Elderly parents

happywithlife

As title says I have elderly parents neither of whom are in good health but dad in particular has had a pretty major scare recently- still awaiting some test results. Myself and siblings are gone from.home a number of years and all married with our own lives and commitments and no interest in taking on the family farm. Parents are still milking 30 cows and tbh I just don't see how they can make it work. With dads declining health we really have to have a heart to heart 're the future of the farm. He's currently laid up with his back again and the thoughts of calving 30 cows over the winter/spring fills me with despair. I think given his current health problems both parents are the most open to the idea of winding down the farm as I've seen them
I presume coming into the winter is a dreadful time of the year to try and sell cattle? And what are the other implications to winding down a farm? Is leasing the land for grain a viable option? My mother has suggested dry cattle over the spring/summer months And sell them in the fall of the year. I think dry cattle will still entail a lot more work.thsm they are capable of - not to mention the farm is quiet rum down and fencing etc isn't up to scratch so would need reinforcing for dry cattle. Is there anywhere to get advice on how to properly broach this subject with them? Gp has been urging them to give it up for the past number of years. I don't know the financial state of the farm either.

Snowfire

If neither you or your family have any interest or time to commit to farming it then leasing the land would be the most realistic solution. There are tax benefits for longer term leases (5yrs+). Decent quality land will always be in demand from every sector especially dairying areas.
No, may not be the ideal time of year to sell dairy stock, but you'll find buyers alright.

grassroot1

Snowfire wrote: »

If neither you or your family have any interest or time to commit to farming it then leasing the land would be the most realistic solution. There are tax benefits for longer term leases (5yrs+). Decent quality land will always be in demand from every sector especially dairying areas.
No, may not be the ideal time of year to sell dairy stock, but you'll find buyers alright.

That above is the best advice you will get. When its time to get out go because we only live once.

lakill Farm

And a pit of silage will be worth a fair few euro

Snowfire wrote: »

If neither you or your family have any interest or time to commit to farming it then leasing the land would be the most realistic solution. There are tax benefits for longer term leases (5yrs+). Decent quality land will always be in demand from every sector especially dairying areas.
No, may not be the ideal time of year to sell dairy stock, but you'll find buyers alright.

happywithlife

Thank you. I had suggested leasing without knowing anything really about it but was told they'd loose farm supplement. I don't know how viable the farm is as it's impossible to get a straight answer but am worried they might need to hold on to supplements. As far as I know there is no outstanding loans but I could be wrong. I'm trying to figure out if it's better to cut losses now and sell what they can besides paying someone to help out every day with feeding etc over the winter. Or should we try and hold off till spring. Oh to have a crystal ball!

patsy_mccabe

I wouldnt worry about selling cows at this time of year. Prices may be lower, but that reflects the real cost of keeping them for the winter. If you do sell the cows, sell in a well advertised clearance sale. I was at one yesterday and prices were crazy. Farmers see these cows as being sold for reasons not having to do with the cows themselves, so are willing to pay that bit more.

You should consider leasing, but you also need to tie down the long term plan for thr farm.....and cover all bases. Who will get the farm long term etc.

whelan2

Do your parents want to stop farming altogether? Dairy farming is a tough job. Would they consider some beef cattle instead? Id say it could be hard on them to watch someone else on their land

_Brian

Whelan is right, what to they want, they’ve toiled their whole life to be where they are and I wouldn’t go rushing to take it from them until they are ready.

Would there be enough revenue to pay someone to come in and help run the place for a few years. It might not have same income as leasing the place but it might be a compromise that OP’s Dad would accept. It has the advantage of having someone in about the place who could keep an eye on them
If however they are ready to retire then surely leasing would be the way to go.

kowtow

In a perfect world you would find someone nearby of a suitable scale who was expanding, was prepared to buy in the best among his milkers, lease the place as an outfarm (tax free) and then pay him to raise heifers & feed calves to the extent that he is able. That way the transition might be a lot less dreadful as he wouldn't lose contact with the herd at one stroke.

But that depends on having the right someone nearby!

Green&Red

You've two questions there

1. what to do with the diary. Well firstly can you get someone to run it for you until spring? If not then you've only one option and thats to sell up now. If you can then try and work out what you'll get for your milk between now and then and how much more cows will be worth with calves at foot. Does this come to more than the cost of getting a man in.

2. I'd agree with Whelan, parents dont like seeing their farm go altogether. The idea of summering cattle is very doable. Given you are selling 30 cows and associated calves you'll have enough to invest in dry stock and do the fencing necessary to make it a viable business. You'd need to sit down and do out a farm plan to have a good process for feeding them, outlining paddocks etc and put up good fencing. It will cut down an awful lot on the day-to-day work. After that you'll need to worry about the bigger jobs like dosing and spreading fertiliser. None of this is nailed down time wise so with planning you or a sibling can do it at a weekend.


You really need to sit down with your parents are come up with a plan and first thing on that plan is to go through finances. Parents can be slow to change but I found that there is relief there that someone else is helping out.

After that as Patsy says ye need a long term plan for when they are not around or are in no position to do any work


Good luck

Attie

I'm thinking how would share milking be in this situation and it might give a young lad a leg up and lighten the load on the parents.

Bass Reeves

Attie wrote: »

I'm thinking how would share milking be in this situation and it might give a young lad a leg up and lighten the load on the parents.

Share milking 30 cows would be a waste of time.

Op a lot depend on your parents age. Somehow I think they are in there 70's. Not sure if drystock is the the answer in that case unless you or one of the siblings are within striking distance. Very hard to make money off summer grazing and believe it or not buying the cattle is the hardest part if you could over winter them restocking every year would be easier. If you have sheds feeding cattle for the winter is fairy easy as you can keep stores on silage only.

Fencing is not a big issue single strand of electric around whole farm and fields/paddocks will make managing stock fairly manageable.By buying dairy bred stock you will have quiter cattle and less hassle and as much profit as fancy suckler bred cattle. However you and your siblings really need to sit down with your parents and decide what is best, is there a sucession plan etc.

Maybe leasing is the answer but really there is no easy way to broach the subject but to have a meeting and discuss the options.

L1985

Just to say I agree on the above regarding stopping farming completely. My dad had a v bad heart attack in his forties-came home to find his family decided to sell all his dairy stock and a lot of the machinery. It nearly completely killed him. He was a v active guy and expected to sit back and do nothing. This is different given your parents ages but I'd be reluctant to completely stop-getting help in and scaling down I think would be the best option at the moment. They will need to still have some animals and some purpose I would imagine! You probably need to properly talk to them around the financials thou. And sometimes your parents need to have a good look at the facts and see that it's not sustainable and it's affecting their quality Of life! Best of luck OP it's a v tough situation to be in!!