl was on holidays and it will show next month. Got next statement last week and the €600 still hadn't come off, so I wrnt down to them. They looked in their receipt book and there was no record of it. I had my phone with me and put up internet banking. Paid with my card so the amount,date and business name was there. No apology or anything. Just took the €600 off my account. If you weren't checking things you'd pay it twice

The part time boy

kowtow wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Teagasc FETAC level 5,6,7 etc. programmes as an alternative to leaving cert?

Seriously thinking of letting the boy apply to go to Gurteen in the Autumn instead of doing his last year of LC - if he stays at his boarding school he's going to get results way short of what he is capable of and all he wants to do is work & farm anyway. He could go to a tutorial college if he wants but he would prefer - he says, and we think - to work his way right through the farming degrees in a pure ag. environment.

He's young (not yet 17) and bright but having never attended a traditional school of any kind until secondary school here he doesn't think much of the setup and I think I agree with him that Leaving Cert. won't do him justice. What he wants to do - and I'd be happy for him if he could - is end up with a serious dairy management degree but via a vocational route with plenty of worthwhile placements, perhaps with a couple of years in the UK or elsewhere to finish off. He works more or less full time anyway for a Contractor and seems to thrive at anything he does, at least judging by the feedback I get from farms he is at.

Obviously Leaving Cert is the more traditional approach especially if he eventually wants to move outside agriculture - but leaving the risks of not doing that aside - what do people think of the Teagasc route and Gurteen Level 5 in particular?

I don't think it be a good idea not doing the leaving . It's only one more year . It's not the points he get or not get . When his 30 and going for a job they won't care what he got in his leaving but the fact he did it will mean a lot

visatorro

jaymla627 wrote: »

Was been charged for buying twice the amount of dry cow mineral blocks that where been delivered, biggest eye opener was even though I never signed for them they where delivered when I wasn't their it was up to me to prove I hadn't received the amount of blocks I was invoiced for,
Managed to reach a agreement their now, but its a great lesson will be giving all my business to 4 trusted lads from now on and any reps coming in will be politely ran out of the place...
Was looking at 300 euros a hour for a solicitor if it had got to court disputed amount wasn't much more then 2 grand

Seen a cheeky bastard leaving a couple of bags in the yard once. Had dealt with him before but thought it was abit round!

whelan2

visatorro wrote: »

Seen a cheeky bastard leaving a couple of bags in the yard once. Had dealt with him before but thought it was abit round!

Had a lad ring me last year to say the special fertilizer I ordered was ready for collection. I was not in the mood for him. I never ordered it.

visatorro

whelan2 wrote: »

Had a lad ring me last year to say the special fertilizer I ordered was ready for collection. I was not in the mood for him. I never ordered it.

Had that before aswell!

freedominacup

The part time boy wrote: »

When his and going for a job they won't care what he got in his leaving but the fact he did it will mean a lot

Will it really? Surely by that stage experience and the other qualifications kt is expecting him to get along the way will be what counts.

The part time boy

freedominacup wrote: »

The part time boy wrote: »

When his and going for a job they won't care what he got in his leaving but the fact he did it will mean a lot

Will it really? Surely by that stage experience and the other qualifications kt is expecting him to get along the way will be what counts.

I be honest and maybe this is unfair . The fella with no leaving will find it make a short list for interview if i had a lot of people applying . If the same fella farming all his life till 35 and would like to try something differnt farming experience won't stand for much

C0N0R

The part time boy wrote: »

kowtow wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Teagasc FETAC level 5,6,7 etc. programmes as an alternative to leaving cert?

Seriously thinking of letting the boy apply to go to Gurteen in the Autumn instead of doing his last year of LC - if he stays at his boarding school he's going to get results way short of what he is capable of and all he wants to do is work & farm anyway. He could go to a tutorial college if he wants but he would prefer - he says, and we think - to work his way right through the farming degrees in a pure ag. environment.

He's young (not yet 17) and bright but having never attended a traditional school of any kind until secondary school here he doesn't think much of the setup and I think I agree with him that Leaving Cert. won't do him justice. What he wants to do - and I'd be happy for him if he could - is end up with a serious dairy management degree but via a vocational route with plenty of worthwhile placements, perhaps with a couple of years in the UK or elsewhere to finish off. He works more or less full time anyway for a Contractor and seems to thrive at anything he does, at least judging by the feedback I get from farms he is at.

Obviously Leaving Cert is the more traditional approach especially if he eventually wants to move outside agriculture - but leaving the risks of not doing that aside - what do people think of the Teagasc route and Gurteen Level 5 in particular?

