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David's going Dairying.

davidk1394

I’ve created a new thread so you can follow my journey into dairy farming. I’ve made the decision to start milking cows by February 2021. The first of the calves arrived today. I’ll post along the way

Here’s a link to my old thread: https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057681402/1/#post101948565

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wrangler

davidk1394 wrote: »

Yes I agree. Wheaten straw is very plentiful here and barley straw is usually already sold. I only made my mind up last week about putting everything on straw. Up until then I was going to do the full build in Autumn.

Is it not difficult to train cows to cubicles if they haven't started in cubicles

ruwithme

Lad down the road here planned on doing up a old house. Got planning for a extension too.time passed a bit and he changed his mind. Decided he'd knock her.

And so he did and just rebuilt her on the original footprint. Claims now he never paid a development levy and doesn't expect to either. Sure they never need to know.brave rascal

Dozer1

Each to their own I'm on my 3rd house been through the conservation battle the whole hog an tshirt to prove it. But unless ure living in it I wouldn't rent out a house within an asses roar of the farm yard as the compo culture makes it a disaster waiting to happen. Anyway best of luck David didn't mean to sidetrack ure thread.

Mooooo

wrangler wrote: »

Is it not difficult to train cows to cubicles if they haven't started in cubicles

Most would take to em, may have to run scrapers more often or put something down so they wouldn't lie elsewhere like tyres or something. Had in calf heifers on straw and all bar one were up on the cubicles first day moved in

GrasstoMilk

Mooooo wrote: »

Most would take to em, may have to run scrapers more often or put something down so they wouldn't lie elsewhere like tyres or something. Had in calf heifers on straw and all bar one were up on the cubicles first day moved in

We trained the majority of ours to cubicles in a week or so, none of them.knew what a cubicle was

GrasstoMilk

Base price wrote: »

I remember seeing pics a while back on F&F of a lovely old stone cut farm house that was refurbished. Was that yours?

On straw bedding - there is nothing more comfortable for cattle and imo they thrive. All our cattle are bedded on straw. We use our defunct slatted unit to rear calves and we covered the slats with straw.
I read somewhere that you shouldn't put milk cows on straw bedding as it causes mastitis - I presume that regular applications of lime and cleaning would prevent it?

Yeah I think I posted it up here, were in 2 years now and happy out. We were able to do a lot ourselves and got major work like roof/insulated slabs/plastering and wiring done by direct labour

We were way over stocked on straw bedding but I'd say weve more mastitis cases now than on straw but we havent actively culled for high scc in a while so that has a bearing on it too

Say my name

On the bedding.

I hear the best reports are of sand bedded cubicles. Only thing is the housing and slurry tank has to be designed to cope with sand from day one.
So slurry scraped to an outdoor or separate area off the housing that can be emptied out with a loader.

On the bean straw David. That should be the highest nutrient fym you'll have.

Base price

Say my name wrote: »

On the bedding.

I hear the best reports are of sand bedded cubicles. Only thing is the housing and slurry tank has to be designed to cope with sand from day one.
So slurry scraped to an outdoor or separate area off the housing that can be emptied out with a loader.

On the bean straw David. That should be the highest nutrient fym you'll have.

IYO, how long do you need to compost Rape/Bean straw before spreading presuming that it was used for bedding.
It's awfully woody and dusty compared to traditional straw.

wrangler

Base price wrote: »

IYO, how long do you need to compost Rape/Bean straw before spreading presuming that it was used for bedding.
It's awfully woody and dusty compared to traditional straw.

And is it really that absorbent

Say my name

Base price wrote: »

IYO, how long do you need to compost Rape/Bean straw before spreading presuming that it was used for bedding.
It's awfully woody and dusty compared to traditional straw.

I couldn't tell you.

I presume six months when it's chopped?

