Zero grazing

Grueller · 27-09-2020 09:05PM

trixi2011 wrote: »

To be honest the parlour in my view even tho I did say I would hate milking in 2 yards would be more appealing that zero grazing in for the majority of the year . Plenty of things to reduce tax bills that will give you a better return than machinery . You would nearly put in a basic parlour for the price of a zero grazer . Plenty of lads doing it on contract to make use of silage ground in the shoulders

I think you are probably right trixi. However as moo and Buford said, move the whole herd over for the main grazing season.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 27-09-2020 09:24PM

Grueller wrote: »

I had thought of that system too. Moo beat you to it though!!!!!
Ya like I said, a second simple parlour might be the answer.
Simple parlour, crush, bore a new well and that would get it started.

All of this is 2-3 years down the road I should say. I have a few small investments to tidy up on the home farm first.

Ha, great minds think alike, not the other one:D

A farm in my old discussion group were zero grazing, a bit bigger than you're thinking of with a good share of rented ground not accessible by roads.

1 man there whose whole day was drawing in grass and taking out slurry. I reckon some lads don't factor in taking the slurry back out, it's a costly and time consuming job and doubles the costs of zero grazing, I think.

mahoney_j · 27-09-2020 11:26PM

Grueller wrote: »

This is probably going to be a polarisinig thread.

The reason I am asking about it is that I have a fragmented farm. As some of ye will know I am a new entrant to dairying. I am also running 60 sucklers alongside the dairy operation.
My farm can graze about 60 cows around the parlour.
I have 18 acres 1.5 km away that I just cannot walk cows to.
I have 80 acres 7 miles away. I use this for silage and sucklers.
At the moment I have a batch of weanling heifers feeding, a batch of weanling bulls feeding,a batch of dry Autumn calving sucklers, a batch of Autmn calving sucklers that have actually calved, and a batch of bulling heifers. Among the sucklers I have some pedigree cows so I also have a batch of pedigree bulls 1.5 years old that will be sold next spring.
Add the dairy cows and that is 7 batches of cattle. Six of which make no, or nearly no money.

The 18 acres up the road is in really good shape. Soil indices are excellent, reseeded 6 years ago.
The outfarm is in need of reseeding. It was done 10 years ago but at the time indices were very poor and I ended up with a very open award and weeds got a hold. By no means is it bad, but not what I would like.

I would love to tidy up the batches of cattle by simply getting rid of sucklers and keeping more dairy cows. I would plan on transitioning into this by exiting sucklers and rearing my own dairy cross calves for a couple of years while building numbers. I would graze these on the 80 acre out farm.
I would propose buying a zero grazer to utilise the 18 acres close by allowing me to go to 85 cows comfortably.
In time I would plan on going to 100 cows by reseeding the out farm and using some of this for zero grazing as. I realise that 7 miles is a fair spin with a zero grazer but it would only need to be done intermittently as grazed grass and the closer out block would provide 85% of my grass requirement.
This would reduce my batches of stock to dairy cows, replacement heifers and whatever small amount of beef stock I decide to carry to utilise the remainder of the outfarm. The time saved by herding 4 extra batches, no calving of sucklers and stock just being generally easier to handle would, in my opinion, free up the time to do the zero grazing.
I would propose taking a load every second day and allowing cows access to it for a couple of hours after morning milking and before evening milking. A load does 80 cows for a day so should buffer at this rate for two days.
I have housing for sucklers that can convert to hold the increase to 100 cows at low cost.
Questions I have,
Is anyone on here zero grazing?
What are the real costs involved? I am finding varying figures online.
Feel free to shoot my plan down.

Multi cut silage and maize ,far more bang for your buck and no need to buy z grazed and give countless hours sitting in a tractor cutting loads of grass

jaymla627 · 28-09-2020 07:52AM

trixi2011 wrote: »

Milking in 2 yards yourself would be a disaster In my view could you not just push numbers at home and hire someone to zoro grass for you in the shoulders. Buying a machine to enable you to get a tax relief is never a good idea unless it's essential to your business.

