Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

cosatron

Timmaay wrote: »

What are the rough economics of spreading yourown slurry against contracting it all out? I contract 100% of it out here, I haven't even bothered doing the sums but I absolutely couldn't be arsed doing it myself even if someone gave me the tanker for free.

We 100% contract our slurry out aswell. All done in 1 day as the contractor has 3 tankers and 2 agitators. You really would have love hardship and torture to buy a tanker, cause the time you have to go it at, your busy as hell with cows calving or getting sheds ready.

Green&Red

straight wrote: »

Well if I was to pay myself a wage on top of all the investment they wouldn't cover it. Luckily I'm mortgage free as savings from my job built my house and the wife's wages feed me and the kids. Fairly set up now and might start earning a wage in another year or two but I'm more interested in building a farm/herd to be proud of. That's farming as far as I'm concerned. Feel sorry for lads investing big and expecting to get rich.

I’m sorry but what?

You think the purpose of farming is building a farm to be proud of?
Is it not to make a living out of? Otherwise it’s just a hobby

I don’t think anyone expects to get rich but to make a decent living? Absolutely

Farm365

Mf310 wrote: »

Ill be another to disagree, started into dairy in 2018 bought heifers as maidens put them in calf built a second hand parlour 80 cows and milking 90 this year, the farm has never been as profitable even with the added debt. Not saying theres a big wage coming out of the farm but it would be comfortable in that I can reinvest into the farm as it is. Bought a new tractor this year, something as you say teagasc/ifac in their 5 year plan couldnt have considered at all. After doing lots of concrete around the yard over last 2 years and making things simple . To anyone wondering will they make money from 50/60 cows I would have no doubt in saying go for it it will be better than beef or sheep any day of the week and you will get paid for the commitment.

I think the key is the amount you borrow per cow. Obviously if you can keep it low you have a good chance even in a low milk price year

straight

Green&Red wrote: »

I’m sorry but what?

You think the purpose of farming is building a farm to be proud of?
Is it not to make a living out of? Otherwise it’s just a hobby

I don’t think anyone expects to get rich but to make a decent living? Absolutely

Things are not always that black or white you know. My accountant has me at 1k profit per cow. I don't see it though because I'm developing the farm from cash flow. I don't like to borrow for anything apart from property. There's a lot of farmers that think they're making money if their pouring concrete, building sheds or buying tractors/machinery. As far as I'm concerned all that spending is within the business. I'll be paying myself a wage in 2022 and what I mean by that is 800 - 1000 euro a week standing order from my farm account to current account. That's my way and it's other lads business to do whatever they like. But wages and business spending are not the same.

Green&Red

straight wrote: »

Fairly set up now and might start earning a wage in another year or two but I'm more interested in building a farm/herd to be proud of.

This is the sentence I have an issue with

No. 1 priority should be having a sustainable wage from the business. If you’re a full time farmer, which it sounds like you are, then a wage that’s suitable for your family and your farm.

At the end of the day it’s a business, paying the wages is its whole purpose.

kevthegaff

Farm here is giving myself and herself a wage, if the business cant cope with that, one of us will be searching for a job

Wildsurfer

straight wrote: »

I don't know what feasibility has to do with farming. I couldn't afford to farm only that I made money somewhere else to allow me to farm.

You're contradicting this statement in the last few posts straight. You have now said you are growing your business from cashflow which inherently means the farm is making money. Taking a loan over the write off period to cover the farm improvements would make more sense and would allow you to siphon off some of your profits to a cash reserve.

straight

Wildsurfer wrote: »

You're contradicting this statement in the last few posts straight. You have now said you are growing your business from cashflow which inherently means the farm is making money. Taking a loan over the write off period to cover the farm improvements would make more sense and would allow you to siphon off some of your profits to a cash reserve.

Not contradicting at all lad. I said I don't need the cash flow for myself so I chose to put it into the business instead of borrowing. Simples. There's more than one way to skin a cat you know. Also I'm building up alot of capital allowances for the future. If other people want to borrow then that's their choice.

Green&Red

straight wrote: »

I don't know what feasibility has to do with farming. I couldn't afford to farm only that I made money somewhere else to allow me to farm.

straight wrote: »

Things are not always that black or white you know. My accountant has me at 1k profit per cow. I don't see it though because I'm developing the farm from cash flow. I don't like to borrow for anything apart from property. There's a lot of farmers that think they're making money if their pouring concrete, building sheds or buying tractors/machinery. As far as I'm concerned all that spending is within the business. I'll be paying myself a wage in 2022 and what I mean by that is 800 - 1000 euro a week standing order from my farm account to current account. That's my way and it's other lads business to do whatever they like. But wages and business spending are not the same.

straight wrote: »

Not contradicting at all lad. I said I don't need the cash flow for myself so I chose to put it into the business instead of borrowing. Simples. There's more than one way to skin a cat you know. Also I'm building up alot of capital allowances for the future. If other people want to borrow then that's their choice.

