Dairy Chitchat 3

whelan2 · 14-03-2020 8:46pm

whelan2 wrote: »

Nothing grazed here. Silage running out. 90 calved 35 left.

Had a neighbour here now saying he has any amount of pit silage if I need it.

Castlekeeper · 15-03-2020 7:19am

Sacrolyte wrote: »

The darkest hour is just before the dawn.

Phuken dark out now anyway, and a cold downpour with it. #misery

blackdog1 · 15-03-2020 1:45pm

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

What are you all feeding milkers?
Were feeding 4kg 16% nut
3kg dm maize and the rest is either grazed grass when we can or baled silage.
Milk protein ranging from 3.3 to 3.5 depending on when they get grass or not

Feeding 21% nut 10-12kg whole crop 5kg silage cows grazing light covers as I went out again in December and didn't have big covers luckily. They go out eat and come straight back in not locking them in the paddock.

Cows doing 26litres at 4.34 f 3.61 pr
When they were in without grass they were doing 3 litres less and 3.4f 3.52 protein. Winter /spring herd. This time last year they were doing close to 30 litres. The difference a year makes....

Timmaay · 15-03-2020 6:23pm

Panch18 wrote: »

Ah Timmay Are you having a laugh

How are you on your own when your milker is there at 7 in the morning

You stated last year that you were only doing something like 5-7 milkings a week during the summer

Ah now your missing my point, I have zero ambitions to be a fully one man show anymore, much too socially isolating for me ha. My main point was the difference in workload between having problems with say even just 20 or 30% difficult calvings and scour, when that 20/30% will suck double the time of every other job. I was lucky enough this spring and had very few issues, I could of got away with alot less labour this spring (main necessity was the 1st 3wks with loads of heifers in the parlour, 2men needed in the parlour for one milking a day then), however I had no idea what sort of issues I'd be facing so I certainly wasn't going to be caught short on labour. There are lads up and down the country with big numbers and surprisingly low amounts of labour, but they have everything down to a tee, calves gone after 10days, everything contracted out.

Also its not as if I'm scratching my arse while I let the Milker on, I'm kept plenty busy with stuff off the farm, I've done my 8yrs as a full time dairy farmer here, I have an engineer masters and moving forward the aim is for me to back off more and more on the farm and get in a milker for say 10/12 milkings a week, and if the right full time labour or partnership showed up I'd certainly consider hiring them and letting them on with the day to day farming.

Gawddawggonnit · 15-03-2020 7:07pm

Timmaay wrote: »

Ah now your missing my point, I have zero ambitions to be a fully one man show anymore, much too socially isolating for me ha. My main point was the difference in workload between having problems with say even just 20 or 30% difficult calvings and scour, when that 20/30% will suck double the time of every other job. I was lucky enough this spring and had very few issues, I could of got away with alot less labour this spring (main necessity was the 1st 3wks with loads of heifers in the parlour, 2men needed in the parlour for one milking a day then), however I had no idea what sort of issues I'd be facing so I certainly wasn't going to be caught short on labour. There are lads up and down the country with big numbers and surprisingly low amounts of labour, but they have everything down to a tee, calves gone after 10days, everything contracted out.

Also its not as if I'm scratching my arse while I let the Milker on, I'm kept plenty busy with stuff off the farm, I've done my 8yrs as a full time dairy farmer here, I have an engineer masters and moving forward the aim is for me to back off more and more on the farm and get in a milker for say 10/12 milkings a week, and if the right full time labour or partnership showed up I'd certainly consider hiring them and letting them on with the day to day farming.

Excellent post.

Castlekeeper · 15-03-2020 10:50pm

Well now it's an ill wind, there might be hope for us if we survive the storm.
Milk- a glass a day keeps Corona away!

mf240 · 15-03-2020 10:51pm

Youd calve any amount of cows when the things go right.

When things start going wrong Its a different story.

Dakota Dan · 15-03-2020 11:03pm

Had a cow calved out in the field as she went down in the cubicles a few days ago, she had twins hopefully she won’t decide to kill one before the morning as I’ve seen this happen before.

Panch18 · 15-03-2020 11:41pm

mf240 wrote: »

Youd calve any amount of cows when the things go right.

When things start going wrong Its a different story.

Exactly. This is the whole point

GrasstoMilk · 15-03-2020 11:53pm

Panch18 wrote: »

Exactly. This is the whole point

Fed some meal pre calving this year aswell as extra cal mag. It's really stood to the cows I think. Still had a few sick cows etc but they spat out the calves aswell as cleanings and the calves were hoping in no time.
Itll be 5t of meal in all. Worth it imo

straight · 16-03-2020 12:07am

mf240 wrote: »

Youd calve any amount of cows when the things go right.

