increasing the grazing platform options .

Water John · 30-07-2017 04:18PM

Zero grazing is a handy option with a small grazing 'block' near the parlour. Cow walking to graze is the best option, unless going indoor feeding.

Markcheese · 30-07-2017 05:10PM

kerry cow wrote:

What do ye think of zero grazing .was up in North kerry last week and met 3 of them ,while on the way to dairymaster . And saw another parked up near tralee . I rather top class bales of silage in the yard ready when I want rather than repayments on machinery and maintenance .imagine having to head for a load of grass before or after milking .omg

I reckon a zero grazer on distant ground would make your neighbouring 250 an acre seem fierce cheap.. ðŸ˜€ ðŸ˜€

Water John · 30-07-2017 06:19PM

I wouldn't denegrate ZG, as some have done in other threads. They have a place.
Esp with fragmented ground.
If one is around, also one can always bring in a load before a poor night, weather wise and the cows are nice and dry, next to the parlour, in the morning.

K.G. · 30-07-2017 06:40PM

Zero grazer very handy when your stuck but i wouldnt build one into a system.would prefer to raise concentrate levels to the max before id consider zero grazing as part of a system espcially on rented ground

kerry cow · 30-07-2017 07:18PM

Has there been Any teagasc experiment done with ZG or a cost per kg Dm ?
Anyone will to put a figure on it and would reader agree with the cost or disagree.
Say a rented ac 250, plus 250 for fertility and lime and 50 for up keep , 550 euro for say 6 ton of Dm. Almost 10c per kilo Dm.
If you ZG it would be the above plus harvest cost .
Maize silage is 18 cent a kilo Dm.
Meal is 25c plus per kilo.
Graze grass 5 to 6 cent
Bale silage would similar to maize cost 18 c a kilo

What does a contractor charges to ZG

K.G. · 30-07-2017 07:42PM

kerry cow wrote: »

Has there been Any teagasc experiment done with ZG or a cost per kg Dm ?
Anyone will to put a figure on it and would reader agree with the cost or disagree.
Say a rented ac 250, plus 250 for fertility and lime and 50 for up keep , 550 euro for say 6 ton of Dm. Almost 10c per kilo Dm.
If you ZG it would be the above plus harvest cost .
Maize silage is 18 cent a kilo Dm.
Meal is 25c plus per kilo.
Graze grass 5 to 6 cent
Bale silage would similar to maize cost 18 c a kilo

What does a contractor charges to ZG

My stab-7 cent a kilo dm

kerry cow · 30-07-2017 07:50PM

7 cent is grass grown on own land grazed ??

K.G. · 30-07-2017 08:23PM

kerry cow wrote: »

7 cent is grass grown on own land grazed ??

Contractor charge.based on 4tonplus maybe load at 20%dm at roughly 50e a load.around here the way it works is by the hour from leaving contractors yard or last yard he was at

jaymla627 · 30-07-2017 10:02PM

K.G. wrote: »

My stab-7 cent a kilo dm

Fairly low estimate if you say 12000kgs dm/ha was utilized that means total costs per ha would be 840 euro, after a land charge of 600/ha you have 240 euro to cover all other sundries, fertilizer alone would come to 250-300/ha not even including spreading costs, so that's the budget used up.....
Once you take into account lime/a yearly spray for docks/fencing/water and roadway upkeep along with factoring in reseeding a certain % of the grazing block yearly your heading well north of 10 cent kg dm

K.G. · 30-07-2017 10:38PM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Fairly low estimate if you say 12000kgs dm/ha was utilized that means total costs per ha would be 840 euro, after a land charge of 600/ha you have 240 euro to cover all other sundries, fertilizer alone would come to 250-300/ha not even including spreading costs, so that's the budget used up.....
Once you take into account lime/a yearly spray for docks/fencing/water and roadway upkeep along with factoring in reseeding a certain % of the grazing block yearly your heading well north of 10 cent kg dm

Thats contractor only.if you allow for land rent youcould add 5cent kg dm so 20 cent total mighten be far away from it

cute geoge · 30-07-2017 10:46PM

K.G. wrote: »

Thats contractor only.if you allow for land rent youcould add 5cent kg dm so 20 cent total mighten be far away from it

So feeding good quality ration sourced for €230/ton would rival zg .

Henwin · 30-07-2017 11:03PM

kerry cow wrote: »

What do ye think of zero grazing .was up in North kerry last week and met 3 of them ,while on the way to dairymaster . And saw another parked up near tralee .
I rather top class bales of silage in the yard ready when I want rather than repayments on machinery and maintenance .imagine having to head for a load of grass before or after milking .omg

But there are a lot of advantages as well, fresh grass is better at driving yield than sillage bales, you can graze longer in the year, it reduces meal bills and increases milk. you dont have to make that many silage bales.
disadvantages are more diesel and fetiliser bills and more labour hours but i think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages,

mf240 · 30-07-2017 11:13PM

cute geoge wrote: »

So feeding good quality ration sourced for €230/ton would rival zg .

I suppose the big advantage of meal is you only have to buy it if you need it.

Timmaay · 30-07-2017 11:19PM

Henwin wrote: »

But there are a lot of advantages as well, fresh grass is better at driving yield than sillage bales, you can graze longer in the year, it reduces meal bills and increases milk. you dont have to make that many silage bales.
disadvantages are more diesel and fetiliser bills and more labour hours but i think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages,

I'd disagree with a good few points of yours, high dmd leafy bales will actually increase intakes and drive on yields, leafy bales are a perfect Grassland management tool, cut when the growth is high and feed back when the growth is less than demand on the mp. A contractor can do most of the bales, no extra machinery needed, only extra job for the farmer is feeding them out. High dmd bales offer so much more flexibility in terms of weather than ZG, in the shoulders when it's wet all your going to be doing is drawing some grass and loads of water into the cows, if your drought prone your outfarm will be lacking grass also.