I really dont get what you're saying. You say in one post that you couldn't afford to farm only that you have other off-farm money and that feasibility has nothing to do with farming. In the next you say that the accountant has you making 1k profit per cow but you don't see any of that cause you're reinvesting it to develop the farm.
Wages are a part of the business spending as far as I'm concerned, the primary spending for a successful business.

You can chose to keep money within the farm business if you wish, and I'd agree with Wildsurfer that a loan would be more efficient but each to their own. The fact remains that your farm should be capable of paying those wages

straight

Green&Red wrote: »

I really dont get what you're saying. You say in one post that you couldn't afford to farm only that you have other off-farm money and that feasibility has nothing to do with farming. In the next you say that the accountant has you making 1k profit per cow but you don't see any of that cause you're reinvesting it to develop the farm.
Wages are a part of the business spending as far as I'm concerned, the primary spending for a successful business.

You can chose to keep money within the farm business if you wish, and I'd agree with Wildsurfer that a loan would be more efficient but each to their own. The fact remains that your farm should be capable of paying those wages

Thanks for your concern. I'll definitely take it on board and I'm sorry if I confused you. I'll look into a milk flex loan and tractor finance as soon as I get a chance.

Green&Red

straight wrote: »

Thanks for your concern. I'll definitely take it on board and I'm sorry if I confused you. I'll look into a milk flex loan and tractor finance as soon as I get a chance.

This is the only thing that confuses me, nice to have a farm that you’re proud of though

straight wrote: »

I don't know what feasibility has to do with farming. I couldn't afford to farm only that I made money somewhere else to allow me to farm.

Gary kk

Green&Red wrote: »

This is the only thing that confuses me, nice to have a farm that you’re proud of though

Same way people spend money doing up there house only for farms in the long run an income can be the result.

alps

straight wrote: »

Things are not always that black or white you know. My accountant has me at 1k profit per cow. I don't see it though because I'm developing the farm from cash flow. I don't like to borrow for anything apart from property. There's a lot of farmers that think they're making money if their pouring concrete, building sheds or buying tractors/machinery. As far as I'm concerned all that spending is within the business. I'll be paying myself a wage in 2022 and what I mean by that is 800 - 1000 euro a week standing order from my farm account to current account. That's my way and it's other lads business to do whatever they like. But wages and business spending are not the same.

Fair play straight...looks like you're doing a storming job and hitting the top mark on margin per cow.

All people operate their finances differently and your system looks set to pay real dividends.

mahoney_j

Smaxtec bolus for monitoring health and heat detection in cows ,anyone have this system installed and feedback ???compared to traditional tags or collars think this could be the real deal but it’s relatively new

straight

mahoney_j wrote: »

Smaxtec bolus for monitoring health and heat detection in cows ,anyone have this system installed and feedback ???compared to traditional tags or collars think this could be the real deal but it’s relatively new

They seemed to be making alot of noise 12 months ago and then seem to have disappeared. It's very new technology. Think I'd go with the ear tag. Not an expert by any means on it.

Tonynewholland

mahoney_j wrote: »

Smaxtec bolus for monitoring health and heat detection in cows ,anyone have this system installed and feedback ???compared to traditional tags or collars think this could be the real deal but it’s relatively new

I looked into the tag and collar systems a few years ago while they seem to work well I don’t think they will make you more money. If your good with stock you don’t really need them I feel

mahoney_j

Tonynewholland wrote: »

I looked into the tag and collar systems a few years ago while they seem to work well I don’t think they will make you more money. If your good with stock you don’t really need them I feel

No matter how good a stick man/woman u think u are u can’t monitor stock 24 hours a day systems like these are getting more common every year to me a good stock person would become even better with something like this

Tonynewholland

mahoney_j wrote: »

No matter how good a stick man/woman u think u are u can’t monitor stock 24 hours a day systems like these are getting more common every year to me a good stock person would become even better with something like this

It’s hard to get the systems I looked at to work 24/7 Cows need to be in sight of the base station. A lot are set up near the parlour to read just at milking times You can put others around the farm but they need a power supply.
And the cost. Tags about €70 collars €100 with a pretty short warranty and pay a sub each year of a couple of grand. As I said they work well but at a high cost.

jaymla627

Tonynewholland wrote: »

It’s hard to get the systems I looked at to work 24/7 Cows need to be in sight of the base station. A lot are set up near the parlour to read just at milking times You can put others around the farm but they need a power supply.
And the cost. Tags about €70 collars €100 with a pretty short warranty and pay a sub each year of a couple of grand. As I said they work well but at a high cost.