When things start going wrong Its a different story.

Would you get 4 litres of good quality colostrum into all of them within 2 hours of birth...

Say my name · 16-03-2020 7:54am

Panch18 wrote: »

Exactly. This is the whole point

There's another point in that you are learning every year and should not be making mistakes you made in previous years. Every year that goes by you've improved the feeding, the mineral content of silage, the management of cows coming down to calving, the feeding of the calves,
This all comes from learning and changing. I bet every single one of us has it easier now than from the previous years. There's always something that comes from left field to trip you up but if you're easy about changing things up to now you adapt.

Timmaay · 16-03-2020 8:36am

Say my name wrote: »

What do you attribute the change to in this year over other years?
If you say "luck" I'll murder ya!!
Because it's always always management..

Ha saying just luck means I'm too lazy to bother thinking about it, which I certainly have. In terms of reduced scour, I haven't changed alot, however the one thing that I defo think is making a difference is I'm cleaning the calving box out fully a hell of alot more regularly, in previous years calves must of been picking up stuff within the 1st 24hrs while still in the pen. Less calving difficulties I'm going to put down to alot less effort to hold back the drycows, the last 2yrs I've fed some bit maize to the drys, especially in the last month of gestation, and they go to a near full Milker diet 10days out.

whelan2 · 16-03-2020 12:38pm

Milk tank trouble again today. One of the fans gone on one of the compressors. Service man was out quick enough. Better to get it sorted before a full lockdown

Buford T. Justice XIX · 16-03-2020 2:15pm

I must admit I'm kinda enjoying the schools being off and kids at home.

I have the youngest 2 out feeding the calves with me morning and evening. They usually have matches or training or gone to friends houses so they miss out on that side of farming but they're enjoying the craic of feeding and bedding.

I had the oldest 2 out collecting damaged gates with me this morning. I found a man with the time to do the job and we went off collecting the gates and bars broken off over the last few years. We had them all standing against a wall when the eldest lad turns to me and said, 'I know it's Easter and all, but I wouldn't be holding my breath for any signs of resurrection here, if I was you' and walks off:D

Reggie. · 16-03-2020 3:51pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

I must admit I'm kinda enjoying the schools being off and kids at home.

I have the youngest 2 out feeding the calves with me morning and evening. They usually have matches or training or gone to friends houses so they miss out on that side of farming but they're enjoying the craic of feeding and bedding.

I had the oldest 2 out collecting damaged gates with me this morning. I found a man with the time to do the job and we went off collecting the gates and bars broken off over the last few years. We had them all standing against a wall when the eldest lad turns to me and said, 'I know it's Easter and all, but I wouldn't be holding my breath for any signs of resurrection here, if I was you' and walks off:D

Very same here. No pressure in the mornings or rushing to schools for pick ups

whelan2 · 16-03-2020 6:11pm

Reggie. wrote: »

Very same here. No pressure in the mornings or rushing to schools for pick ups

Or to get finished up on time for football etc

Sacrolyte · 16-03-2020 7:23pm

Getting fu(k all done here with kids off.
(:

visatorro · 16-03-2020 8:56pm

Sacrolyte wrote:

Getting fu(k all done here with kids off. (:

The chief is off work aswell. She's about to flip the lid soon. I'm off up the yard to 'feed' now. Get outta dodge!

straight · 16-03-2020 9:10pm

Enjoying the kids around too. My wife is off too and starting to get cabin fever. It'll take a few more days before she ventures out the yard to me I'd say.

older by the day · 17-03-2020 11:29am

Protein is down to 3.09, fat 4.2 this morn. On 6kg of high maize 17% nut. Grass yesterday. Not today. Anyone else had a big drop in protein this week. It was 3.34 two collections ago.

Mooooo · 17-03-2020 11:52am

M9ne is down with a bit as well. Silage quality not up to scratch

Buford T. Justice XIX · 17-03-2020 12:26pm

older by the day wrote: »

Protein is down to 3.09, fat 4.2 this morn. On 6kg of high maize 17% nut. Grass yesterday. Not today. Anyone else had a big drop in protein this week. It was 3.34 two collections ago.

Been lucky enough to bite the bullet and get the cows out by day for the last 10 days or so. When I had to keep them in, the protein dropped to 3.2% but back up to 3.35% this week but still in by night so silage still in their diet.