It totally depends on the level of service and prices you will get of local contractors if going the minimal machinery route, in the case here prices kept going up and the level of service got alot worse, so do mostly everything in house now, repayments/maintenance/diesel bills are working out less then what it was costing to pay contractors, with the way machinery prices are going alot of the machinery bought here the last few years has lost little to no value either

Say my name · 28-09-2020 08:02AM

cjpm wrote: »

Bufords idea is good, but a fierce wet spell of weather would be a fcuking disaster though with no sheds on 80 acres.

What kind of quality is the 80 acres? If it was very good you could set 1/4 to Maize, 1/4 to Barley, 1/4 oats under sown with grass and the last 1/4 grass. Rotate each year. High quality bales from the grass and pit the rest. You'd have top quality feeding for buffer feeding to complement the grass at home..... Keep the replacement heifers and calves on the 18 acres.

Would that negate the need to buy in meal totally?
I think it's a thing that livestock farmers in this country will have to look at or be forced to look at is producing their own.
Work out your yearly use and then go by how many acres are required for that.
Haven't a clue on rations but would a beans and oats combicrop cover meal needs?

GrasstoMilk · 28-09-2020 08:42AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Multi cut silage and maize ,far more bang for your buck and no need to buy z grazed and give countless hours sitting in a tractor cutting loads of grass

But then you're in the territory of needing a diet feeder, you wont get the full potential of that feed with out one imo
Toyed with the idea of changing ours this year but holding out for now, did a proper dry cow and pre calving diet with it last winter/spring

We had a brilliant calving seadon and significant increase in milk solids which I would say a good bit was down to the diet they got pre and post calving

Theres a few other factors at play too but the diet was a key part imo

mahoney_j · 28-09-2020 08:53AM

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

But then you're in the territory of needing a diet feeder, you wont get the full potential of that feed with out one imo
Toyed with the idea of changing ours this year but holding out for now, did a proper dry cow and pre calving diet with it last winter/spring

We had a brilliant calving seadon and significant increase in milk solids which I would say a good bit was down to the diet they got pre and post calving

Theres a few other factors at play too but the diet was a key part imo

No need for diet feeder lots managing without one feeding maize,silage and beet ,(need a way of chopping beet obviously)I’d run a mile from z graze r and concentrrste on top quality forage instead

GrasstoMilk · 28-09-2020 08:57AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

No need for diet feeder lots managing without one feeding maize,silage and beet ,(need a way of chopping beet obviously)I’d run a mile from z graze r and concentrrste on top quality forage instead

Might be managing with out one but doesn't mean they get the best utilisation of that feed
Our herd is by no means high yielding and I wouldn't be totally against having one around

mahoney_j · 28-09-2020 09:01AM

jaymla627 wrote: »

It totally depends on the level of service and prices you will get of local contractors if going the minimal machinery route, in the case here prices kept going up and the level of service got alot worse, so do mostly everything in house now, repayments/maintenance/diesel bills are working out less then what it was costing to pay contractors, with the way machinery prices are going alot of the machinery bought here the last few years has lost little to no value either

Agree with lot of that but all that machinery requires labour ....most of slurry contracted out here ,pit silage ,reseeding .i spread all Fertliser bar for silage and any bales I do I now ,ted bring in and stack .slurry is the big one think t shoe is a great job no way I’d buy one as need more horse power as well and for first 6 months of year it’d be hard get a run at a day to get at it without stopping for milking ,feeding ,calving etc

mahoney_j · 28-09-2020 09:05AM

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Might be managing with out one but doesn't mean they get the best utilisation of that feed
Our herd is by no means high yielding and I wouldn't be totally against having one around

Disagree won’t be a million miles of 600 kgms this year and no diet feeder ,know lots of others in same boat would I like one ,,,,proably yes do I need one ....no ,silage all tested ,fresh grass tested weekly bloods analysed for minerals etc .fty in parlour silage ,straw at feed barrier maize will be added as buffer next spring no diet feeder

