Part time farming

Mooooo

https://twitter.com/angusman161/status/1394118939894947841?s=19

With the tone of the last few posts in mind...

Siamsa Sessions

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Sheep fencing is more expensive. But as well as that, you can’t manage grass properly so grow less of it and spend more on meal. It’s a time thing too - hours spent cutting bushes to patch up gaps in a ditch could be better spent on something more productive.

I'm doing a lot of sheep fencing at the moment. I find if I had cattle I'd get the job done faster, as I'm pinning wire down in a lot of places where sheep would escape, cattle wouldn't even think of looking at it. No, it's not an every day job and when it's done it'll be done for years. But, everyday comes into it when you have a wooly escape comm-it-eee patrolling the boundaries day and night, irrespective of forage inside their own fence. Around here at least we'd rarely hear or see cattle escaping, the odd time and mostly onto boreens. But with sheep it's a common occurrence.

Time and labour are increased with sheep compared to cattle anyway, and of course farmers always make the error of not paying themselves for their time.

Young95

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Agree 100% re fencing. Cattle fencing is good here and they left a profit in their first year here. Despite all the sheep fencing I’ve done it’s still not great here, and they have left little or no profit over the past 5 years. It’s more complicated than that but profitability is probably closely tied to good fencing.

Back to the profitability of the sheep ? May I ask what your weaning per ewe ? There’s money in sheep but a few things have to be done right first .

893bet

Mooooo wrote: »

https://twitter.com/angusman161/status/1394118939894947841?s=19

With the tone of the last few posts in mind...

Ha. Got a call last year that a heifer of ours was out on the main road. When got over there (10 minutes) a neighbour had put her in with the cattle. Talking to him and thanked him. Noticed the cattle were doing a bit of galloping and running along the bounds of the field.....as they came past the gate realised.....she wasn’t ours.

Siamsa Sessions

Young95 wrote: »

Back to the profitability of the sheep ? May I ask what your weaning per ewe ? There’s money in sheep but a few things have to be done right first .

I’ve weaned between 1.5 and 2.0 per ewe. Probably close to 1.6-1.7 overall.

I didn’t take a cent out since starting in 2015. Everything had to be bought, from the stock themselves, to a tractor, fencing, reseeding, reclaiming land, converting cow cubicles to a lambing shed, and god knows what else!

Bass Reeves

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

I’ve weaned between 1.5 and 2.0 per ewe. Probably close to 1.6-1.7 overall.

I didn’t take a cent out since starting in 2015. Everything had to be bought, from the stock themselves, to a tractor, fencing, reseeding, reclaiming land, converting cow cubicles to a lambing shed, and god knows what else!

Good sheep figures there.

It takes a long time to develop a farm. It takes even longer when you are taking it back after being rented leased or after buying land. Many farmers take for granted stocking and other development costs. However you have to remember most of these are one off costs. The four Gibney feed thought I bought in 2003 are good for another 15-20 years I say. Crushes and housing are once in a lifetime costs.

I often wondered 2-3 years after starting how I left myself on for it. However now my farm is a wealth creater for the last 6-8 years maybe longer. Instead of paying 35-40k per child after to.put through college it cost me that before tax. The same with a lot of other expenses.

My motto is KISS, keep it simply simple. Maximum profit for minimum effort. Follow the 80-90% rule. Any efficiency above that is hard earned.

Siamsa Sessions

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Good sheep figures there.

It takes a long time to develop a farm. It takes even longer when you are taking it back after being rented leased or after buying land. Many farmers take for granted stocking and other development costs. However you have to remember most of these are one off costs. The four Gibney feed thought I bought in 2003 are good for another 15-20 years I say. Crushes and housing are once in a lifetime costs.

I often wondered 2-3 years after starting how I left myself on for it. However now my farm is a wealth creater for the last 6-8 years maybe longer. Instead of paying 35-40k per child after to.put through college it cost me that before tax. The same with a lot of other expenses.

My motto is KISS, keep it simply simple. Maximum profit for minimum effort. Follow the 80-90% rule. Any efficiency above that is hard earned.

Another long story but the man that had our place rented didn’t exactly look after it. It was only a few years after he was gone that I understood the damage done would take so long to correct.

But onward and upward. KISS is my motto too from now on.

Hard Knocks

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'm doing a lot of sheep fencing at the moment. I find if I had cattle I'd get the job done faster, as I'm pinning wire down in a lot of places where sheep would escape, cattle wouldn't even think of looking at it. No, it's not an every day job and when it's done it'll be done for years. But, everyday comes into it when you have a wooly escape comm-it-eee patrolling the boundaries day and night, irrespective of forage inside their own fence. Around here at least we'd rarely hear or see cattle escaping, the odd time and mostly onto boreens. But with sheep it's a common occurrence.

Time and labour are increased with sheep compared to cattle anyway, and of course farmers always make the error of not paying themselves for their time.

Sheep fencing all here too even though we’ve little sheep
We’ve allot of drains and have seen cows / calves roll into the drain
As another pointed out, when you farm part-time there’s other things to do bar searching for cattle

SupaCat95

nqtfarmer wrote: »

I often think of the story of Sean Kelly as a young lad working on the farm before getting a summer to race on the continent, he returned to the farm in the Autumn until a European cycling manager travelled the country only to find Sean topping a field in South Tipp. Imagine if Sean had said that May, ‘nope there’s silage to be done’

Firstly Sean Kelly was an electrician, according to my father would would be slightly older. As soon has he had a couple of houses wired, he went off cycling. He is now long retired and had a farm.