Mooooo wrote: »

M9ne is down with a bit as well. Silage quality not up to scratch

+1 on silage quality. The last couple of years I was struggling to have enough silage for the winter but I have close to 50% of the pit left and 200 dry cow bales left so I have a reserve of dry cow silage anyway. Going to change focus this year and cut the silage earlier by a week or 10 days and drag the DMD up into the low 70s at least.

Milkers will still be mostly on baled surplus and hoping to improve that as well this year.

Gillespy · 17-03-2020 3:08pm

Are you doing much damage? We were out in worse weather last spring but ground was drier. No silage forced that and I'm wondering if I should have been less lazy and been grazing like you. It's like in the summer when you see freshly made hay on donedeal and can't remember getting hay weather.

tanko · 18-03-2020 3:57pm

Does cubicle lime have any effect against Crypto?

visatorro · 18-03-2020 4:05pm

tanko wrote:

Does cubicle lime have any effect against Crypto?

Fairly sure it doesn't, are you in bother with it?

tanko · 18-03-2020 4:12pm

visatorro wrote: »

Fairly sure it doesn't, are you in bother with it?

No, only one cow calved so far, they'll be coming thick and fast from today on.
Had a bit of bother with it last year, nothing major tho.
Have sprayed pens with Kilcox extra and will do this every time i clean out pens, was just wondering if lime would be worth applying also?

Buford T. Justice XIX · 18-03-2020 4:34pm

tanko wrote: »

Does cubicle lime have any effect against Crypto?

No, soap breaks up the fatty layer and allows the genes to break up.

Water John · 18-03-2020 4:42pm

I think Covid 19 is affecting you brain, judge. The fatty issue relates to the links in the Covid virus, Crypto is an occyst with a hard shell.

Mooooo · 18-03-2020 4:42pm

tanko wrote: »

No, only one cow calved so far, they'll be coming thick and fast from today on.
Had a bit of bother with it last year, nothing major tho.
Have sprayed pens with Kilcox extra and will do this every time i clean out pens, was just wondering if lime would be worth applying also?

Get some with a % hydrated thru it like mastercal or similar. There is also a disinfectant powder call stalosan F that is good.
Edit Plenty straw, if the cow's can be kept as clean as possible as sometimes crypto can come from the cow's environment and that's where the calves pick it up then, off the cow

Buford T. Justice XIX · 18-03-2020 4:56pm

Water John wrote: »

I think Covid 19 is affecting you brain, judge. The fatty issue relates to the links in the Covid virus, Crypto is an occyst with a hard shell.

Yeah, doing a coronovirus post in one tab and carried it onto another tab.:rolleyes:

Just while I think about it on crypto, Pallaskenry Ag college stopped using Halocur to treat crypto this year, I think. They did a complete washdown and disinfection with a disinfectant approved for oocysts and give 4l of colostrum and huge hygiene protocols for feeding the calves.

So far, they haven't mentioned scour in calves this year that I remember?

Buford T. Justice XIX · 18-03-2020 5:01pm

Gillespy wrote: »

Are you doing much damage? We were out in worse weather last spring but ground was drier. No silage forced that and I'm wondering if I should have been less lazy and been grazing like you. It's like in the summer when you see freshly made hay on donedeal and can't remember getting hay weather.

Sorry, meant to reply earlier.

Yeah, there's some damage but nothing as bad as I was expecting. When the weather was at its worst, I dropped the wires and gave them a big area and will go back over it again to give it a good graze out. Plenty of silage but I need a few more to calve to reorganise the cubicles.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 19-03-2020 10:36pm

A handy guide to the new derogation requirements.

whelan2 · 20-03-2020 10:34am

Cows out today

find milking great st the moment. No coverage on phone and no radio. A world away from coronavirus for a few hours

Mortelaro · 20-03-2020 10:40am

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

A handy guide to the new derogation requirements.

An environmental training course ?
They are taking the mick

Mooooo · 20-03-2020 10:40am

First of the fert going out today. Bag of urea where we can travel. Debating whether I should graze silage ground or not. Some of it may not be dry enough but some is. Going to try a get round the normal grazing bit first and adjust from there I guess. Have a pit full of stuff only suitable for dries so anything I make this year I want to at least try and make some attempt at good stuff but this spring has already challenged that. Prob means loads of bales, hoping for a good summer, but fecking sick at the thought of the fcukers

Mooooo · 20-03-2020 10:42am

Mortelaro wrote: »

An environmental training course ?
They are taking the mick

No, no. Just want to take more money off us.....