K.G. · 28-09-2020 09:15AM

What type of cow do you have.i know someone who zeros all year round mainly to get more milk out of the cows than to milk more cows in an indoor robots and tmr.the slurry tank is never off one tractor.in general the horn for zeroing is wearing off in west cork but fellas are still using it spring and autumn and when they get stuck mainly done by contractors. Its a super job when you get stuck but we ll putting on extra 20 cows to be supplied by zero is not the same as 20 cows extra grazing.i d be more in favour of building a parlour on the bigger block and wintering at home and try and get someone to milk in the evening .i dont know how you manage 6 batches of cattle

mahoney_j · 28-09-2020 09:20AM

K.G. wrote: »

What type of cow do you have.i know someone who zeros all year round mainly to get more milk out of the cows than to milk more cows in an indoor robots and tmr.the slurry tank is never off one tractor.in general the horn for zeroing is wearing off in west cork but fellas are still using it spring and autumn and when they get stuck mainly done by contractors. Its a super job when you get stuck but we ll putting on extra 20 cows to be supplied by zero is not the same as 20 cows extra grazing.i d be more in favour of building a parlour on the bigger block and wintering at home and try and get someone to milk in the evening .i dont know how you manage 6 batches of cattle

On the zg anyone here that’s on twitter will know of a lad in Waterford with robots and fully housed herd ,switched from z grazing to full tmr now for lots of different reasons I used to do a bit of z grazing spring/autumn switched to bales now and far better alternative both from utilisation by cow and ease of management

jaymla627 · 28-09-2020 10:14AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Agree with lot of that but all that machinery requires labour ....most of slurry contracted out here ,pit silage ,reseeding .i spread all Fertliser bar for silage and any bales I do I now ,ted bring in and stack .slurry is the big one think t shoe is a great job no way I’d buy one as need more horse power as well and for first 6 months of year it’d be hard get a run at a day to get at it without stopping for milking ,feeding ,calving etc

Scale plays a huge factor to be fair, for smaller herds it really dosent make sense but once you start getting yearly contractor bills the wrong side of 30k, going nearly all inhouse makes sense, once you have the work to justify the kit and labour

Grueller · 28-09-2020 10:16AM

K.G. wrote: »

What type of cow do you have.i know someone who zeros all year round mainly to get more milk out of the cows than to milk more cows in an indoor robots and tmr.the slurry tank is never off one tractor.in general the horn for zeroing is wearing off in west cork but fellas are still using it spring and autumn and when they get stuck mainly done by contractors. Its a super job when you get stuck but we ll putting on extra 20 cows to be supplied by zero is not the same as 20 cows extra grazing.i d be more in favour of building a parlour on the bigger block and wintering at home and try and get someone to milk in the evening .i dont know how you manage 6 batches of cattle

And work 20 hrs a week off farm. Something has to give. All of this thought process is to increase the milking herd so that I can concentrate on that and go full time.

Grueller · 28-09-2020 10:22AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Multi cut silage and maize ,far more bang for your buck and no need to buy z grazed and give countless hours sitting in a tractor cutting loads of grass

MJ, would that plan be maybe 2 separate herds of 50, one in by day, one in by night all year round? That would actually suit my housing very well.
Or do you mean let them all buffer morning and evening and then all out onto the 40 acres to reduce demand on grass?

My 80 acres is not really suitable for tillage. 4 years in 5 it would work,year 5 if it came wet harvest time I would be goosed. Three to four cuts of high quality silage and young stock grazing out there. 18 acres maize on the block nearer home might work. Is 18 acres enough?

