Working full time and farming

squinn2912

Farm 55-60 sucklers running around 150 cattle at the moment. I’m a teacher and my father is a building contractor so st least there’s 2. Talking about cutting cows down but it would be a shame to do that too. Great when I’m off you haven’t a care in the world but during the calving season it’s heavy and concentrating in school can be a challenge

Mulumpy

Panch18 wrote:

If I remember correctly you were dairying and working As well for a while?? How on earth did you do that?

Ya was milking up to 2015. When your doing it you don't think about it too much. Looking back it was madness and no worse off now cos it was all going to taxman. Haven't milked a cow since and don't ever plan on it.

TwoOldBoots

Sure don't you need a good job to be a farmer, how else would it pay ?

squinn2912

Would make you think. Are you better off lettin ground and pens and keep a few dry stock every year just to keep your hand in it?

farawaygrass

tractorporn wrote: »

It's a real struggle. Cutting cow numbers here to the BDGP reference and once the 5 years are up they are gone, the ewes too. Drystock is realistically the only way I can see farming and a full time job working out.

Is this only the second year or third of bdgp1?

farawaygrass

Mtx wrote: »

Full time farming won't ever come to close to my full time job. Maybe if you go into sheep in a big way. But who wants that misery?

What’s sheep in a big way-300,500,1500?

Angus2018

How in the world can you guys work full time during calving season? The amount of work this spring with the bad weather and lack of grass paired with calving cows at all hours and the work needed then. What do you do when there is a problem? Or a calf won't suck? Or one starts calving and you have to go to work? Just curious cause that's a lot of pressure.

Siamsa Sessions

farawaygrass wrote: »

What’s sheep in a big way-300,500,1500?

If you can generate a margin of €60/ewe you’d need 500 to make €30k (before income tax)

tanko

farawaygrass wrote: »

Is this only the second year or third of bdgp1?

Its the fourth year out of six, BDGP 1 finishes at the end of 2020 i think.

Mtx

farawaygrass wrote: »

Mtx wrote: »

Full time farming won't ever come to close to my full time job. Maybe if you go into sheep in a big way. But who wants that misery?

What’s sheep in a big way-300,500,1500?

Over 400 at least

Mtx

squinn2912 wrote: »

Farm 55-60 sucklers running around 150 cattle at the moment. I’m a teacher and my father is a building contractor so st least there’s 2. Talking about cutting cows down but it would be a shame to do that too. Great when I’m off you haven’t a care in the world but during the calving season it’s heavy and concentrating in school can be a challenge

How do you manage this? 60 cows calving any hour of the day and two people working full time. I would sell dry stock and go back into sucklers if i could manage to do this. Sucklers actually worked for us.

AntrimGlens

Going to go on a bit of a rant here, so bear with me.

I work FT and try to keep the farm, fences and handling facilities in as good as condition as i can (afford) just to make things as easy and labour efficient as possible.
However i have one neighbour who i have a boundary with that could be a mile long, between hill ground, mountain and field ground. Now over the past ten years i have re-fenced all the mountain and some fields that march his. However i refuse to do any more as he won't even offer to help with the fencing labour never mind buy any fencing materials, or offer the use of his digger to drive in strainers etc. There's a couple of bits of scrub ground that i outwinter hoggets on because its limestone rock and good and dry for feeding them on, but its very very rocky and steep. About 100 yards of the old fence is broken with trees falling from his side onto the fence and about twenty of my hoggs were constantly going through to his side and i said to him one day when i was getting them out that we need to fix this fence this spring. He never said anything, so when i was leaving i said it again and he still never said anything, as i knew he wouldn't.

Anyway i went off this morning to gather up the four remaining hoggs from his bit as i moved everything into field ground at the weekend and these ladies had evaded me.

Well what a fcuking torture that was. I got them into one of his fields and then tried to get them out after mixing with his ewes and lambs. There is not a single gate on his place that isn't held together by twine and i don't mean its just tied closed with twine or rope, the rusted broken bars are tied to the one above with wire or twine, none of them are hung using a hanger, all tied in untieable knots and the fences are a couple of strands of rusted broken barb that are also tied up using twine.

