New inexperienced farmer!

BullBauld

So my father recently passed away. He worked all his life so was a part time farmer until he retired from work and the farm became his main interest. Nothing major, 35 acres, dry stock of 15-20 usually. Buy calves, sell at 30 months. That sort of thing.
He's also in GLAS and getting a few other payments.
So for the most part this has been passed on to me. Always a reluctant farmer growing up. But now I want to keep things going as best I can.....if it's viable. I don't want to let it out if at all possible.
Have to get the herd number transferred over to me and a few things like that.

So any advice for a newbie with limited experience?

Thanks.

Panch18

BullBauld wrote: »

So my father recently passed away. He worked all his life so was a part time farmer until he retired from work and the farm became his main interest. Nothing major, 35 acres, dry stock of 15-20 usually. Buy calves, sell at 30 months. That sort of thing.
He's also in GLAS and getting a few other payments.
So for the most part this has been passed on to me. Always a reluctant farmer growing up. But now I want to keep things going as best I can.....if it's viable. I don't want to let it out if at all possible.
Have to get the herd number transferred over to me and a few things like that.

So any advice for a newbie with limited experience?

Thanks.

sorry to hear about your loss

Only advice i would give you is keep your wages totally separate from the farm - have a separate bank account and let the farm pay its own way. Rearing a few calves is probably the best thing you could do with the place in current times. If you were selling in the mart rather than the factory even better

Also don't forget - in the beef game the difference between farming to the highest level or just tapping away is tiny, maybe even non existent. Remember that before you go spending any money or working too hard on it!!

BullBauld

Panch18 wrote: »

sorry to hear about your loss

Only advice i would give you is keep your wages totally separate from the farm - have a separate bank account and let the farm pay its own way. Rearing a few calves is probably the best thing you could do with the place in current times. If you were selling in the mart rather than the factory even better

Also don't forget - in the beef game the difference between farming to the highest level or just tapping away is tiny, maybe even non existent. Remember that before you go spending any money or working too hard on it!!

Thanks for your reply.

Good advice re keep wages separate.
Dad always sold in the mart so I'd keep going that way.

For the time being I'm just gonna get into it and build up some knowledge/experience. Herd test due soon so after that I'll probably sell and buy more calves and go from there.

Dad relied on neighbours to put out bales, bring stock to mart and stuff like that as he had no tractor. Would a tractor be a wise investment for what it would be used for.

Dad loved being up the field and I think it was the thing he missed the most when he got sick so I want to do the best I can.

Hard Knocks

BullBauld wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

Good advice re keep wages separate.
Dad always sold in the mart so I'd keep going that way.

For the time being I'm just gonna get into it and build up some knowledge/experience. Herd test due soon so after that I'll probably sell and buy more calves and go from there.

Dad relied on neighbours to put out bales, bring stock to mart and stuff like that as he had no tractor. Would a tractor be a wise investment for what it would be used for.

Dad loved being up the field and I think it was the thing he missed the most when he got sick so I want to do the best I can.

Tractors are nice but an investment
No tractor here, contractor does most (when I’m at work)
Everyone to their own

funkey_monkey

What's the handling facilities like? Fences? Do the sheds need any maintenance? Reseeding? Those might be a better place to start instead of a tractor. Buy a tractor and then you'll start needing a pile of implements for it. From the sounds of it you have neighbours who don't seem to mind doing bits and pieces so if possible I'd lean on them for a while longer until you get your feet under the table.

BullBauld

funkey_monkey wrote: »

What's the handling facilities like? Fences? Do the sheds need any maintenance? Reseeding? Those might be a better place to start instead of a tractor. Buy a tractor and then you'll start needing a pile of implements for it. From the sounds of it you have neighbours who don't seem to mind doing bits and pieces so if possible I'd lean on them for a while longer until you get your feet under the table.

Fair point re tractor. No real need for it at moment, neighbours would do what's required no bother.
Facilities are decent enough. Fencing is sound. Not a whole pile needs doing apart from getting GLAS field prepped.
Thanks for the advice.

Panch18

don't forget if you loose money for a few years on the farm you can write if off against your PAYE tax paid, if you are in the high tax bracket then some things you might want to do or get aren't as expensive as you think.

