What's your slurry/fodder situation?

mr.stonewall

Get over Tuesday night and it's starting to pick up. Just got a few loads of water out of tanks this morning, should help greatly.

Danny healy ray

20240318_130603.jpg

I should have enough silage for few weeks on a side note the cling film is some job on a silage pit

davidk1394

Ok here for silage and slurry. Starting to see the straw disappear alright. Had the cows out last night and out by day with the last while so that's making a big difference.

tractorporn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121907426#Comment_121907426

Yeah got out of cows and into calf to beef. Time will tell if its the right call.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909204#Comment_121909204

What numbers and breeds are you going for?

Birdnuts

While the Irish weather has always been variable to some extent it seems we are now entering a period of more extreme cycles of rainfall, drought and heat etc. This will have implications for current farming models in Ireland , the EU and beyond. Unfortunately much of the conventional industry seems to be very behind the curve in acknowledging this let alone making reasonable attempts to adapt in terms of stocking rates, land management approaches, input levels etc. To highlight my point, an increasing amount of CAP money across the EU is going to bailout the most intensive agri sectors from various weather disasters relating to drought and flooding over the past 10 years, which is problematic in terms of the current CAP model where 80% of funding is already going to this "Privileged" sector while the majority of smaller operators continue to scrap for an already mediocre share. This same privileged sector is also the most hostile to any reasonable measures in the CAP relating to to restoring degraded soils, natural drought and flood buffering of farmland and generally any measures to make farming more climate resilient,and sadly they are getting their way via the political influence of the main industrial farming orgs within the likes of the EPP in Brussels.

tractorporn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909239#Comment_121909239

I reared a batch of Belgium Blue heifers and a batch of mixed continental heifers before Christmas and they are at grass atm. I've two batches in the shed atm mostly Aax and Hex with a few Aubrac and Charolais. I'm gonna rear 40 this year and along with the few cows that I didn't sell and a few old dears that I didn't bring to the mart I'll end up around the 50 mark. I've just made up my mind to buy a auto feeder just to ease the workload as I'm working an hour and a half away as well.

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121908727#Comment_121908727

Do you use one cling film underneath and then one new black 500g sheet, or do you use more?

I've a pit for first cut and one for second. Used cling on both. The second pit was quite steeply sloped and had a lot more waste; feel air got it and was blown up under the cling/plastic especially at one side.

Danny healy ray

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911122#Comment_121911122

one new 500g cover but iv a cover hanging along the length of the walls on both sides they go down on top of the cling film then new cover on top of that

Conversations 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911138#Comment_121911138

Is the cling film expensive?

I'm sick of spronging spoiled silage from the corners of the pitt.

Danny healy ray

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121912501#Comment_121912501

forget the price exactly now but I think it wasn't too dear

older by the day

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909514#Comment_121909514

I can't disagree agree with you, but the problem is the money ain't in it to back it up.

I was doing the acres course last year, they bored the Shiite out of us for hours about the environment, but they won't back it up with money. An acre of land is worth 7 to 15k. The power that be, expects lads to rewet or let it idle for a few hundred a year, and we all know that it will be considered a habitat after a while, so you can never again work it.

So will you **** up a very valuable asset for a couple of hundred a year.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121912990#Comment_121912990

Probably why the CAP needs further restructuring to provide the necessary incentives via increased Pillar 2 "funding" which would also have the benefit of getting more SFP money to the bigger number of smaller farmers that have been screwed over the by the fat cats via the current grossly unfair Pillar 1 Monster. In addition the Irish government are meant to be setting up a 3bln euro restore nature fund as announced in the last budget to finance the next 10 years of such measures too, so farmers who play ball should be getting a big chunk of that too. In any case we are not talking about whole farms here, just a low single figure % in each landholding concentrated on critical areas along water retaining/flood buffering habitats like existing water courses, steep peaty hillsides, turloughs, callows etc. which are difficult to farm at the best of times anyways. Of course the elephant in the room here is the immense ongoing damage semi states like Coillte and BNM continue to do in this space without being held accountable by successive governments - despite the fact that the current line Ministers for same are Cabbage Head Ryan and Hacket🙄

older by the day

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121913759#Comment_121913759

If you are right all FF and FG are doing are turning people against farmers and farmers against anything green

https://gript.ie/icmsa-hits-out-at-biased-leaving-cert-climate-curriculum-plan/

Aravo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121912501#Comment_121912501

Used cling film a few years back. Sure it fits more snug to the silage. I got a few years out of the same cover. Didn't bother replacing it. I find cutting the grass a bit earlier in good conditions and having the pit well rolled and covered will do more than any film. Been using the long sausage sand bags along the base of the cover with tyres on top. I find this is a great job in keeping air out. Previously just had tyres.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121914400#Comment_121914400

Yep - clumsy and FA joined up thinking. As I have often stated here, the average suckler farmer is probably the most biodiversity friendly farmer we have, yet this is the very sector in farming getting the most kicking by the Greenwashers in government and state agencies🙄

Aravo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121907052#Comment_121907052

Update. Some calved cows are gone out so this has meant silage pit is still there. 2wks left there at most at the rear of pit so I expect some wastage as this silage is there a few years. Straw going faster than expected but should be ok.