All info is stored on scr system and once they enter within receiver distance its uploaded, no yearly sub either, circa 70 euro per tag and 3300 ish for base station and installation

Green&Red

Is there any system that doesn’t rely on a vasectomised bull?

dar31

mahoney_j wrote: »

No matter how good a stick man/woman u think u are u can’t monitor stock 24 hours a day systems like these are getting more common every year to me a good stock person would become even better with something like this

Exactly.
Have invested in a system to be fitted before Xmas, all our figures are good but dose take a big effort. Don’t expect the system to make any vast improvement but will lighten the work load. I reckon most benefit will be from herd health in the spring.
Also going 100% ai and removing stock bulls from farm for saftey

dar31

Tonynewholland wrote: »

It’s hard to get the systems I looked at to work 24/7 Cows need to be in sight of the base station. A lot are set up near the parlour to read just at milking times You can put others around the farm but they need a power supply.
And the cost. Tags about €70 collars €100 with a pretty short warranty and pay a sub each year of a couple of grand. As I said they work well but at a high cost.

No annual fee here. 2 receivers here front and back of parlour, the one to the rear mainly covers the dry cow and calving shed where cows 2 weeks pre calving are.
2 way link to icbf and a link to my drafting gate for next spring

straight

dar31 wrote: »

No annual fee here. 2 receivers here front and back of parlour, the one to the rear mainly covers the dry cow and calving shed where cows 2 weeks pre calving are.
2 way link to icbf and a link to my drafting gate for next spring

What system did you go with

Tonynewholland

jaymla627 wrote: »

All info is stored on scr system and once they enter within receiver distance its uploaded, no yearly sub either, circa 70 euro per tag and 3300 ish for base station and installation

Yes I know the info is stored but it’s not 24/7 like it’s promoted as. If the cows leave the parlour at 5 in the evening and are in a far off field with no cover until 7 in the morning that’s 14 hours.

jaymla627

Tonynewholland wrote: »

Yes I know the info is stored but it’s not 24/7 like it’s promoted as. If the cows leave the parlour at 5 in the evening and are in a far off field with no cover until 7 in the morning that’s 14 hours.

In all fairness the second the cows enter the yard all health info, heat info, and any sick cows are flagged up to your phone, you can get the boasters for 24/7 coverage but its overkill, had a cow last year that had just put the water bag out burst that id seen and half a hour later i got a distressed calving alert for said cow, handled cow and the calf was coming backwards, no stockman would of went near that cow till a couple of hours later, its savage technology and where lads are trying to run higher and higher numbers by themselves it enables you to relax about not having to live with your cows 24/7

Mooooo

Any of ye change esb suppliers recently?

mahoney_j

Tonynewholland wrote: »

It’s hard to get the systems I looked at to work 24/7 Cows need to be in sight of the base station. A lot are set up near the parlour to read just at milking times You can put others around the farm but they need a power supply.
And the cost. Tags about €70 collars €100 with a pretty short warranty and pay a sub each year of a couple of grand. As I said they work well but at a high cost.

What system is that ....

mahoney_j

dar31 wrote: »

Exactly.
Have invested in a system to be fitted before Xmas, all our figures are good but dose take a big effort. Don’t expect the system to make any vast improvement but will lighten the work load. I reckon most benefit will be from herd health in the spring.
Also going 100% ai and removing stock bulls from farm for saftey

Thanks dar that along lines of what I want to hear about and what u outlined would be what I’m thinking as well .is it the smaxtec system u went for or something else and what made u choose it over something else .so far for me the cow manager from wws looks really good so far but this smaxtec system is turning my eye

mahoney_j

Mooooo wrote: »

Any of ye change esb suppliers recently?

Cormac Killeen 0861754545 he won’t be beaten

jaymla627

mahoney_j wrote: »

Thanks dar that along lines of what I want to hear about and what u outlined would be what I’m thinking as well .is it the smaxtec system u went for or something else and what made u choose it over something else .so far for me the cow manager from wws looks really good so far but this smaxtec system is turning my eye

Cow manager system is nearly double the price because of subscription charges versus scr system, smaxtec system never really took of because of the hassle retriving bolous when cull cows are sold off-farm, with the scr system here im able to take the tags from my late calving cows put them into the maiden heifers for 6 weeks of ai and then simply transfer them back into late calvers when they calve down, only cost is a 10 cent afflex male tag each time