Hurling Hereford

BullBauld wrote: »

So my father recently passed away. He worked all his life so was a part time farmer until he retired from work and the farm became his main interest. Nothing major, 35 acres, dry stock of 15-20 usually. Buy calves, sell at 30 months. That sort of thing.
He's also in GLAS and getting a few other payments.
So for the most part this has been passed on to me. Always a reluctant farmer growing up. But now I want to keep things going as best I can.....if it's viable. I don't want to let it out if at all possible.
Have to get the herd number transferred over to me and a few things like that.

So any advice for a newbie with limited experience?

Thanks.

Best wishes to you!

49801

Get your silage ground closed and fert out ASAP. 😀

Do soil testing in the autumn and get a handle on soil fertility for your ground.

funkey_monkey

BullBauld wrote: »

Fair point re tractor. No real need for it at moment, neighbours would do what's required no bother.
Facilities are decent enough. Fencing is sound. Not a whole pile needs doing apart from getting GLAS field prepped.
Thanks for the advice.

No problem, I wish you ask the best with it and condolences on your loss.

tanko

Have you got your fathers herd number transferred into your name and got your BPS application sent in for this year?

BullBauld

tanko wrote: »

Have you got your fathers herd number transferred into your name and got your BPS application sent in for this year?

Yea application is sent in. I did it with dad a few weeks prior.
Not sure I can transfer herd number as yet until I have a probate?

Good loser

Get the Farmer's Journal every week - and read it if possible.


On small acres I get by with a tractor, small old rear loader, spinner and roller. A spike might get you by instead of loader.

Sheep breeder

BullBauld wrote: »

Fair point re tractor. No real need for it at moment, neighbours would do what's required no bother.
Facilities are decent enough. Fencing is sound. Not a whole pile needs doing apart from getting GLAS field prepped.
Thanks for the advice.

Handy cheap tractor would be a good investment and neighbours might have done things for your father and that can change overtime. A bale spike and a transport box don’t cost a lot of money and can be very handy to do jobs around the farm.

lalababa

When you say calves...what age? Runners (older calves) would be eating hay/silage/grass/meal. Young calves can be troublesome at the best of times!
Might be a wise move to start with weanlings this year.

tanko

BullBauld wrote: »

Yea application is sent in. I did it with dad a few weeks prior.
Not sure I can transfer herd number as yet until I have a probate?

I don't know to be honest. My herd number was transferred while my father was still alive. Do you know a good agricultural consultant who can advise you?

John Hutton

Sorry for your loss OP.

My advice, and I don't mean to sound harsh, is to try and not be sentimental or emotional about it.

Just because your dad loved it doesn't mean you have to or should. It's ok to not want to do it.

Remember it's a business so keep the business hat on.

Don't put loads of money, time or effort into it because of your dad, because he loved the farm or you think he would like you to do it.

Do it because you want to. If you do it for any other reason than that you want to you could end up angry and resentful, Ive seen it happen.

My advise would be to learn as much as you can about the various dept grants and go from there.

Anniepower

Sorry for your loss OP.

As a previous poster has said focus on handling facilities and fencing. If you have safety for both yourself and livestock it’s worth it’s weight in gold. Focus on them as much as you can even if it is a 3 year plan to have the fencing secure and do it bit by bit.

You can’t put a price on comfortness.

20silkcut

Panch18 wrote: »

sorry to hear about your loss

Only advice i would give you is keep your wages totally separate from the farm - have a separate bank account and let the farm pay its own way. Rearing a few calves is probably the best thing you could do with the place in current times. If you were selling in the mart rather than the factory even better

Also don't forget - in the beef game the difference between farming to the highest level or just tapping away is tiny, maybe even non existent. Remember that before you go spending any money or working too hard on it!!

I’m intrigued with your point about farming at the highest level and tapping away. Could you expand that a bit please??

Panch18

20silkcut wrote: »

I’m intrigued with your point about farming at the highest level and tapping away. Could you expand that a bit please??

What i mean by that is beef is a low margin game - no matter how good or bad a farmer you are the margins are pretty much the same.

