Dairy New Entrant

Farmer Jim

Hi there this has probably been asked a number of times in the past but here i am asking it based on my own situation.

I am currently working full time for a company based in kerry doing 50+ hours a week, but to be honest its monotonous and boring.

i have worked on a number of local dairy farms in the past milking 200+ cows and working 7 days a week so i know whats involved in the dairy sector.

my father is suckler farming at home on 47 acres with another 40-50 available as silage ground/ground for cattle. there is currently a 4 bay shed on the farm with other building for straw/ hay/machinery, calf pins etc no farm debt.

cubicle shed and parlour would need built, farm has paddocks and roadways from when my father was milking up until late 90's.

my question is would it be viable when my father retires in 2 years time, to have a decent living and pay the mortgage milking 70 cows.

i know i have left many details out but please feedback is important

richie123

Farmer Jim wrote: »

Hi there this has probably been asked a number of times in the past but here i am asking it based on my own situation.

I am currently working full time for a company based in kerry doing 50+ hours a week, but to be honest its monotonous and boring.

i have worked on a number of local dairy farms in the past milking 200+ cows and working 7 days a week so i know whats involved in the dairy sector.

my father is suckler farming at home on 47 acres with another 40-50 available as silage ground/ground for cattle. there is currently a 4 bay shed on the farm with other building for straw/ hay/machinery, calf pins etc no farm debt.

cubicle shed and parlour would need built, farm has paddocks and roadways from when my father was milking up until late 90's.

my question is would it be viable when my father retires in 2 years time, to have a decent living and pay the mortgage milking 70 cows.

i know i have left many details out but please feedback is important

I would say yes there is a living to be made provided start-up costs are not in excess of 100k.

jaymla627

Farmer Jim wrote: »

Hi there this has probably been asked a number of times in the past but here i am asking it based on my own situation.

I am currently working full time for a company based in kerry doing 50+ hours a week, but to be honest its monotonous and boring.

i have worked on a number of local dairy farms in the past milking 200+ cows and working 7 days a week so i know whats involved in the dairy sector.

my father is suckler farming at home on 47 acres with another 40-50 available as silage ground/ground for cattle. there is currently a 4 bay shed on the farm with other building for straw/ hay/machinery, calf pins etc no farm debt.

cubicle shed and parlour would need built, farm has paddocks and roadways from when my father was milking up until late 90's.

my question is would it be viable when my father retires in 2 years time, to have a decent living and pay the mortgage milking 70 cows.

i know i have left many details out but please feedback is important

70 cows doing 5000 litres means your looking at having to take 12 cent a litre of all milk delivered for a gross salary of 40k, you’ll likely have to spend 3k a cow to get a parlour and cubicle shed up so would be looking at a 200k loan, which would be the guts of 18k plus in repayments yearly depending on loan term our in our around 5 cent a litre....
Your father you mentioned might have to be taking a income as well, so for arguments sake another 18k a year for him to have a decent standard of living, you could probably offset this with himself banking the sfp and a small contribution from yourself on top.....
For arguments sake you probably looking at having to bank 20 cent a litre of your milk cheque just to meet repayments/salaries, given it’s widely accepted the top lads on the profit monitors which should be taken with a huge grain of sale have costs of production of fixed and variable costs of 20 cent a litre excluding capital repayments on debt repayments and their own wage , any drop in your situation of a milk price under 31 cent would leave you under savage pressure

Farmer Jim

Thanks jay loads of great information there and something to definitley take on board, i also forgot to mention that i will most likely work of farm for maybe 20-25 hours a week with a agri/plant contractor while my father who is still a fit man can spread fert and other small but important jobs during the day.