Panch18 · 28-09-2020 10:48AM

I suppose the question for you Grueller is what are your ultimate goals

Is it to maximise cow numbers? (this doesn't always have to be the case)
Is it to maximise profits? (this doesn't always have to be the case)
Is it to make yourself extremely busy? (some people just love being busy)
Is it to get best lifestyle (this is very important and often overlooked, especially when the enthusiasm of being new wears off)

All of these are different goals, and all good in their own right, but depending on what you want will determine what you should do

Lads have written plenty about what they think you should do to increase cow numbers - and profit and workload

If it was me - i'd milk 65 cows on the home block and 18 acres, rear all calves to at least 18 months on the outfarm - if you are really after lifestyle run a couple of beef bulls with the cows and hook up with a good local herd for you 12 replacement heifer calves - but that's just me

jaymla627 · 28-09-2020 10:55AM

Grueller wrote: »

MJ, would that plan be maybe 2 separate herds of 50, one in by day, one in by night all year round? That would actually suit my housing very well.
Or do you mean let them all buffer morning and evening and then all out onto the 40 acres to reduce demand on grass?

My 80 acres is not really suitable for tillage. 4 years in 5 it would work,year 5 if it came wet harvest time I would be goosed. Three to four cuts of high quality silage and young stock grazing out there. 18 acres maize on the block nearer home might work. Is 18 acres enough?

A average to good crop of maize on 18 acres would leave you with circa 350 ton of fed at 30% moisture which is 117 ton of dm, if you where buffering 80 cows 6kgs dm maize a day, it would give you 240 days of feed, biggest issue would be it heating as you aren't going across the pit face quick enough, plenty of lads baling it now in the leinster area but it adds another 10 a ton of a cost but your getting the full value of the maize with little wastage and no need for a special clamp for it

Timmaay · 28-09-2020 11:07AM

Jezz your working part time also... OK what about the nuclear option, long term lease like 60 ac of the 80ac, eliminate all the beef. 250/ac, 15k tax free into your hand and just a dairy operation to worry about.

mahoney_j · 28-09-2020 11:18AM

Grueller wrote: »

MJ, would that plan be maybe 2 separate herds of 50, one in by day, one in by night all year round? That would actually suit my housing very well.
Or do you mean let them all buffer morning and evening and then all out onto the 40 acres to reduce demand on grass?

My 80 acres is not really suitable for tillage. 4 years in 5 it would work,year 5 if it came wet harvest time I would be goosed. Three to four cuts of high quality silage and young stock grazing out there. 18 acres maize on the block nearer home might work. Is 18 acres enough?

For me no way I’d entertain 2 herds all ainmals on the one block either offer a buffer before pm milking or house at night and out by day for grazing season .the problem with a system like that the pen pushers and green mob look like it’ll be a non runner with nitrates /derogation restrictions

Grueller · 28-09-2020 11:34AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

For me no way I’d entertain 2 herds all ainmals on the one block either offer a buffer before pm milking or house at night and out by day for grazing season .the problem with a system like that the pen pushers and green mob look like it’ll be a non runner with nitrates /derogation restrictions

Would the out farm not having stock on it offset that. I would have 100 cows, 25 followers and 3 bulls on 140ish acres?

alps · 28-09-2020 11:47AM

Careful on costs..

I can only give you experience of a 500kg ms operation. These are typically profitable on 9/10 month grazing supplemented with 7/800 kg concentrate. The key here is the cost of feeding.

The above will be flat out marginal on rented ground where cost of grazed grass fed hits 14c/kg. By introducing zero grazing as a requirement from your outside platform, you will effectively rise the cost of grass from owned ground to a cost from rented ground. The zero grazing will add at least 8c/kg to the cost of your grass.

This will be too costly for 500kg cows, while it may work for higher yields..

Zero grazing can be tolerated in a very tight autumn window to remove excesses on outside blocks, where ot could be considered more beneficial to ZG rather than bale. (Same cost). ZG silage ground in the Spring is a mess as it leads to a massive wedge in your silage crust and you'll be neither here nor there when it comes to harvesting time.

If you want to go grass cows, 120 cows on the 80 acres for summer with a simle 20 unit no frills parlour would work sweet. (No need for frills as no fresh calvers and other complications). If milking from home with a high SR, I'd research high yielding cows suitable for short walks/ higher inputs..