Take the OP's 35 acres. on a calf to year and half system. If he has 50 year and halfs leaving a margin of 300 that's 15k. But he has to fertilise, top, cut a lot of silage, spread a lot of slurry, paddocks and have a shed for 50 weanlings. He's working most days of the year. But he has 15k margin

If he stocks lightly at say 35 year and halfs then he will have a greater margin per animal at say 350. He will have less work to do, less fertilisers to spread, less sheds to build etc etc. So his 35 animals will leave a margin of 12,250. so less than a 3k difference. Take tax at over 50% off that and then your difference is not much more than 1k

You could do similar calculations for out-wintering say 20 weanlings. It all works out roughly the same in the end - because the margins aren't there. when you farm intensively the costs take away all the "efficiency" gains that you make by farming "good"

But yet people would look at the fella who is farming 50 and say he's doing a greaat job and look at the fella out wintering 20 and say he's a messer. Fact is he wouldn't be any worse off really - he'd have a lot less bills to pay and a lot less work to do

So whats the point of farming intensively in beef? Putting money into loads of peoples pockets for little to no gain yourself - only more work

BullBauld

lalababa wrote: »

When you say calves...what age? Runners (older calves) would be eating hay/silage/grass/meal. Young calves can be troublesome at the best of times!
Might be a wise move to start with weanlings this year.

Yea when I said calves I meant weanlings. It's a long time since we had calves knocking about!

BullBauld

tanko wrote: »

I don't know to be honest. My herd number was transferred while my father was still alive. Do you know a good agricultural consultant who can advise you?

I don't think I can fully transfer herd number until I get probate. Can become a 'herd keeper' until then to ensure things tick over.

emaherx

BullBauld wrote: »

Yea application is sent in. I did it with dad a few weeks prior.
Not sure I can transfer herd number as yet until I have a probate?

I was in similar situation to you a few years ago. You probably can't transfer herd number yet. But make sure you are put down as herd keeper for now. A good agri adviser would be money well spent now as they will have been through the process many times.

BullBauld

John Hutton wrote: »

Sorry for your loss OP.

My advice, and I don't mean to sound harsh, is to try and not be sentimental or emotional about it.

Just because your dad loved it doesn't mean you have to or should. It's ok to not want to do it.

Remember it's a business so keep the business hat on.

Don't put loads of money, time or effort into it because of your dad, because he loved the farm or you think he would like you to do it.

Do it because you want to. If you do it for any other reason than that you want to you could end up angry and resentful, Ive seen it happen.

My advise would be to learn as much as you can about the various dept grants and go from there.

Thanks and I get what you're saying.

But there is a certain emotional element to it.
I want to do it myself but part of me wants to do it for my father aswell.

Now what exactly I do with it is the question. I'll keep the beef ticking over and see how I get on. But I'd be open to exploring alternative ways of using what I have down the line.
That does not mean letting it, that won't happen. Just alternative farming if viable.

BullBauld

Panch18 wrote: »

What i mean by that is beef is a low margin game - no matter how good or bad a farmer you are the margins are pretty much the same.

Take the OP's 35 acres. on a calf to year and half system. If he has 50 year and halfs leaving a margin of 300 that's 15k. But he has to fertilise, top, cut a lot of silage, spread a lot of slurry, paddocks and have a shed for 50 weanlings. He's working most days of the year. But he has 15k margin

If he stocks lightly at say 35 year and halfs then he will have a greater margin per animal at say 350. He will have less work to do, less fertilisers to spread, less sheds to build etc etc. So his 35 animals will leave a margin of 12,250. so less than a 3k difference. Take tax at over 50% off that and then your difference is not much more than 1k

You could do similar calculations for out-wintering say 20 weanlings. It all works out roughly the same in the end - because the margins aren't there. when you farm intensively the costs take away all the "efficiency" gains that you make by farming "good"

But yet people would look at the fella who is farming 50 and say he's doing a greaat job and look at the fella out wintering 20 and say he's a messer. Fact is he wouldn't be any worse off really - he'd have a lot less bills to pay and a lot less work to do

So whats the point of farming intensively in beef? Putting money into loads of peoples pockets for little to no gain yourself - only more work

Think I'll let it out after reading this :-O
Haha. Good explanation there and makes things a bit clearer.

ep71

Sorry for your loss,

I'll give you my own slightly different experience.

Mother passed away in 2015, farm was a joint herd number with both parents, got mother removed from herd number and myself added back then.

