Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Siamsa Sessions

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Anyone know the details of the Young Farmer of the Year?
Total acres, stocking rates, amount of artificial fertilizer used, months of slurry storage etc etc?

I doubt much of that matters. It’s all about free publicity for FBD.

I met Dara a few times and he seems an OK guy. Maybe he would lick himself but this might not be the kind of thing to be discussing on an anonymous forum. He might have allowed his name to go forward for this publicity but he’s not a Kardashian either.

mahoney_j

Bit over the top comments re young farmer of year lads know nothing of him only from Twitter .....beyond me why anyone enters things like this I literally could not be arsed either with the accolades nor the pr from it my late father always said the best farmers he ever came by where the ones u hear nothing about

alps

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Be grand...as a convicted polluter (no fish kills, no environmental damage whatsoever) the man wouldn’t be allowed farm under his own name, be a director of a farm or a farming company (including any other directors of the farming company), for life. A hefty fine that is reflective of the damage done, local radio reports and interviews, full acceptance of further litigation from angling clubs etc etc etc.
If there was a zero tolerance policy like that would it change anything?


What’s his name and where’s he from?

Many irons in many fires...new to dairying a couple of years before quota removal...

alps

alps wrote: »

Many irons in many fires...new to dairying a couple of years before quota removal...

A more pertinent question would have been....


Is he a derogation farmer?

straight

He's selling 420 kgMs this year. Bought the best cows you could get. Didn't compromise on price.

https://youtu.be/3LabN3MJuB4

My Co op average is 392 kg or something. It's fairly pathetic I think after widespread AI for generations.

Mooooo

420 with first and second calvers in a rel low input system isn't bad at all.

mahoney_j

straight wrote: »

He's selling 420 kgMs this year. Bought the best cows you could get. Didn't compromise on price.

https://youtu.be/3LabN3MJuB4

My Co op average is 392 kg or something. It's fairly pathetic I think after widespread AI for generations.

Widespread ai is a bit of a stretch an afull lot of stock bulls still in use and lots of poor ones too .agree on a coop average of 390 kgms been poor still too many herds carrying lots of crap cows building numbers or just carrying cows be better off not chasing numbers and selling the most kgms possible from less cows as efficiently as possible

alps

Great speaker...smart operator..

Siamsa Sessions

straight wrote: »

He's selling 420 kgMs this year. Bought the best cows you could get. Didn't compromise on price.

https://youtu.be/3LabN3MJuB4

My Co op average is 392 kg or something. It's fairly pathetic I think after widespread AI for generations.

Some of his cows came from a neighbour of mine who’s heading towards 400-ish xbreds at the last count. I might break the piggy bank and buy a few heifer calves off him in the Spring. He was looking for €300/head last Feb but I’m guessing that might even rise in 2021 given the price of all dairy stock at the moment.

straight

Mooooo wrote: »

420 with first and second calvers in a rel low input system isn't bad at all.

But how are coop averages so low. 420 is fairly good with a young herd and low feeding alright I suppose. But he had alot of reseeding done and long grazing season and the best cows money could buy.

straight

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Some of his cows came from a neighbour of mine who’s heading towards 400-ish xbreds at the last count. I might break the piggy bank and buy a few heifer calves off him in the Spring. He was looking for €300/head last Feb but I’m guessing that might even rise in 2021 given the price of all dairy stock at the moment.

He was selling them cheap at 300. I get 400 for pedigrees. Plenty demand.

Mooooo

straight wrote: »

But how are coop averages so low. 420 is fairly good with a young herd and low feeding alright I suppose. But he had alot of reseeding done and long grazing season and the best cows money could buy.

Are they that low?, coop report avg, they still have me in the winter group for some reason, for Jan to Sept is 391, 3 months left to go. Not sure what the spring one is. Dairygold

GrasstoMilk

straight wrote: »

But how are coop averages so low. 420 is fairly good with a young herd and low feeding alright I suppose. But he had alot of reseeding done and long grazing season and the best cows money could buy.

I would say some of it is guys having cull cows in the herd and the solids being spread out over cows that aren't producing milk
Happened here this year, had 15 culls till the start of April and we've a nice bit less sent per cow on the coop report than whats actually sold

And then there is a good bit of poor breeding out there too

Dara is a lovely guy, met him a few times
Very down to earth and clued in
He'll have a great herd of cows in time
Delighted for him

blackdog1

Mooooo wrote: »

Are they that low?, coop report avg, they still have me in the winter group for some reason, for Jan to Sept is 391, 3 months left to go. Not sure what the spring one is. Dairygold

350 kg is the average for spring. Top 10% is 404

green daries

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Nailed it.
If farmers took it on themselves to act responsibly it would help try and keep the status quo. Unfortunately this probably won’t happen and only tightening regulations will force the issue.

