Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613179#Comment_123613179

You’d think that but the competition around here is tillage. They were the first ppl to break the 300 € mark around here. I’m not going paying 4-500€ an acre to grow barley

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613195#Comment_123613195

Once you’re under 170 you can grow what ever you like. If you’re in dero you can’t have more than 20% of you’re area in a tillage crop

yewdairy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613222#Comment_123613222

The farms fully housed in the north are in huge trouble with new regulations on N and P currently proposed. They will have to nearly double land area to keep current cow numbers

Where very high meal levels are fed, it creates huge P surplus on farms. Can't understand how a council person wouldn't know that. Are you sure he knew anything about farming?

stanflt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613331#Comment_123613331

seemingly the biggest treat for water ways are leaking of p which is a phenomenon only seen in spring calving herds- patches of dark green grass is seemingly not on high input farms due to controlled diets

stanflt

Exports of slurry aren’t allowed in northern island

In Holland you can export 1 ton of p for circa 80€ allowing you to stock higher

straight

I have a feeling that the derogation will be retained but with so many conditions it won't be worth the hassle. I'm driving on with further investment for the time being but one wouldn't want to be pushing it too much I think.

The idea of having county councils in charge of anything is laughable. I think I heard it before though. They are just going to support small and marginal farmers. The thing is.....In Ireland we are all small farmers by the European definition.

mahoney_j

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123612945#Comment_123612945

it certainly wouldn’t ….aa grass 2 milk said what he’s doing ..and other lads buffering seem to piss others off a lot more than the guys actually doing it …lots of is not blessed to have a heap of land on one block

daiymann 5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613431#Comment_123613431

Your wrong on rules hitting big farmers look at kale you allowed to winter cows on muck and slop its only big farmers doing it dero hits at 40 cow farmer sa.e as a 300 cow mann

ginger22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613195#Comment_123613195

If you have over 20% of your land in tillage you are not allowed in derrogation. But the upside is those tillage acres count for nitrates so you will be under 170 anyway.

jaymla627

Latest developments basically torpedo a good % of derogation farmers chances of retaining it, they might even not allow anyone near our in a designated area to farm at 170kg, all the white noise from the government re water quality/less/etc was just codology

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123600071#Comment_123600071

Agree what your saying, but French farmers start very early in the morning and don’t work late, most are in bed by 9.30 at night, go into a rural village or town at 9 at night and most places are closed up and a hour at lunch time, they have water in the glass of wine. Over there they work around the weather and here we are fighting against the weather to get work done. Climate has a big part in work load.

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123605831#Comment_123605831

Agree about the savings account, here eldest going into Third year in college and youngest going in September. Money in both accounts to get them through college and some more and done over their lifetime and started by my mother for their future. Would hate to have to fund that now.

dmakc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613749#Comment_123613749

I'm not too worried about that. Appropriate assessments usually suit the applicant's narrative anyway. Sometimes they lead to an extra action required like hedging off watercourses etc. I know Arrabawn have a farming for water scheme going which covers most water-related costs.

Siamsa Sessions

Don't look at the prices weanling bulls are making in the mart price thread - there'll be a rush from dairy to sucklers 😂

yewdairy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123613749#Comment_123613749

I think that is likely be a positive for farms looking to keep the derogation.

Farms in certain areas might have to do additional measures. I had farming for water coop advisor out to have a look around, the additional measures are simple and would not cost much to do.

Certainly be a no brainer in comparison to reducing stock to 170kg n

jaymla627

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123614073#Comment_123614073

Bit niave to think it will be just the above, sweetman/an taisce use natura 2000 sites and sac regularly as reasons when objecting to dairy infrastructure planning permissions, they are taking a case to Europe also regards the above and want no derogation whatsoever.