Did very little farming, working away from home, father kept things tipping away on his own.

2017 - 2018, moved abroad so no farming but came back October 2018 with father approaching 70th birthday and looking to get out of farming.

Met with IFAC accountant to get advice on how to transfer over farm to myself, if I needed to get green cert etc. Was advised no real benefit in doing green cert as I'd already been on the herd number for a couple of years, just proceed with transfer of land etc. So have completed this recently and paid stamp duty, solicitors fees, land registration etc. to get it transferred over in the past few months.

Still working away from home 1.5hrs away and renting an apartment in the city so have spent the last few months trying to get things under control and making things as easy as possible to manage with minimal input.

Have approx. 23 acres and 23 sheep, so far 32 lambs and have been managing ok with father keeping an eye and myself travelling down at the weekend and 1 or 2 evenings a week depending on need.

Have prioritised getting fences repaired where they were very bad and have done this by tackling one area per weekend over the past few months and now have things relatively secure but still have loads of fencing to do over the next few months and loads of trees to cut up which were cut to get fencing in place.

A huge help has been a couple of handling / penning areas which were badly needed which has made it far easier to get the sheep in for handling, dosing or lambing and also a cheap camera system called reolink go which I bought, it has a sim card and battery in it which means you need no power or network just a sim card which is €5 per month and you can mount it on the side of your shed or out in the field and view through an app on your phone. In all have probably invested about €1.5k so far with gates, fencing and the camera was €180.

I still have loads to do but feel I'm making it a small bit more manageable every week.

20silkcut

Panch18 wrote: »

What i mean by that is beef is a low margin game - no matter how good or bad a farmer you are the margins are pretty much the same.

Take the OP's 35 acres. on a calf to year and half system. If he has 50 year and halfs leaving a margin of 300 that's 15k. But he has to fertilise, top, cut a lot of silage, spread a lot of slurry, paddocks and have a shed for 50 weanlings. He's working most days of the year. But he has 15k margin

If he stocks lightly at say 35 year and halfs then he will have a greater margin per animal at say 350. He will have less work to do, less fertilisers to spread, less sheds to build etc etc. So his 35 animals will leave a margin of 12,250. so less than a 3k difference. Take tax at over 50% off that and then your difference is not much more than 1k

You could do similar calculations for out-wintering say 20 weanlings. It all works out roughly the same in the end - because the margins aren't there. when you farm intensively the costs take away all the "efficiency" gains that you make by farming "good"

But yet people would look at the fella who is farming 50 and say he's doing a greaat job and look at the fella out wintering 20 and say he's a messer. Fact is he wouldn't be any worse off really - he'd have a lot less bills to pay and a lot less work to do

So whats the point of farming intensively in beef? Putting money into loads of peoples pockets for little to no gain yourself - only more work

Agree 100%

Bass Reeves

The other thing is not to get caught up feeding ration to stores over the winter if going back to grass. Even at 4/kg of a base the return is marginal at present it costing to feed ration during the winter.

Keep away as far as possible from winter finishing. Costs are horrendous and there is no return in it. Keep costs down by making dry silage if possible do not get caught up on the DMD and trying to get 3 cuts of silage.

If buying anything from fencing to dosing check online prices. Beef plan got some great prices on fertlizer I think the man there were dealing with would do three drops with a 28 ton load it was too lift but quad packs were 5/ton extra. Had my fertlizer bought before it this year but.intend to get a load with another lad next year even if I have to take a bit extra. You will always find a lad to take a few ton off your hands.

Sugarbowl

ep71 wrote: »

Sorry for your loss,

I'll give you my own slightly different experience.

Mother passed away in 2015, farm was a joint herd number with both parents, got mother removed from herd number and myself added back then.

Did very little farming, working away from home, father kept things tipping away on his own.

2017 - 2018, moved abroad so no farming but came back October 2018 with father approaching 70th birthday and looking to get out of farming.

Met with IFAC accountant to get advice on how to transfer over farm to myself, if I needed to get green cert etc. Was advised no real benefit in doing green cert as I'd already been on the herd number for a couple of years, just proceed with transfer of land etc. So have completed this recently and paid stamp duty, solicitors fees, land registration etc. to get it transferred over in the past few months.