Keepgrowing · 31-07-2017 07:39AM

ZG grass is €50/load in this area with a contractor. A load would fully feed c70 for 24 hrs.

Meal will always be the best value as its 100% consistent

Bales will not affect yield or solids if proper hi quality silage.

Any system that builds meal or zg in are automatically high cost and won't be as resilient in lower price times.

Meal can only be fed to a certain level before you reach diminishing returns.

Land next door that cows can walk to at €250/acre will always win this argument. It's of course contingent on a long term lease that allows you time to get a return on your initial cap ex. 20 years would be what I'd be striving for.

Gross sales at 5500 litres €1800
Fert 220
Meal 120
Cubicle 100
Interest 20
Vet Ai 60
Land 250
Labour 200

These are rough figures so aprox €970 so aprox €900 left for yourself and the other costs I've left out

patsy_mccabe · 31-07-2017 09:10AM

Get a slash hook and knock a gap in next door.

blackdog1 · 31-07-2017 09:25AM

Why don't you try and buffer feed? You could increase your cow numbers while getting more starch into them and increasing they're yield. On the rented ground I would offer him 200 and tell if he refuses tell him your sorry but that's all you can offer at the moment and you might be able to offer more in 2/3 years time as you've just started up.

mf240 · 31-07-2017 09:46AM

If the land is going to be sold eventually and you have it rented and all improved up are you no kind of making it dear for yourself?

GrasstoMilk · 31-07-2017 10:33AM

mf240 wrote: »

If the land is going to be sold eventually and you have it rented and all improved up are you no kind of making it dear for yourself?

If it's locked in a lease you have first option of buying, do you not?

kerry cow · 31-07-2017 11:31AM

Well when lease expires it's normal practice to give the man leasing first option to buy but it will be one price offered by owner .
Take it or leave it .
I know a guy who had 2 farms leased next door to him .
He paid big money yearly to lease and put up with a lot of crap over the years but knew one day they would both sell which they did .he had stronger neighbours lining up but they never got a look in because he was offer it at a price and again he paid up .
In fairness he never treated them anything but good neighbours even after buying , when you'd think he feel like telling them his mind .
He jump all the jumps and hoops.
Good lad .

cute geoge · 31-07-2017 12:43PM

Local farmer paid massive for a lease on neighbours place back 20 odd years ago over €350 /acre anyway when it went for sale it went to massive money again but he lost out .The only bit of luck was he had big entitlements out of it .
Imo paying big money for leasing land is a mug game but if your neighbours land is within 200mitres of milking parlour you can hardly let it go but think again if you have to walk cows long distances

kerry cow · 31-07-2017 02:34PM

You would expect it would have been offered to him at a price before public sale . You have to know the strength of the neighbours before you say no and go head to head at market .then there's are always someone that pops up and surprises everyone and buys .

patsy_mccabe · 31-07-2017 02:47PM

I can never understand this first refusal to those renting a place. Who in their right mind would sell something below market value? You are effectively handing them over that difference in value.
I have a relative who was left her parents house and rented in out for a few years. The person that was renting it wanted to buy it but the owner said she would only sell it on the open market. This was at the height of the boom. She got a god bit higher when she did. Yer one renting was furious, as she even had architecture plans done up for a renovation.

I had a guy arrive into the yard here one day looking to rent a field we own beside his house. I told him I wasn't interested. He got a bit thick over it, even saying that my late father had offered him first refusal on buying it. I wasn't far from telling him to f**k off, I can tell ya.

kerry cow · 31-07-2017 02:51PM

If I was renting a farm for 20 yrs plus and the owner wanted to sell then I would be disappointed if the owner didn't name his price and let me take it or leave it .surely one knows what they want .

patsy_mccabe · 31-07-2017 02:53PM

kerry cow wrote: »

If I was renting a farm for 20 yrs plus and the owner wanted to sell then I would be disappointed if the owner didn't name his price and let me take it or leave it .surely one knows what they want .

You could buy it on the open market anyway, so what's the difference. You could end up buying it cheaper. If he sells it cheaper than it's worth, he's seriously selling himself short.

Water John · 31-07-2017 02:57PM

Ah the question is, would any of you bid against a neighbour, who had rented the place for 20 years and kept it well?

fepper · 31-07-2017 03:01PM

kerry cow wrote: »

If I was renting a farm for 20 yrs plus and the owner wanted to sell then I would be disappointed if the owner didn't name his price and let me take it or leave it .surely one knows what they want .

Thats farmers only obligation to you after 20 years of you renting it, is telling you thats its up for sale, whether by auction or private treaty,your given the impression that you were doing that man a favour by renting his land

Mooooo · 31-07-2017 03:02PM

You can't control what others may or may not do. Only what you can do for yourself. If you can get a long-term lease go for it. Perhaps try come to an agreement 're any capital spend such as a roadway or water etc.

patsy_mccabe · 31-07-2017 03:06PM

Water John wrote: »

Ah the question is, would any of you bid against a neighbour, who had rented the place for 20 years and kept it well?

If it's a fairly large farm then someone from outside the area could buy it, even this guy.

tanko · 31-07-2017 03:10PM

Don't think that lad will be bidding at any more auctions, he wasn't in great shape the last time i saw him.

increasing the grazing platform options .

Comments