Ideal stuff for the biochar kiln.

davidk1394

It needs about 6 to 8 months to rot. It hasn't much soakage but it's fine for the first few weeks to build up the bed.

cosatron

F**k it dave go all in like this lad, knock the whole lot .:D

Mooooo

cosatron wrote: »

F**k it dave go all in like this lad, knock the whole lot .:D

Right job. In the netherlands sheds at 25 years old are considered spent, often new ones built instead. They use timber piles in the polderlands as they last fine in the wet ground. Was on a farm where an old pit wasn't piled he said it would sink a few feet if silage was in it.
Pity the return from farming isn't alwayd good enough to say when these things could be done instead of if.... be it machinery, land or accommodation

Tileman

cosatron wrote: »

F**k it dave go all in like this lad, knock the whole lot .:D

Some bill for building that. Must be a venture capitalist behind it.

patsy_mccabe

We farm land just like that. You dig down below the topsoil and it's all blue mud. It's out in the Shannon estuary. Land is well below high tide. Crazy thing is there is a load of houses built on it. Even scarier is that the town of Shannon and it's airport, is all built on land like that.

I wouldn't build on it, that's for sure. Impossible to even hang a gate there. The post just falls over in time. It goes rock hard in summer, but in the wet of winter, if you get stuck with the tractor, it will go to the axle. Great fertile land though, if cared for.

Sacrolyte

Tileman wrote: »

Some bill for building that. Must be a venture capitalist behind it.

Much of the farm debt in Holland is generational debt.

patsy_mccabe

Sacrolyte wrote: »

Much of the farm debt in Holland is generational debt.

Isn't that deliberate to keep down inheritance tax, which is very high there for farms.

Bass Reeves

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Isn't that deliberate to keep down inheritance tax, which is very high there for farms.

No, when some one retires they sell the farm to the next generation whether family or not. The money is used as you pension. As farms often skip generations or are transferred out of the family the next generation of farmers start with a high level of debt.

The advantage is it focuses the farmer to be profitable. But most systems are highly intensive, this structure is coming under pressure at present where mandatory cuts to nitrate and phosphorus levels have lead to cut in cow numbers.

Mooooo

The capital cost of land over there can be written off also, but higher tax on sale price

Green&Red

Any update? Hows the parlour coming along?

Bought the last of my heifers this week, parlour wired up last week, last of the reseeding is showing above ground now, finishing off the roads. Small bit of drainage left to do

davidk1394

Deal done on a parlor and tank and shed. Concrete man is coming Friday evening to go over the final plans and I'll be doing the final bit of digging next week. Finance is secured and the contract to supply milk has been signed.

kerryjack

Great tread David for any young lads thinking of doing the same must be scary to see all this money going out and very little coming in, but as the old saying goes you have to spend money to make money. Good luck to you and hope everything goes well and keep us posted.

davidk1394

I encountered a set back after my last post that I will go into detail later on. Anyway on a lighter note I started digging yesterday at long last

NcdJd

davidk1394 wrote: »

I encountered a set back after my last post that I will go into detail later on. Anyway on a lighter note I started digging yesterday at long last

That round roof you have there with the stonewalls is a lovely looking building man.

Reggie.

davidk1394 wrote: »

I encountered a set back after my last post that I will go into detail later on. Anyway on a lighter note I started digging yesterday at long last

What sort of stone have ye down there that it catches fire

davidk1394

NcdJd wrote: »

That round roof you have there with the stonewalls is a lovely looking building man.

Yes it is an old hay barn and it was re-roofed 4 years ago. It's used for storing machinery now

Say my name

Reggie. wrote: »

What sort of stone have ye down there that it catches fire

He's making biochar.

Tileman

NcdJd wrote: »

That round roof you have there with the stonewalls is a lovely looking building man.

Yea noticed that too. It’s fantastic. Live the old buildings properly looked after as part of a farmyard. It gives it fantastic heritage and a great link/ reminder to the past.

davidk1394

Tileman wrote: »

Yea noticed that too. It’s fantastic. Live the old buildings properly looked after as part of a farmyard. It gives it fantastic heritage and a great link/ reminder to the past.

I have a few other old stone buildings that I want to keep and I think add to the yard. Down the line I would to do up one of them to live in

There was a few building that were knocked. The roof's on them had fallen in and they weren't really any use.

patsy_mccabe

Reggie. wrote: »

What sort of stone have ye down there that it catches fire

Flintstone maybe.

Yaba dabba doo ....