Conversations 3

Few cattle out, will probably have to put back in this evening once I look at the field.

Fodder is ok, plenty of bales taken off strong fields last year.

Slurry will be an issue next week, nearly to the underside of the slats.

grange mac

Tanks need to be rain gunned again tomorrow.... Neighbour giving me 10 bales. Im out as sold another neighbour 20 in Jan... None of my neighbours have bales. We are trying to get loads from east Cork as none in locality for sale. We have secured 100 but at 50 plus 15 delivered…

Tensions simmering around here as 2 farmer's with no cattle won't sell their 200 bales even when know fellas are stuck. They said want to keep them for next winter. I know they are theirs but its not gone down well..

Two of my dairy neighbours leaving cattle out by day as no feeding and they making absolutely shyte of each field they go into.

Were under pressure but just taking it day by day…hopefully nxt wk improves.

That's general gist in bantry.

50HX

Tanks ok for 2 weeks

Out of feed, bales off of neighbour he's ~250 to sell but some big loads starting to move yestarday & this mornin

Your 2 neighbours could be dead nxt winter...we all had to row in in 2013 & it wasn't forgotten. Ffs hate that lack of community spirit.

One lad got cleared out here with tb early 2013 had a full pit of silage that he wouldn't sell....it hasn't been forgotten since

It's a real once I'm alright fcuk everyone else mentality.

Different mentality to our parents & grandparents era

kevthegaff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121978894#Comment_121978894

Some lads were stung before lads not paying them. Double cautious afterwards..

50HX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121979074#Comment_121979074

I agree but if you are offered payment in the yard & won't sell point blank with the " I want it for nxt winter" approach then there is no good in you imo

PoorFarmer

Took a few feet from the top of the tanks early in the week. Rain gun job unfortunately. Plenty of grass but you wouldn't walk it yourself. Buying bales with a month off a neighbour with no cattle but he's all out now except for a block of loose hay in the barn that is there as long as I can remember. Still a good few bales about the locality but lads are starting to get the prices up now. Was asked €45 a bale for stuff yesterday and he couldn't tell me if it was from 2022 or 2023. Took one to try it but think I'll be looking elsewhere as it was bang average.

Was talking to my contractor last night and they are worn from agitating and throwing out a few loads. A lot of the tanks that they are at now are on the 3rd or 4th round of the rain gun and it's getting harder and harder to agitate as the water is gone out of them after the first few rounds.

Started moving cattle on too while prices are good. Took bulls to the mart and they made good money but I advertised in-calf suckler heifers during the week and didn't get as much as 1 phone call about them. Lads will hold off from buying those kind of cattle until they can leave them out I suppose.

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121979074#Comment_121979074

That happens more than you think and it's often the bigger guy than the small guy

mr.stonewall

All cattle back in here. About a week of slurry space left. Fodder ok. I was out walking with the kids and the growth in ditches is about to take off.

We are in the middle of the borrowing days and hopefully the last sting of this winter

JeffKenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121979099#Comment_121979099

Eaten bread is soon forgotten.

Tileman

Eaten bread is soon forgotten is right. I remember in 2013 offering a neighbour 10 bales of silage if he needed them as I was ok. And if he didn’t need them I would put them up on dd to help someone out. He said he was ok. A few months later I had to ask him to look at a machine for me to bleed it as it broke down with dirty diesel mowing silage . I had to go somewhere with work so I couldn’t get to it. He charged me €150.

whelan2

The thing is though if someone does a job for you and doesn't charge you it's very hard to ask them another time to do something. Prefer to pay and get them again rather than trying to get someone else that you probably dont know

minerleague

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121978894#Comment_121978894

Disagree strongly with this post. Years ago when everyone made hay you might get a barn fire and all the neighbours would give some to that farmer. The difference is that then there would be a year or two worth of hay as a buffer in most yards in case of a bad year where fodder couldn't be made. Nowadays there are farmers making the bare minimum year to year ( how many fodder crisis have we had now? ). I have no problem with that but if you run short I don't agree with using some emotional blackmail to force someone to sell to you. I was in that position for years and got so fed up I only make small surplus now.

Jb1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121980463#Comment_121980463

Agreed, we've had enough weather warnings in last years to know to save feeding. Stock rates have probably went up too leading to hard to save feed, but that's no excuse.