New parlour? Forward planning?

Manorpark man

Hi guys new poster long time reader, great forum

At the moment I have 60 cows and a job, father has place gave to me and isn’t drawing from the farm, I also have an off farm income, facilities are good, have 35 extra cubicles, yards are good, maybe a bit more feed space be ideal but not too bad, have an 8 unit parlour and is adaquate for my cow no.s.... I’m wondering lately would I do a bigger parlour seen as there’s still grants there,(only eligible for 40%)... reasons to do this would include

-3 kids- will possibly be starting college fees in 7-8 years or so
-A neighbouring farm (50ac)could possibly be for sale in next coming years and could possibly increase herd size so could have the parlour done and maybe even partially paid for, (the possibility of this happening could be 50/50)
-another neighbour who is 70 odd has another 40-50ac the other side of me so could possibly be for rent in the future
-if neither of the two above come to friuition I have a decent parlour for the rest of my days and I’d rather a new parlour to a new tractor
-tax write off

Injuryprone

Absolutely worth it.
Imo, any investment is well worth it so long as it has 1)a purpose and 2) is made use of.

1) A 12/14 unit parlour will probably give you close to an hour a day extra with your family every day. Don't be long adding up to a fair bit of time.
2) The milking machine is used twice a day 300+ days a year, many multiples of times of any other machine on the dairy farm.

If you've enough income in the high tax band, you'll get it effectively for 30% of the full price.

simx

Injuryprone wrote: »

Absolutely worth it.
Imo, any investment is well worth it so long as it has 1)a purpose and 2) is made use of.

1) A 12/14 unit parlour will probably give you close to an hour a day extra with your family every day. Don't be long adding up to a fair bit of time.
2) The milking machine is used twice a day 300+ days a year, many multiples of times of any other machine on the dairy farm.

If you've enough income in the high tax band, you'll get it effectively for 30% of the full price.

+1 can’t get over lads milking 10+ rows of cows through parlours, neighbour here is milking 150 cows in a 10 unit And no sign of new parlour coming, he got a new Jeep though

cute geoge

simx wrote: »

+1 can’t get over lads milking 10+ rows of cows through parlours, neighbour here is milking 150 cows in a 10 unit And no sign of new parlour coming, he got a new Jeep though

What i can not get over is lads spending 100's of thousands on parlours and robots working out cheaper with very ilttle building costs

whelan2

cute geoge wrote: »

What i can not get over is lads spending 100's of thousands on parlours and robots working out cheaper with very ilttle building costs

Robots dont work for everyone

mycro2013

To be fair the price of the robot will cover the cost of a high spec parlour. And robots aren't with out their issues, have you tried getting maiden heifers into one. Or dry tubing a cow. You realistically still need a pit to save on hardship.

jaymla627

mycro2013 wrote: »

To be fair the price of the robot will cover the cost of a high spec parlour. And robots aren't with out their issues, have you tried getting maiden heifers into one. Or dry tubing a cow. You realistically still need a pit to save on hardship.

Their only secondary issues, its the servicing/maintenance/ electric consumption and depreciation that are the most glaring obvious, nearly touching a quarter of a million for two lely a5s that in 10 years time will be maybe worth 30k to trade in against the latest models that will probably be up at 400k....
If a lad persists with trying to run them past this point the repairs and downtime usually cripple a farm, it's a great product for manufacturers though as current and potential customers will always exist and have to change regularly

Manorpark man

cute geoge wrote: »

What i can not get over is lads spending 100's of thousands on parlours and robots working out cheaper with very ilttle building costs

I should of added that I probably could put a parlour in an existing shed where I calve cows, then revamp old parlour into calving shed so wouldn’t be as hard on the poca as a greenfield job, have to cross the road here sometimes and that would put me off a robot, they’re not as clear cut as it seems anyway I think, high servicing costs, training them in, lifetime expectation etc., a parlour should last 40-50 years approx, a decent parlour with acrs would be more attractive place to a relief Milker and any of the kids would probably rather milk in a modern parlour towards an old one, some children are probably put off farming watching Mammy/daddy working away in poor facilities, bad cow flow/too small parlour, carrying buckets of milk up yards to low calf sheds that may have to be spronged out etc.