Timmaay · 28-09-2020 12:39PM

Alps does that 8c/kg on zg include all the extra costs, like paying yourself for driving, depreciation etc? And what about the extra slurry, can that be boiled back into c/kgdm also? Let's say getting the grass home and slurry back adds 10c/kgdm, and for 100 cows need a buffer of 8kg for 250 days, that an added 20k/yr cost, plus all the running around like a blue arsed fly drawing grass in and slurry out. The no frills nz style parlour, dairy /shed could be done for about 120k after you claim back a tams grant, you have your parlour paid for in 6yrs and gives the option to go to 120 cows. No brainer to go that option over keeping anything like 100 cows on the home block.

alps · 28-09-2020 02:32PM

Timmaay wrote: »

Alps does that 8c/kg on zg include all the extra costs, like paying yourself for driving, depreciation etc? And what about the extra slurry, can that be boiled back into c/kgdm also? Let's say getting the grass home and slurry back adds 10c/kgdm, and for 100 cows need a buffer of 8kg for 250 days, that an added 20k/yr cost, plus all the running around like a blue arsed fly drawing grass in and slurry out. The no frills nz style parlour, dairy /shed could be done for about 120k after you claim back a tams grant, you have your parlour paid for in 6yrs and gives the option to go to 120 cows. No brainer to go that option over keeping anything like 100 cows on the home block.

No labour included in the 8c/kg dm, nor slurry out..

I'd much prefer to be giving my time to the no frills parlour though, plus I reckon it would be miles easier to get someone to replace you in the parlour for holidays and a bit of time off..

J.O. Farmer · 28-09-2020 02:34PM

Panch18 wrote: »

I suppose the question for you Grueller is what are your ultimate goals

Is it to maximise cow numbers? (this doesn't always have to be the case)
Is it to maximise profits? (this doesn't always have to be the case)
Is it to make yourself extremely busy? (some people just love being busy)
Is it to get best lifestyle (this is very important and often overlooked, especially when the enthusiasm of being new wears off)

All of these are different goals, and all good in their own right, but depending on what you want will determine what you should do

Surely the ultimate goal must be best lifestyle, now to pay for said lifestyle you may need to maximise profits if you want to do things other than farm 24/7 or even have comfort doing so.

Maximising cow numbers doesn't make sense unless it is as a result of maximising profits unless you just love cows (which would contribute to best lifestyle.

Making yourself extremely busy might also be the best lifestyle for some.

In the end it comes down to your best lifestyle and what it requires more money, cows or work (or maybe all 3).

Grueller · 28-09-2020 03:31PM

Panch18 wrote: »

I suppose the question for you Grueller is what are your ultimate goals

Is it to maximise cow numbers? (this doesn't always have to be the case)
Is it to maximise profits? (this doesn't always have to be the case)
Is it to make yourself extremely busy? (some people just love being busy)
Is it to get best lifestyle (this is very important and often overlooked, especially when the enthusiasm of being new wears off)

All of these are different goals, and all good in their own right, but depending on what you want will determine what you should do

Lads have written plenty about what they think you should do to increase cow numbers - and profit and workload

If it was me - i'd milk 65 cows on the home block and 18 acres, rear all calves to at least 18 months on the outfarm - if you are really after lifestyle run a couple of beef bulls with the cows and hook up with a good local herd for you 12 replacement heifer calves - but that's just me

They are great questions Panch.
I think increasing cow numbers will, believe it or not, help with 3 of the 4.
Profits should increase as the transition would be to dairy from beef.
Lifestyle should improve as I would have 2 batches of stock realistically rather than 6. These large number of batches are what really makes me busy.
This leads me to just liking to be busy. I do like to be busy but I think 100 cows plus followers in a one man operation will have me busy enough. That also answers maximising cow numbers. On 140ac 100 cows is not near maximised. This would also give me loads of leeway to make plenty of fodder on140ish acres taking off the pressure of wet or dry years. (Home farm burns in drought, outfarm is heavyish so needs minding in a wet year).
As for profits being the main driver? If they were my main driver I would have stayed full time in my €70k per year job and set 140 acres at €200 per acre tax free. However, it comes back to lifestyle. I have always wanted to farm full time and I think that I have a chance to do that in about 3 years time.