If there's a big gap, then he's usually cut a whin bush or sally tree and used it to block the gap, which is alright when its fresh and in bloom, but when the flowers and spines fall off then it has absolutely no gap blocking properties.

The sheds are held together with whatever bits and pieces he can source off a building site as he's a joiner and then mcgivered to make some contraption. Upturned pig crates seem to make up the largest item used for sheep hurdles around the yard and the whole place just looks like a post apocalypse scene. Well it took me over an hour to try and get my ewes out and in the end i had to give up as i hadn't a knife to cut twines and gates fell over and my dog just stood and looked at me as if to say fook this.

How anyone would possibly have the patience to try and farm in these conditions when they're out working is beyond my comprehension.

And yes i know it's none of my business how he operates, but i've given up caring today if my sheep break into him just because he won't offer to fix march fences.

Rant over...

Panch18

Mulumpy wrote: »

Ya was milking up to 2015. When your doing it you don't think about it too much. Looking back it was madness and no worse off now cos it was all going to taxman. Haven't milked a cow since and don't ever plan on it.

Good man, it’s one thing being a slave to the farm but when you’re a slave to the taxman as well then it’s time to have a re-think

It’s amazing how many lads say thy don’t miss the cows 1 but once they get out, maybe that says something

tractorporn

tanko wrote:

Its the fourth year out of six, BDGP 1 finishes at the end of 2020 i think.

Yeah everyone is contracted up to 31/12/20

squinn2912

Mtx wrote: »

squinn2912 wrote: »

Farm 55-60 sucklers running around 150 cattle at the moment. I’m a teacher and my father is a building contractor so st least there’s 2. Talking about cutting cows down but it would be a shame to do that too. Great when I’m off you haven’t a care in the world but during the calving season it’s heavy and concentrating in school can be a challenge

How do you manage this? 60 cows calving any hour of the day and two people working full time. I would sell dry stock and go back into sucklers if i could manage to do this. Sucklers actually worked for us.

Well 35 calve in spring and 20-25 autumn. It varies slightly year on year with heifers empties and whatnot. You’re gonna laugh at me but we don’t have cameras either. We’ve lost 1 set of twins this year so we don’t lose many. My was out of action in Jan and some of feb and we had a death in the family on NYE (in England so the funeral dragged out 3 weeks). So this was a stretched year. We do a few things I suppose. Cows are always in good nick for calving - minerals etc. calving pen is up to standard though not perfect. We have good easy calving lim bulls. Usually we share the night shifts. We help most cows but a fair few calve themselves. If there’s a need during the day then my father stays about home and farms and he can instruct the boys on site. Building is a bit slower now and he usually works local. We have great neighbours and now and again get a hand and that’s aboit it I guess.

Farm365

Has anyone tried synchronizing cows? I was thinking of running a teaser ram with the ewes and pulling the rams after 3 wks to tighten up lambing and synchronizing the cows. I can take two weeks off work in Spring and it would be great to have the majority of the lambing and calving done in those two weeks.

Sheep breeder

Angus2018 wrote: »

How in the world can you guys work full time during calving season? The amount of work this spring with the bad weather and lack of grass paired with calving cows at all hours and the work needed then. What do you do when there is a problem? Or a calf won't suck? Or one starts calving and you have to go to work? Just curious cause that's a lot of pressure.

Choice of cow and the bull is the key and have the cows fit to calf and feed cows at night to push out night calving.

grassroot1

I dont find the calving to be the problem its the scour outbreak or pneumonia or tractor that wont start that fecks things up.
We coil the cows here but its more to cut down the labour for AI rather than calving. The coiled cows will calve over about 3 weeks so you need plenty of calving pens.

tanko

How much does that cost per cow?
What percentage of them is it sucessful with?

charolais0153

tanko wrote: »

How much does that cost per cow?
What percentage of them is it sucessful with?