4 Farmers round me puming away spreading slurry the Last while its a joke for anyone who is trying to comply

Water John

green daries wrote: »

4 Farmers round me puming away spreading slurry the Last while its a joke for anyone who is trying to comply

Is it 2022 when the lad in the sky will be checking you every two weeks?

older by the day

I'm wondering. I'm getting a new tank and a new heater and stronger esb. I'm asking now before I make a mistake. How many are on night rate electricity. My collection is at 1 in the day and I don't milk early, usually drop kids to school. Next thing is , there a difference in emerson heating tanks. Do you let in on or a timer. Are they all the same. It's great to be able to ask other farmers. Thanks in advance.

mahoney_j

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

I would say some of it is guys having cull cows in the herd and the solids being spread out over cows that aren't producing milk
Happened here this year, had 15 culls till the start of April and we've a nice bit less sent per cow on the coop report than whats actually sold

And then there is a good bit of poor breeding out there too

Dara is a lovely guy, met him a few times
Very down to earth and clued in
He'll have a great herd of cows in time
Delighted for him

Would of thought by now most lads know if fattening cull cows u change them to beef ainmals in purpose and this takes them out of equation for milk when dried off

Gillespy

green daries wrote: »

4 Farmers round me puming away spreading slurry the Last while its a joke for anyone who is trying to comply

It's drier now than it was ten days either side of the 15th Oct deadline. At least here, I couldn't even get the last of the dung out before that deadline. A arbitrary date doesn't mean it's responsible to be spreading on wet ground that's only getting wetter. Stupid calendar farming coupled with umbilical spreading with tractors that can travel on waterlogged fields causes more problems than it stops.

whelan2

Cows housed here well before 15th October. Alot of rain has fallen since then.

cosatron

whelan2 wrote: »

Cows housed here well before 15th October. Alot of rain has fallen since then.

How’s the new shed going

straight

Gillespy wrote: »

It's drier now than it was ten days either side of the 15th Oct deadline. At least here, I couldn't even get the last of the dung out before that deadline. A arbitrary date doesn't mean it's responsible to be spreading on wet ground that's only getting wetter. Stupid calendar farming coupled with umbilical spreading with tractors that can travel on waterlogged fields causes more problems than it stops.

Same as alot of their regs. They do more harm than good in general. You can spread parlour washings all year.

whelan2

cosatron wrote: »

How’s the new shed going

It's great. I dont know myself

GrasstoMilk

mahoney_j wrote: »

Would of thought by now most lads know if fattening cull cows u change them to beef ainmals in purpose and this takes them out of equation for milk when dried off

Well I didn't think of it and I'd say alot of farmers don't, its been mentioned a few times in my discussion group over the years, I'd say its common enough

Buford T. Justice XIX

older by the day wrote: »

I'm wondering. I'm getting a new tank and a new heater and stronger esb. I'm asking now before I make a mistake. How many are on night rate electricity. My collection is at 1 in the day and I don't milk early, usually drop kids to school. Next thing is , there a difference in emerson heating tanks. Do you let in on or a timer. Are they all the same. It's great to be able to ask other farmers. Thanks in advance.

If you're putting in an icebank then you really need to put in night rate to get most of your milk cooled at the cheapest rate. And a plate cooler is needed with either direct expansion or icebank to precool the milk, I'd say.

We upgraded to power into the parlour 15 or 16 years ago, I should have put in a stronger cable because the demand for electricity grows every year so that might be something to look out for as well.

The immersion we have here is set to come on at 12 at night and run till 9 am. With the time change, it's 11 pm to 8am until the clocks change back. We have a switch to turn on heating during the day if we're doing a double hot wash but that's only one day a week. We switch it on after the morning acid wash and leave it on till the afternoon caustic wash about 3.

mahoney_j

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Well I didn't think of it and I'd say alot of farmers don't, its been mentioned a few times in my discussion group over the years, I'd say its common enough

Not saying your doing it but lots are or aren’t and using it to bump or inflate milk solids sold .why I don’t know ....lots are changing empty cows to beef ainmals after scanning in August and September too also inflated figures .
Having a look at all pages of performance report you’ll find the gaps tho .leads to disillusionment in groups too which is understandable

K.G.

Just on the coop average solids for cows,alot of fellas dont put in dry off dates so the cow stays in milk until she leaves the farm and if she is fattened on grass could be june /july /august

GrasstoMilk

K.G. wrote: »

Just on the coop average solids for cows,alot of fellas dont put in dry off dates so the cow stays in milk until she leaves the farm and if she is fattened on grass could be june /july /august

Yeah this is what I was trying to say aswell

mahoney_j

K.G. wrote: »

Just on the coop average solids for cows,alot of fellas dont put in dry off dates so the cow stays in milk until she leaves the farm and if she is fattened on grass could be june /july /august

Again put in dry off date in herdplus and change purpose to beef honestly thought most lads are up to speed on this the whole herd plus programme is excellent if used right it’s only in recent times im hearing tegasc advisors explaining this

richie123

Gillespy wrote: »

It's drier now than it was ten days either side of the 15th Oct deadline. At least here, I couldn't even get the last of the dung out before that deadline. A arbitrary date doesn't mean it's responsible to be spreading on wet ground that's only getting wetter. Stupid calendar farming coupled with umbilical spreading with tractors that can travel on waterlogged fields causes more problems than it stops.

What was wrong with September?
What a lot of lads don't realize is slurry spread even in dry conditions in October and November will still end up in drains waterways.. because grass just doesn't have the same uptake at that time of year.
In this day and age with all the grants available there's no excuse not to have adequate storage.