I don't think it be a good idea not doing the leaving . It's only one more year . It's not the points he get or not get . When his 30 and going for a job they won't care what he got in his leaving but the fact he did it will mean a lot

If he's certain agriculture is where he wants to go then I say let him at it, he can, if he applies himself have an honours degree from ucd ag within five years of him starting the level five.

Re what employers might think of someone not completing the leaving cert, if the same person spends five years working towards an honours degree then that will brush aside any lack of leaving cert in my eyes.

Just need to confirm with the ag college that it's a possibility for someone without a leaving cert to progress to ucd, but from my memory it's not an issue.

I can't speak for gurteen, but I did the level five and the level six advanced dairy in Ballyhaise two years ago, the course isn't rocket science but I did pick up things from it at the same time, I would look at it as more of a stepping stone.

The route that was offered to us was;

Year one, Fetac level five
Year two, dkit 2nd year sustainable Ag degree.

Then you have a choice to transfer into ucd Into second year or stay in Dundalk for two more years and get your degree there.

kowtow

The part time boy wrote: »

I be honest and maybe this is unfair . The fella with no leaving will find it make a short list for interview if i had a lot of people applying . If the same fella farming all his life till 35 and would like to try something differnt farming experience won't stand for much

Bear in mind that he has a slightly odd CV for a 16 year old already... he was qualified as a ski instructor (bar legal exams & first aid) by the age of 12, gets along pretty fluently in French and German (although hates writing them so much that he refuses to do them at school)... he had a slightly odd upbringing

He's also pretty confident and independent. I sent him to Italy last week on his own and he didn't run into any trouble that wasn't of his own choosing.

Having said that, it only makes sense to me if he both can - and will - go on to do a decent degree which he is academically perfectly capable of.

I reckon the perfect solution is probably to get him to complete the leaving cert. at a tutorial, perhaps with an additional ag. subject, and then pick his place... what I don't want is him dossing at school and coming out with a leaving cert. not worth having.

Whether I can persuade him of that is another matter.

F**king children, who would have them ?!!??

Buford T. Justice XIX

jaymla627 wrote: »

Was been charged for buying twice the amount of dry cow mineral blocks that where been delivered, biggest eye opener was even though I never signed for them they where delivered when I wasn't their it was up to me to prove I hadn't received the amount of blocks I was invoiced for,
Managed to reach a agreement their now, but its a great lesson will be giving all my business to 4 trusted lads from now on and any reps coming in will be politely ran out of the place...
Was looking at 300 euros a hour for a solicitor if it had got to court disputed amount wasn't much more then 2 grand

That's good news anyway.

It's never fun having something like that hanging over your head.

Buford T. Justice XIX

kowtow wrote: »

Bear in mind that he has a slightly odd CV for a 16 year old already... he was qualified as a ski instructor (bar legal exams & first aid) by the age of 12, gets along pretty fluently in French and German (although hates writing them so much that he refuses to do them at school)... he had a slightly odd upbringing

He's also pretty confident and independent. I sent him to Italy last week on his own and he didn't run into any trouble that wasn't of his own choosing.

Having said that, it only makes sense to me if he both can - and will - go on to do a decent degree which he is academically perfectly capable of.

I reckon the perfect solution is probably to get him to complete the leaving cert. at a tutorial, perhaps with an additional ag. subject, and then pick his place... what I don't want is him dossing at school and coming out with a leaving cert. not worth having.

Whether I can persuade him of that is another matter.

F**king children, who would have them ?!!??

ALWAYS keep the receipt, it's hard to hand them back without one:pac:

Keepgrowing

kowtow wrote: »

Bear in mind that he has a slightly odd CV for a 16 year old already... he was qualified as a ski instructor (bar legal exams & first aid) by the age of 12, gets along pretty fluently in French and German (although hates writing them so much that he refuses to do them at school)... he had a slightly odd upbringing

He's also pretty confident and independent. I sent him to Italy last week on his own and he didn't run into any trouble that wasn't of his own choosing.

Having said that, it only makes sense to me if he both can - and will - go on to do a decent degree which he is academically perfectly capable of.

I reckon the perfect solution is probably to get him to complete the leaving cert. at a tutorial, perhaps with an additional ag. subject, and then pick his place... what I don't want is him dossing at school and coming out with a leaving cert. not worth having.

Whether I can persuade him of that is another matter.

F**king children, who would have them ?!!??

He's a lucky lad that has a parent as open minded as yourself. How many are or have been pushed a certain direction by parents trying to fulfill their own dreams either achedemic or sporting.

I can offer no advice bar not allowing him to doss around and waste time.

I hope I'm as patient and willing to listen to mine at that stage as you. Today received notification for his entrance exam for the school he hopes to attend come September 2018. Another chapter beginning, great to be alive to see it.

Keepgrowing

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