The Dutch government are basically mothballing dairy farms and cpo'd them under the same guise

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/an-bord-pleanala-refuses-permission-for-laois-milking-parlour/#:~:text=An%20Bord%20Plean%C3%A1la%20has%20refused,%2Dbased%20environmentalist%2C%20Peter%20Sweetman.

jaymla627

It's gas how lads get worse at wrecking stuff the longer you keep them on, had a lad manage to wreck the shaft on the feeder wagon and then bend a guard on the loader putting on pallet forks, all in 1000 euros worth of damage, and not two f**ks given by the chap

green daries

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123615529#Comment_123615529

No fear of a cost to themselves and probably know that if you blow they'll just walk

jaymla627

I ran him, when a lad starts costing you that kind of money and time theirs no point in keeping him around the place wrecking stuff, totally destroyed the auto-greaser on the boom of a 241 loader

20250708_182418.jpg

whelan2

Trained a lad in here to milk as oh not well at all. We need someone if both me and eldest lad are called away. He just didn't turn up one day. He's alot to learn. He knew we were relying on him. Have a very reliable lad now who used to milk in old set up. He definitely wont let me down

straight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123615834#Comment_123615834

It's just not worth having nice things. Also, if you want to have things done right then you have to do them yourself. I must be getting old because I'm going through a run of annoying young lads recently. A pair of very helpful boys threw 4 bags of cement into the back of my pickup the other day at the co-op. When I got home I discovered 3 of them were burst.

green daries

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123615989#Comment_123615989

That's very annoying..but good in the end up. Hope you're holding up ok i do think of ye

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123615989#Comment_123615989

Seems to be the way they all are these days. Had a young guy do the exact same last year. Went driving for my contractor and never said anything to me. All he had to do was ask if I minded him drawing silage for a week or 2, I wouldn’t have minded at all, it’s only a few weeks of the year

Had a mechanic here today from local dealership doing a job on the agitator, he had a young lad with him - maybe 16. I was the one that ended up getting tools from the van and gathering bolts and rethreading them for him to throw the gun at then. The young lad stood there looking at us both for all of it

I’ve 4 kids here and it’ll be drummed into them to never stand around looking at someone, think or ask about what might be needed next and have it ready

K.G.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123616161#Comment_123616161

It has to start early.if they are not used to work from an early age they will find it too hard when the going gets tough and just give up.also it's an important part of confidence building if you learn how to approach work then you can do anything

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123616161#Comment_123616161

The start of them problems is the “modern” way of parenting where kids are kept away from the farm until they are teenagers.

The kids here were out on the farm from before they could walk, they were steering the tractor on my knee at 2 years of age. They were mixing powder milk for calves, putting in meal, straw etc from when they could walk. They were driving themselves by 6 or 7 years old.

Yes, kids have to be kept safe on the farm so that means when they’re out at that age you have to be extra careful with them and understand that it will take longer to do them jobs than if you were on your own. But long term it’s the only way to train them into working and appreciating what has to be done to pay the bills. None of them here are work shy now, long hours and hard going aren’t a problem. Mollycoddling them is how you end up with lads like that lad with your mechanic today.

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123612945#Comment_123612945

Used to be a great saying of my father's - 'the man that's overstocked is poor'

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123616229#Comment_123616229

I’d say there’s no fear of mine tbh. The 2 older lads ( 3 and 5 ) are out with me all day long and if they’re not they’re in the garden with tractors , swings , trampoline, tree house. They watch v little tv.

They were awake at 5.30 this morning and both came to get the cows before there breakfast

it’s not about them being farmers either, it’s just instilling work ethic in them. The ppl that have work ethic will be the ones that get places in life going forward, there’s so many out there now that want it all done for them

ginger22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123616308#Comment_123616308

Never a truer word said. Reared 6 of them here, from the day they were able they were given jobs to do around the yard. Now they were also taken to hurling, football and all the other events. All grown up now and doing well for themselves. One lad full time farming, another part time, machinery mad tractor mechanic. All the rest with their own careers.

There was a poster on here last week that thought 2 weeks in the Costa Del Sol was bonding. I was going to comment but was afraid the "politically correct" crowd would jump on m

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123616435#Comment_123616435

a week on holidays where you do nothing only what they want is great I think.

jaymla627

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123616308#Comment_123616308

5 year old girl was out with us when it was going on re wrecking the pto on feeder, got it bodged on as a quick fix, and driving off she remarks daddy we can't afford having that lad wrecking your stuff, we haven't the money for it..

Its gas at that age if they're exposed to real life how they learn as they go, their total sponges