Still working away from home 1.5hrs away and renting an apartment in the city so have spent the last few months trying to get things under control and making things as easy as possible to manage with minimal input.

Have approx. 23 acres and 23 sheep, so far 32 lambs and have been managing ok with father keeping an eye and myself travelling down at the weekend and 1 or 2 evenings a week depending on need.

Have prioritised getting fences repaired where they were very bad and have done this by tackling one area per weekend over the past few months and now have things relatively secure but still have loads of fencing to do over the next few months and loads of trees to cut up which were cut to get fencing in place.

A huge help has been a couple of handling / penning areas which were badly needed which has made it far easier to get the sheep in for handling, dosing or lambing and also a cheap camera system called reolink go which I bought, it has a sim card and battery in it which means you need no power or network just a sim card which is €5 per month and you can mount it on the side of your shed or out in the field and view through an app on your phone. In all have probably invested about €1.5k so far with gates, fencing and the camera was €180.

I still have loads to do but feel I'm making it a small bit more manageable every week.

Which make of Reolink camera is that?

ep71

Sugarbowl wrote: »

Which make of Reolink camera is that?

reolink go

https://reolink.com/product/reolink-go/

893bet

ep71 wrote: »

reolink go

https://reolink.com/product/reolink-go/

Interesting. Are you using solar power or do you need to recharge the battery another way?

Did you purchase on that site?

johnnyfruitcake

ep71 wrote: »

reolink go

https://reolink.com/product/reolink-go/

What sim card do you use for the camera?
I'm trying to find one for a mobile router for my cameras.

20silkcut

I’m sure this has been asked on this forum a 100 times but how does making bales for sale stack up against buying in calves and take them to 2 years.
Assuming a profit margin on animals of 2-300 per head?
Assuming your own gear for making bales. No contractor costs. Just fertilizer and plastic. And assume local piggery / AD plant etc for P and K.

Gudstock

ep71 wrote: »

reolink go

https://reolink.com/product/reolink-go/

Would that camera be effective for setting up to view a small paddock for say cows calving or bulling??

trabpc

20silkcut wrote: »

I’m sure this has been asked on this forum a 100 times but how does making bales for sale stack up against buying in calves and take them to 2 years.
Assuming a profit margin on animals of 2-300 per head?
Assuming your own gear for making bales. No contractor costs. Just fertilizer and plastic. And assume local piggery / AD plant etc for P and K.

I Fertilise, Mow my own and ted, row up and draw in. I allow €3 for diesel per Bale. Contractor charging €10 to bale & wrap with inner plastic layer and €7 for fertilizer per bale. Not included is the cost of the rent and cost to replace nutrients taken from the land that's min €20 euro. Fools game. Just buy it off those farmers selling it for €15. They mustn't own a calculator or common sense....

trabpc

Just to Add if you get €25 a bale you are only covering your costs. Good luck getting that.

But it is an enjoyable job. And I wouldn't discourage you from going at it. Just be smart. You'll turn a small profit and engage a good accountant since your working off farm. Nice to be out at it with the long evenings we have now. Best of luck. Unfortunately a very unpredictable year this year.

20silkcut

trabpc wrote: »

Just to Add if you get €25 a bale you are only covering your costs. Good luck getting that.

But it is an enjoyable job. And I wouldn't discourage you from going at it. Just be smart. You'll turn a small profit and engage a good accountant since your working off farm. Nice to be out at it with the long evenings we have now. Best of luck. Unfortunately a very unpredictable year this year.

Not much difference between that and bucket rearing calves really.

ep71

I bought the camera from that exact site, there was an offer on so it was a little less, google promo codes and you may find a 10% off code.

I originally bought one back in November and had it mounted on a gate post in a fairly windy area and with the storms before Christmas it somehow fogged up inside and they replaced it free of charge with a new one. It says it's IP65 waterproof so I assumed it should be fine but I've mounted the replacement under the eave of a shed and It's been there about 2 months now with no issues.

I didn't bother with the solar panel as it was €25 extra and I wanted to see how I got on with the camera first. I check it a few times a day and it needs to be charged about once a month with that level of activity. A lad at work bought one and with the solar panel the battery never dropped below 100%

The camera comes with a vodafone V card sim in the box. I'm already a vodafone pre pay customer for my mobile phone so I just had to download an app, top up by an extra €5 and scan a QR code. Now I just top it up every 30 days.

