Dairy chit chat II

whelan2 wrote: »

Grass growing here. Heavy land loves this weather. I will enjoy it while it lasts as we will probably be back to muck and scutter soon enough

Exactly the same here

I'm literally having a once in a lifetime year with the weather! All ground being grazed like the greens of the K club, 1.5 kg of ration a day giving me out 3.51% P which would be exceptional for this side of land at this time of year, 4.2% fat just shy of 30 Litres a day, bulling like clockwork, made the decision to pull land a while back for bales so and just literally skirting along with a perfect amount of grass in front of them. The only time I saw a lull coming I followed the fertilizer with a very light coat of parlour washings to get it into ground quicker and grass took off again.
Granted my stocking rate would be low compared to a lot of lads still but I can only imagine how the lads in very good land must feel when this is their every day life, would actually make farming unquestionably the nicest profession of them all in my mind if this was what it was on the majority of the time rather than the extreme exception.
Sorry if I sound antagonistic with this post but seeing as where we live no doubt we will be back to floods and rubbish weather soon enough and the status quo will return to normal.

freedominacup wrote: »

What rain? Nothing in the forecast. We were supposed to get the bones of a half inch this weekend. Not a thing nor any looking likely. I'm going to start pricing up maize to buy at this stage.

Left over forage maize or merchant grain maize?

freedominacup wrote: »

For this year's harvest. I have first cut pitted but I don't know where the rest will come from. Hard to say anything now stopped for silage. No point in waiting until it all goes tits up to start looking.

I'm horsing maize and 80 dmd silage into cows here. Grass gone to phuck. Yeild holding well though.

Timmaay wrote: »

41% of the milking block here is gone too strong for the cows, 1/2 of that I was eyeing up for an 1st cut end of may, but only 60 units N on it. Most of it is only around the 4bales/ac right the min. With that out I'm sitting at 4cow/HA, and growing very little right at the minute (cover/cow at 163). I'm set to mow and bale 2 paddocks tomorrow, sorta Duno what to do right at the minute though, mow and bale more of it now, and probably end up well short on pit silage (outside ground 1st cut is doing even worse).

When did it get the fert. 70 units N spread here between mid March and first week of Apr on silage ground in 2 splits. No problem harvesting based on N test last tues. If N is gone cut it. You have to play what's in front of you. All plans are dust now literally with this weather.
On a related topic. What are top quality bales worth dropped in the yard? Ground newly reseeded last year with a clean butt. Cut this week?

Have a weeks grass ahead of cows. Yield holding OK. Actually water is abit of a problem here these warmer days it seems.
Spread can yesterday and will spread more tomorrow. Wonder how long it will stay on the ground?!

whelan2 wrote: »

Grass growing here. Heavy land loves this weather. I will enjoy it while it lasts as we will probably be back to muck and scutter soon enough

Same here. Happiness

jaymla627 wrote: »

115 cows here are emptying a 500 gallon trough in the half an hour it takes us to get up to them with a ibc to top up the trough after they go out easily drinking a 100 plus litres a cow in this weather especially today

What bore pipe have you in your mainline?

mahoney_j wrote: »

25/28 euro a bale

Would you sell for that money?

I wouldn't.
New seeds...NPK off take...contractor fees etc...along with a bullish outlook on fodder prices...

Has Stephen Fry angered the Gods??

It's just a bit of dry lads.
Shallow soils will suffer more than light deep soils.
Get any heavy covers off and baled yesterday. The heavy covers suck moisture from down deep.
I couldn't emphasize the value of clover enough. It puts chemical fert in the ha'penny place...however saying you've clover in your sward is like blocking the jax at a fancy dinner party...


Finally, Douglas Adams... 'Don't Panic'...it's Ireland, it will rain.

jaymla627 wrote: »

On a 3 cut system here on rented ground assuming I yield 20 bales over three cuts of the above quality silage with ground costing 200 a acre it's coming in at bang on 30 Euro a bale to get them stacked in my yard side note I'm not mining the ground at this with plenty of p and k going out

Expensive fodder, isn't it?

jaymla627 wrote: »

3/4 inch problem is water has to be pumped uphill so only have a flow rate of 1200 litres a hour on half the grazing block above well

Have you a reserve of water? Putting a 30k litre tank off our well here and going to put something like a washdown pump to pump water to the troughs

mahoney_j wrote: »

Literally just finished plumbing in new water system here ,all finished Friday ,gone from
3/4 inch pipe up farm to 1.5 inch loop with inch coming up to fast flow valves on 220 gallon troughs ,today was first day the whole system was fully pressurised and the difference is just massive .i have also put in a 400 gallon trough just up from parlour before cows head to paddocks ,takes pressure off on days like today when there is a big thirst on cows

I was going to go round with 500 gallon tanks. Was thinking if power ever went at least there'd be water for fifty cows there.
I'd say the loop and the bigger pipes make some difference all the same.

Timmaay wrote: »

Dwag interesting about the heavy covers sucking moisture out of the ground, I would of thought the cover would of helped keep moisture in the ground. Having a very low cover I know for sure will let the ground dry out very quickly!

Trust me...

The larger the cover, the greater the demand for moisture. Get it baled.

When things are dry, it's the moisture down deep that counts. Shallow drying is very limited in impact.

Ever plough in the dry beside an oak?...dust...

Dwag wrote: »

Expensive fodder, isn't it?

It is and would make more sense just to buy in straights to fill the feed gap at current prices but if commodity prices where to rise it at least gives us a bit of security in knowing a good chunk of my imported fodder costs for the year