Buford T. Justice XIX · 20-03-2020 11:13am

Mortelaro wrote: »

An environmental training course ?
They are taking the mick

They only say attendance is compulsory, they didn't say anything about listening:D

Mobile phone, a stake to lean against, sorted for an hour or two.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 20-03-2020 11:17am

Mooooo wrote: »

No, no. Just want to take more money off us.....

They're tightening the noose around derogation farmers and it's going to be even more fun when the limits drop down to 160kgs or lower and half the farmers in the country find themselves in derogation territory.

There'll be a whole new group of farmers needing to be inspected and mileage to be claimed.

Regulation, the gift that keeps on giving (jobs).

Reggie. · 20-03-2020 11:47am

Mortelaro wrote: »

An environmental training course ?
They are taking the mick

All LESS slurry spreading for them next year. Didnt think that would come in that quick

Panch18 · 20-03-2020 3:40pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

They're tightening the noose around derogation farmers and it's going to be even more fun when the limits drop down to 160kgs or lower and half the farmers in the country find themselves in derogation territory.

There'll be a whole new group of farmers needing to be inspected and mileage to be claimed.

Regulation, the gift that keeps on giving (jobs).

This is going beyond a joke now

There more people employed now to inspect fellas work - then there is fellas actually working

Pure madness

Buford T. Justice XIX · 20-03-2020 5:48pm

Panch18 wrote: »

This is going beyond a joke now

There more people employed now to inspect fellas work - then there is fellas actually working

Pure madness

It's services industry jobs the government and workforce want. More or less makey up jobs with makey up titles with manager included in the title and big salaries and mileages included. Just moving paperwork around a lot of the time.

Yet we have thousands of acres of forestry with no end product in sight and have to import toilet paper from the other side of the world.

yosemitesam1 · 20-03-2020 7:21pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

It's services industry jobs the government and workforce want. More or less makey up jobs with makey up titles with manager included in the title and big salaries and mileages included. Just moving paperwork around a lot of the time.

Yet we have thousands of acres of forestry with no end product in sight and have to import toilet paper from the other side of the world.

There's major issues in forestry, not enough of the makey up employees there to sign off on everything from planting to harvesting

Buford T. Justice XIX · 20-03-2020 8:46pm

yosemitesam1 wrote: »

There's major issues in forestry, not enough of the makey up employees there to sign off on everything from planting to harvesting

I thought there was some movement on that of late? In fairness to the forestry lads on here, they seem to manage well enough with little inputs from us but I might wander up there and ask at some stage.

I'm still puzzled about where all this forestry is going to end up though, yose. I looked into it a while back and the entire sales pitch seemed to be premiums, premiums and more premiums. Any question about where the timber would be ending up was more or less grow it and the markets will be there. I'll keep grass growing where I was thinking of a bit of forestry, I know there will be a market for that.

straight · 20-03-2020 9:02pm

Mortelaro wrote: »

An environmental training course ?
They are taking the mick

Its derogations last stand. High stocking rates will be no more... We'll have to invest in more land or cut numbers. Lucky we are so highly profitable. I'd say we'd all be better off with less inputs and less work anyway.

ruwithme · 20-03-2020 9:24pm

Panch18 wrote: »

This is going beyond a joke now

There more people employed now to inspect fellas work - then there is fellas actually working

Pure madness

This is why the government see dairy farming as fashionable, well paying jobs associated with it.

the suckler cow not quite comparable to it.

yosemitesam1 · 20-03-2020 9:32pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

I thought there was some movement on that of late? In fairness to the forestry lads on here, they seem to manage well enough with little inputs from us but I might wander up there and ask at some stage.

I'm still puzzled about where all this forestry is going to end up though, yose. I looked into it a while back and the entire sales pitch seemed to be premiums, premiums and more premiums. Any question about where the timber would be ending up was more or less grow it and the markets will be there. I'll keep grass growing where I was thinking of a bit of forestry, I know there will be a market for that.

It's going to be burnt for breakeven money most likely. Everyone but the farmer who plants will make money, so all is good I suppose...

straight · 20-03-2020 10:00pm

yosemitesam1 wrote: »

It's going to be burnt for breakeven money most likely. Everyone but the farmer who plants will make money, so all is good I suppose...

The farmer just give his land away for feck all. Better off sell it and put your money somewhere else.

kevthegaff · 20-03-2020 10:25pm

See on agriland dairy outlook looking not so good..

Reggie. · 20-03-2020 10:29pm

kevthegaff wrote: »

See on agriland dairy outlook looking not so good..

Always a great outlook

Dairy Chitchat 3

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