I've attached a few pics one from day and one with night vision, It's pretty good for the price but there isn't great quality when you zoom in. Great for just keeping an eye though and so easy with no wires. Had set up and installed in less than 30 mins.

Siamsa Sessions

My tuppence worth:

1) Get the admin and paperwork side of things sorted - it takes time but each signature and meeting with solicitors, etc. is a step closer

2) Become a regular reader and contributor on boards.ie - it's much better than Facebook for proper discussions

3) Keep things as simple as possible on the farm for the next 12 months and don't make any major decisions until 2021

4) This time next year you will have an understanding of those 35 acres (and yourself) that you don't have now. Such insight will ground your future planning

Best of luck and stay on boards.ie

lalababa

20silkcut wrote: »

I’m sure this has been asked on this forum a 100 times but how does making bales for sale stack up against buying in calves and take them to 2 years.
Assuming a profit margin on animals of 2-300 per head?
Assuming your own gear for making bales. No contractor costs. Just fertilizer and plastic. And assume local piggery / AD plant etc for P and K.

I'd say you'd stack it up better on the back of a fag packet yourself😠coz you know your set up better than anyone here, but I'll give it a shot🀔.
Per acre (depends on where you are) let's say 3 cuts. 12 bales + 6bales + 3 bales = well say 20. 20*25= 500
Minus about 300 (fertilizer,slurry spreading, netting plastic,fuel, wear +tear of cutting/baling, NOT labour) leaves you with 200 an acre. With 50 acres...10,000. And you need slatted unit if you don't outwinter that you can do B&B in if you Don't have cattle. Let's say just B (no silage) for 50 yearlings @ what 1.50 /day for 120 days =120*50*1.5=9,000.
Add 9k +10k=19k. P.a.
To make 19k p.a. raising calf to beef
@ 250 profit per head over TWO years (125p.a.) you would need to raise 152 calf to beef!
And a hell of a set up,
And a hell lot of work (with the calves🙂)
That said if you are saying 250 per head each year then you'd only need to raise 76 calf to beef.

Gman1987

lalababa wrote: »

I'd say you'd stack it up better on the back of a fag packet yourself😠coz you know your set up better than anyone here, but I'll give it a shot��.
Per acre (depends on where you are) let's say 3 cuts. 12 bales + 6bales + 3 bales = well say 20. 20*25= 500
Minus about 300 (fertilizer,slurry spreading, netting plastic,fuel, wear +tear of cutting/baling, NOT labour) leaves you with 200 an acre. With 50 acres...10,000. And you need slatted unit if you don't outwinter that you can do B&B in if you Don't have cattle. Let's say just B (no silage) for 50 yearlings @ what 1.50 /day for 120 days =120*50*1.5=9,000.
Add 9k +10k=19k. P.a.
To make 19k p.a. raising calf to beef
@ 250 profit per head over TWO years (125p.a.) you would need to raise 152 calf to beef!
And a hell of a set up,
And a hell lot of work (with the calves��)
That said if you are saying 250 per head each year then you'd only need to raise 76 calf to beef.

Dont know who would pay €1.50 per day for shed only. Most lads are charging €1.20 - €1.30 per day per weanling for shed and adlib silage.

lalababa

Gman1987 wrote: »

Dont know who would pay €1.50 per day for shed only. Most lads are charging €1.20 - €1.30 per day per weanling for shed and adlib silage.

Apologies, put B&B figure in. But yeah put in your own figures OP.
@ 50c/day B only is 3k
3k+10k =13k
Need 52 calves to beef at 250 per head profit over 1 years.
Or 104 calves to beef at 250 per head profit over two years.

Bass Reeves

Spreading slurry as opposed to using fertlizer is marginal. Even if you have your own gear wear and tear is a cost. You may only be saving your own labour costs. I think Silkcut has no sheds and used to outwinter. Problem with selling silage us the nutrient value you may be exporting every year. Taking three cuts of silage off land is the equivalent of exporting about 5-6 bags of 0-7-30/year. Even at present fertilizer prices that is 90-100euro/acre or 5-6euro/bale.

