Dairy chit chat II

einn32

How are people going with getting good quality straw?

whelan2

whelan2 wrote: »

Interesting trip to ballyhaise today. They have mostly jex. The milkers are split into different groups for research purposes. About 30 in the group we saw. About 120 cows altogether. Alot of the research is about grazing heavy ground. The incalf heifers are in on woodchip and this years calves are also housed. Paddocks are all split with strip wire and cows get allocation per day. Interestingly all suckler cows are housed at the moment as they are too heavy to be out on the land. Nice place

How is the woodchip disposed of?

GrasstoMilk

simx wrote: »

Talking to an ai man the other day and said he did a 1st serve for a spring calving herd last week

Autumn herd surely?

Floki

simx wrote: »

Talking to an ai man the other day and said he did a 1st serve for a spring calving herd last week

Pretty sure July is in the Summer.
Even June is in the Summer if they calved early.
Summer calving herd, bit of a new thing in this country.:pac:

Floki

whelan2 wrote: »

How is the woodchip disposed of?

Leave it in a heap for a while. Let it heat and rot and then spread with a rear discharge dung spreader.

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

How is the woodchip disposed of?

Out in the dung heap here. Never a problem with it. Usually get afew loads as a base under straw bedded liebacks/calving pens.

simx

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Autumn herd surely?

Nope

whelan2

Thats what I thought, but the guide that was bringing us arround today was saying the cost of getting rid of it is excessive, maybe its the cost of buying it in now?

Floki

simx wrote: »

Nope

Soon will be though.:p

Mooooo

whelan2 wrote: »

Thats what I thought, but the guide that was bringing us arround today was saying the cost of getting rid of it is excessive, maybe its the cost of buying it in now?

When it breaks down it can use up N in the soil. Think it's suggested to leave in a heap of dung for a year before spreading.

whelan2

Mooooo wrote: »

When it breaks down it can use up N in the soil. Think it's suggested to leave in a heap of dung for a year before spreading.

Just asked eldest lad and he said something about a methane problem?

charolais0153

whelan2 wrote: »

Just asked eldest lad and he said something about a methane problem?

If you let it rot for a year its grand . it only locks up n when its roting. It would want to be well rotted and mixed with dung for a year or two so its rotted enough

Keepgrowing

charolais0153 wrote: »

If you let it rot for a year its grand . it only locks up n when its roting. It would want to be well rotted and mixed with dung for a year or two so its rotted enough

You are correct re N used while decomposing. Spread and use an extra bag of urea on spread paddock. Sorts that problem

Floki

Keepgrowing wrote: »

You are correct re N used while decomposing. Spread and use an extra bag of urea on spread paddock. Sorts that problem

A better term would be borrowed.
You'll always get that N back when the bacteria have done their job.
The bacteria just need some N to grow, thrive and reproduce and then when they've finished other bacteria or nematodes eat those and make that N, plant available again.

whelan2

Is woodchip expensive?

freedominacup

Floki wrote: »

A better term would be borrowed.
You'll always get that N back when the bacteria have done their job.
The bacteria just need some N to grow, thrive and reproduce and then when they've finished other bacteria or nematodes eat those and make that N, plant available again.

Is there an acidification problem also? I thought you needed to put out extra lime on areas spread with woodchip.

Floki

freedominacup wrote: »

Is there an acidification problem also? I thought you needed to put out extra lime on areas spread with woodchip.

Probably depends on the tree species used too.
I'd say conifers would be the majority of timber used and conifer trees would be acidic anyway.
I imagine if you used sycamore or chestnut it wouldn't be as bad, but then they're hardwoods and more valuable so wouldn't be used.

So to answer your question yep apply extra lime than if you didn't spread the woodchip.

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

Is woodchip expensive?

Pay 50e for a tractor trailer load here, 4 or 5 bales of straw worth of bedding in that, so no saving at all over just straw 2bh.

charolais0153

Timmaay wrote: »

Pay 50e for a tractor trailer load here, 4 or 5 bales of straw worth of bedding in that, so no saving at all over just straw 2bh.

In the west its a big difference

C0N0R

whelan2 wrote: »

Is woodchip expensive?

When I was in the college they hired in a machine to chip up trees they had cut themselves through the forestry side of things.

Gawddawggonnit

C0N0R wrote: »

When I was in the college they hired in a machine to chip up trees they had cut themselves through the forestry side of things.

For different reasons we chip a fair bit of timber every year. It's loaded into walking floor artic trailers and sent for wood pellets. It's worth too much to use it for bedding. We've committed to giving 2 artics of chip to the local new swimming pool for heating...all farmers that were asked for timber donated foc.
Mostly poplar, oak and chestnut.

Gawddawggonnit

I was offered in-calf heifers, on point of calving, yesterday. All from pedigree milk recorded dams. €800/hd is great value.
He's getting out of milk but the only market for stock is export to the Maghreb.
Drought must be affecting the market.

darragh_haven

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

I was offered in-calf heifers, on point of calving, yesterday. All from pedigree milk recorded dams. €800/hd is great value.
He's getting out of milk but the only market for stock is export to the Maghreb.
Drought must be affecting the market.

Is there a market for milking cows in the Maghrebi states! It'd be better to ship the cows to Ireland or the UK than that hell hole.

jaymla627

Anyway else getting vetinary prescription certs for tubes of glanbia where their signature has been signed for them on the bottom, got one last month and rang up area manage and gave him a proper good bollicking as don't purpose any vetinary supplies of them and was very put out by signature being forged, opened the post their this morning and another prescription with my signature forged again

whelan2

Went out for last row of cows. One of the gates out of collecting yard was wide open. Not one cow walked out through it. Very lucky.

Gawddawggonnit

darragh_haven wrote: »

Is there a market for milking cows in the Maghrebi states! It'd be better to ship the cows to Ireland or the UK than that hell hole.

That green stuff that they'd have to eat in Ireland would kill them in no time...is it possible that pure hols would consider Ireland a hell hole?

Keepgrowing

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

That green stuff that they'd have to eat in Ireland would kill them in no time...is it possible that pure hols would consider Ireland a hell hole?

Pure Hol would be my version of hell at any rate

Keepgrowing

rangler1 wrote: »

On principal now farmers shouldn't buy from Glanbia now unless they're getting the same rebate as the chosen few, after all, those paying the full price will now be subsidisng the needy dairy farmers,
I won't be be buying off them anyway while they're at that

To follow your logic, I've been subsidising people in buying groups up to now as I'm not a member of a buying group

Keepgrowing

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

True.

But you're a little naive (or lucky) if everything turns a profit in the ranch. Ask tillage and livestock farmers to explain more...

Holstein fresh calved heifers are being sold here for ~ €900/hd. Milking 35+ litres but without a calf. Rearing replacements is not a very rewarding business.

Be better using more beef bulls and slaughtering or better still selling as calves

Gawddawggonnit

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Pure Hol would be my version of hell at any rate

Lol.
High maintenance ladies that like their creature comforts!