Farms and waiting for a farm to be handed down and possibly for it not to come at all, is a mugs game. Unless you have a dying passion for it and a massive farm, go get a trade like and electrician/Plumber or go to University and be an Accountant/Engineer. You will have more leisure time to pursue your passions and a better quality of life.

carrollsno1

SupaCat95 wrote: »

Firstly Sean Kelly was an electrician, according to my father would would be slightly older. As soon has he had a couple of houses wired, he went off cycling. He is now long retired and had a farm.

Farms and waiting for a farm to be handed down and possibly for it not to come at all, is a mugs game. Unless you have a dying passion for it and a massive farm, go get a trade like and electrician/Plumber or go to University and be an Accountant/Engineer. You will have more leisure time to pursue your passions and a better quality of life.

A fella told me back in 2016 exactly that, that the fella who waits for a farm dies waiting. I was depressed and miserable at the time and took it the wrong way at the time too. Im nor sorry for the way the years following that panned out for me and im nearly glad i didnt take the advice at the time as i wouldnt be on the path to where im headed now.

Hard Knocks

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Sheep fencing all here too even though we’ve little sheep
We’ve allot of drains and have seen cows / calves roll into the drain
As another pointed out, when you farm part-time there’s other things to do bar searching for cattle

I'm full time but I increasingly value my time, which is why I'm doing so much fencing now. I can turn a decent few quid at other farm enterprises, but not if I'm constantly wasting daylight checking sheep welfare or that they're where I left them or finding them if they're not!

Joel Salatin tells a story of talking to a farmer reluctant to change his "cos that's how we've always done it" ways. That the farmer didn't have time to move cows every day - to manage grazing better. Yet the same farmer spends X hours a day checking stock and needs to round up a small army of family to gather them in!

People are funny in how we miss such obvious things.

SupaCat95

SupaCat95 wrote: »

Firstly Sean Kelly was an electrician, according to my father would would be slightly older. As soon has he had a couple of houses wired, he went off cycling. He is now long retired and had a farm.

Farms and waiting for a farm to be handed down and possibly for it not to come at all, is a mugs game. Unless you have a dying passion for it and a massive farm, go get a trade like and electrician/Plumber or go to University and be an Accountant/Engineer. You will have more leisure time to pursue your passions and a better quality of life.

When our young lad arrived everyone kept calling him the young farmer. I had long decided that he won't have a farm handed to him. If he wants it, he'll have to get a useful trade or qualification or he can work his way into ownership if that's possible. I'd nearly prefer both, I think I'd do him a disservice to just hand it to him.

Dickie10

Farming a good acreage of good quality land here and teaching as well. Absolutely love both jobs, work in secondary teaching in a lovely country town school only 25 min drive away. I did make some changes , got rid of suckler cows and only buy in weanling heifers in autumn and april/may yearlings and kill all 90% off grass in July/August/Sept/ and October. lamb around 100 ewes in late february when i have the week off i start them then get farm relief guy in the next 2 weeks 8-4 4 days a week, im off at 1:10 on Fridays. works out well lambed 34 ewe lambs to this year as nothing was on over easter. the two weeks off at easter is brilliant. always have busy spring but I always make sure to be done and dusted vital work by May bank holiday weekend, thats the start of easy street then, Traditionally try to get a gang of us off to Punchestown on the Friday and a good night in Naas after.Always lovely way to celebrate the end of the winter work.

The farming always goes down well in school with teachers and principals always mad interested in what im at, although i downplay the scale a good bit, just say im tipping away at a couple of sheep etc. The farming qualifications and green cert were the main reason i got the job in that school, they love the idea of the girls doing AG related courses and subjects, lots of the girls are from farms as well and there really passionate about agriculture, i think you will see a lot more young women in Ag over the next few years in Ireland.

Hard Knocks

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'm full time but I increasingly value my time, which is why I'm doing so much fencing now. I can turn a decent few quid at other farm enterprises, but not if I'm constantly wasting daylight checking sheep welfare or that they're where I left them or finding them if they're not!

Joel Salatin tells a story of talking to a farmer reluctant to change his "cos that's how we've always done it" ways. That the farmer didn't have time to move cows every day - to manage grazing better. Yet the same farmer spends X hours a day checking stock and needs to round up a small army of family to gather them in!

People are funny in how we miss such obvious things.

Had to laugh when I read this post
Allot of my younger years was been part of someone’s army ... and been an excuse for some steam let off because the cattle made a new hole

jimmy G M

Dickie10 wrote: »

I did make some changes , got rid of suckler cows and only buy in weanling heifers in autumn and april/may yearlings and kill all 90% off grass in July/August/Sept/ and October..

So you kill @ less than 18 months? What breeds do you buy? How much meal do you feed?

Buy a good amount of Lim & Char x weanling heifers here in Nov, but sell as stores the following Oct... wondering if we might push them harder and try to finish ourselves.... would be hard finish @18 months tho.

ruwithme

jimmy G M wrote: »

So you kill @ less than 18 months? What breeds do you buy? How much meal do you feed?

Buy a good amount of Lim & Char x weanling heifers here in Nov, but sell as stores the following Oct... wondering if we might push them harder and try to finish ourselves.... would be hard finish @18 months tho.

As they approach 30 months i would read that Jim.

jimmy G M

ruwithme wrote: »

As they approach 30 months i would read that Jim.

Yeah, that what I was thinking myself, but not clear from the post

Dickie10

yeah sorry, approaching 30 months always have a few go over try not to have to haul meal too much in late summer early autumn but they could be getting 5 kg a head for a 6 weeks to put up the fat of course thats average some need no feeding some hoors you would be throwing it into a black hole. I tend to have them going over fat though so im trying get them only 3= and 2+ but tough to get that right. i had a few screwy type this year, i knew they wouldnt finish so put them in shed in novemeber and fed from january to start of april and sold as finshed in mart in early april did better than killing i would say. big charrolais heading for 36 months.