Its 25 per cow with our vet. Success varies. Its aroumd 60%

grassroot1

Cost 30 euro a head it depends which protocol you use I suppose. This year 64% to first service. Repeats at 62% This year I AI them myself last year got in an AI man, I find after about 7 cows my arm get numb so its probably better to contract that side out if higher numbers. Two rounds of AI then stock bull.
37 cows calved between Jan 26 and 21 Mar Two left to calve. I suppose when you think about it you serve a large number of cows on day one of the breeding season.

Hard Knocks

grassroot1 wrote: »

Cost 30 euro a head it depends which protocol you use I suppose. This year 64% to first service. Repeats at 62% This year I AI them myself last year got in an AI man, I find after about 7 cows my arm get numb so its probably better to contract that side out if higher numbers. Two rounds of AI then stock bull.
37 cows calved between Jan 26 and 21 Mar Two left to calve. I suppose when you think about it you serve a large number of cows on day one of the breeding season.

Is it prid or cidr you use & do you go fixed AI or 12hr after standing heat?
Would you try to compact the calving more?

grassroot1

Cidr I was thinking of coiling 30 this year. I have a teaser bull this year so might give that a try instead.

charolais0153

grassroot1 wrote: »

Cidr I was thinking of coiling 30 this year. I have a teaser bull this year so might give that a try instead.

Teaser no good if they arent coming bulling in first place

have2flushtwice

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Going to go on a bit of a rant here, so bear with me.

I work FT and try to keep the farm, fences and handling facilities in as good as condition as i can (afford) just to make things as easy and labour efficient as possible.
However i have one neighbour who i have a boundary with that could be a mile long, between hill ground, mountain and field ground. Now over the past ten years i have re-fenced all the mountain and some fields that march his. However i refuse to do any more as he won't even offer to help with the fencing labour never mind buy any fencing materials, or offer the use of his digger to drive in strainers etc. There's a couple of bits of scrub ground that i outwinter hoggets on because its limestone rock and good and dry for feeding them on, but its very very rocky and steep. About 100 yards of the old fence is broken with trees falling from his side onto the fence and about twenty of my hoggs were constantly going through to his side and i said to him one day when i was getting them out that we need to fix this fence this spring. He never said anything, so when i was leaving i said it again and he still never said anything, as i knew he wouldn't.

Anyway i went off this morning to gather up the four remaining hoggs from his bit as i moved everything into field ground at the weekend and these ladies had evaded me.

Well what a fcuking torture that was. I got them into one of his fields and then tried to get them out after mixing with his ewes and lambs. There is not a single gate on his place that isn't held together by twine and i don't mean its just tied closed with twine or rope, the rusted broken bars are tied to the one above with wire or twine, none of them are hung using a hanger, all tied in untieable knots and the fences are a couple of strands of rusted broken barb that are also tied up using twine.

If there's a big gap, then he's usually cut a whin bush or sally tree and used it to block the gap, which is alright when its fresh and in bloom, but when the flowers and spines fall off then it has absolutely no gap blocking properties.

The sheds are held together with whatever bits and pieces he can source off a building site as he's a joiner and then mcgivered to make some contraption. Upturned pig crates seem to make up the largest item used for sheep hurdles around the yard and the whole place just looks like a post apocalypse scene. Well it took me over an hour to try and get my ewes out and in the end i had to give up as i hadn't a knife to cut twines and gates fell over and my dog just stood and looked at me as if to say fook this.

How anyone would possibly have the patience to try and farm in these conditions when they're out working is beyond my comprehension.

And yes i know it's none of my business how he operates, but i've given up caring today if my sheep break into him just because he won't offer to fix march fences.

Rant over...

Some mess alright. I know a guy rougher than your neighbor.

If you didn't go to get your sheep back what would happen? If ten got accross how long would it take him to get into you, and if you did nothing would he do any thing? Probably be a rough job by the sounds of things