Slurry will only provide minimal N to a crop you will still need to go with at least 60units for first cut, 60 for second as there will be virtually no N in any slurry spread and 30-40for third cut. You will not be able to use all Urea so say 50% urea 50% CAN this is about 1.5 bags Urea and 3bags of CAN/acre that is about 40-43 euro/acre or 2.5-3euro/bale. If you are using that amount of fertlizer you have to factor in lime say 2T ever 4-5 years or a euro/bale

When selling bales you will have waste age, you may not have enough time to patch or watch for crow holes. There are a few more issues lads that buy regularly will not be too interested in low DM bales so dry silage is a must which adds to the risk of spoilage and mould. As well if making dry bales you may have to consider 6layers instead of 4. If selling silage you may find regular customers that will pay an average price as opposed to a variable pricing but this is not the time to start looking for regular customers as there is a glut of silage and hay around. Stock numbers in the country are falling and unless in an area where you have dairy farmers on wet land you will struggle to shift large amounts of silage.

I bought silage this year at 25/bale into the yard. It was dry and quality was ok. I did not really bargain with seller as he bales my silage. He did replace a few bales that were bad. But as the draw was short I could have pushed him down to near 20/bale. However I may want bales again and if there is a shortages I expect him not to screw me.

So what the margin. Normally baling,cutting and wrapping is 10/bale wrap is nearly 3/bale at 30/roll fertlizer is about 9/bale at present price but fertlizer will go up in price. Drawing and stacking 1-2/bale.

If you doing it yourself factor in 50/50 labour/machinery costs. So 6/bale for baling and stacking, 3/bale for drawing slurry, N and lime will still cost 2.5-3/bale, lime a euro and plastic 3/bale. Total cost 15-16/bale. What can you expect to sell for next winter 18-20ex yard. I know two lads that rented sheds last winter to store hay as they would not sell in August for 16-18/bale as there own sheds are full. They have shifted none of it If this is a hay summer will they get 12-15out of the field??

pure breed

ep71 wrote:

The camera comes with a vodafone V card sim in the box. I'm already a vodafone pre pay customer for my mobile phone so I just had to download an app, top up by an extra €5 and scan a QR code. Now I just top it up every 30 days.

How much was the camera?
Can you just top up the €5 whenever you want. Say for example if you are only needing the camera for 2-3 months a year during calving season.

advise_needed

sell it and be done with it, farming is a dead duck in this country and will break you heart, its that or look into a solar/wind turbine development.

BullBauld

Less of the technical chat lads....all I'm looking for is what do I use a burdizzo for :-)
Ah no, good to hear everyone's stories and experiences. All helps.

BullBauld

advise_needed wrote: »

sell it and be done with it, farming is a dead duck in this country and will break you heart, its that or look into a solar/wind turbine development.

Thanks. Won't be selling it that's for sure. Open to other ideas for it though.

Bass Reeves

BullBauld wrote: »

Less of the technical chat lads....all I'm looking for is what do I use a burdizzo for :-)
Ah no, good to hear everyone's stories and experiences. All helps.

All discussion on threads go like this. Lads come in asking questions and thread goes off at a tangent

ep71

pure breed wrote: »

How much was the camera?
Can you just top up the €5 whenever you want. Say for example if you are only needing the camera for 2-3 months a year during calving season.

I paid 180 delivered, yeah you can top it up and then just stop when you're finished. All on the v by vodafone app.

kollegeknight

Hi OP, sorry for your loss. I’m 6 years into my farming journey, Dad got sick and I farmed,
.
In my case, all money left over from the farm pays mams household bills and The price of something for her.

I have 12 beef cows and a bull on 75 acres of mostly bad land. Full glass payments etc.

My advice is to talk to a good ag advisor who might help you. I didn’t do this ad struggled the hard way. The internet and boards is great.
I am in the beef genomics scheme, which is found difficult and won’t do it again.
I have a good salary so when I’m out of the scheme, I am going into rare breed cattle.

As I said, I’m 6 years in and only now seeing some fruits of my labour.

Think what you would like to do and make it work. If ou ever want to shoot a few ideas. Loads on F&F would take pms and help out.

pure breed

ep71 wrote:

I paid 180 delivered, yeah you can top it up and then just stop when you're finished. All on the v by vodafone app.

Thanks think I will go with it so.