Bass Reeves · 28-09-2020 04:57PM

Just saw this thread and browsed through it. There are a few questions you need to answer. First you have to decide on lifestyle and life quality is something you need to look at. I am not a dairy farmer but worked full-time and handled a farm that I was not living on. You have a fair bank.of land it a matter of maximizing profit but balancing lifestyle.

If it was me I would maximise cow nu.bers on the home block. I contract in the zero grazing for a few years and see what way it works out. Often extra cows that add labour is a zero sum game. Another issue with a split herd is that if it involves extra labour it cost 30-40cows to pay for a labour unit. You can be a busy fool.very fast. If you get to 80ish cows with a contracted zero grazer and some silage from the outside blocks it only s matter of rationalising the beef system. I get rid of the suckler's.

You have two options with a beef system. Rear your own calves and carry to finish. Thus would be many people's thinking. However you have second sell calves and buy back in stores at 18 months and finish off grass.

Grueller · 28-09-2020 08:41PM

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Just saw this thread and browsed through it. There are a few questions you need to answer. First you have to decide on lifestyle and life quality is something you need to look at. I am not a dairy farmer but worked full-time and handled a farm that I was not living on. You have a fair bank.of land it a matter of maximizing profit but balancing lifestyle.

If it was me I would maximise cow nu.bers on the home block. I contract in the zero grazing for a few years and see what way it works out. Often extra cows that add labour is a zero sum game. Another issue with a split herd is that if it involves extra labour it cost 30-40cows to pay for a labour unit. You can be a busy fool.very fast. If you get to 80ish cows with a contracted zero grazer and some silage from the outside blocks it only s matter of rationalising the beef system. I get rid of the suckler's.

You have two options with a beef system. Rear your own calves and carry to finish. Thus would be many people's thinking. However you have second sell calves and buy back in stores at 18 months and finish off grass.

I think short term Bass I am leaning towards what you are saying above. I have more time and a bit of family labour available in Summer, so sub the zero grazing for high quality silage bales cut 3-4 times off of the out farm to buffer feed and allow me up to 80ish cows as you say. If the bales won't work alone I may consider some maize too.
On the outfarm then I would plan on keeping the beef progeny from the cows. I would be ai'ing 40ish cows so keeping 40ish beef cross calves and a batch of 20ish heifers, selling friesian bull calves. I would keep these beef calves to 18 months and this would give me 120 head on the out farm albeit 60 of them only being weaned calves. Take out 40 acres for silage and that is the whole lot used.
This for a few years allows me to have 80 cows in place and if I decide to go down the route of a parlour on the out farm I am close to my 100 cows already. This is probably a sensible option.

Bass Reeves · 28-09-2020 09:53PM

Grueller wrote: »

I think short term Bass I am leaning towards what you are saying above. I have more time and a bit of family labour available in Summer, so sub the zero grazing for high quality silage bales cut 3-4 times off of the out farm to buffer feed and allow me up to 80ish cows as you say. If the bales won't work alone I may consider some maize too.
On the outfarm then I would plan on keeping the beef progeny from the cows. I would be ai'ing 40ish cows so keeping 40ish beef cross calves and a batch of 20ish heifers, selling friesian bull calves. I would keep these beef calves to 18 months and this would give me 120 head on the out farm albeit 60 of them only being weaned calves. Take out 40 acres for silage and that is the whole lot used.
This for a few years allows me to have 80 cows in place and if I decide to go down the route of a parlour on the out farm I am close to my 100 cows already. This is probably a sensible option.

I forget about the parlor on the out farm maximize output on present platform. Unless you intend to live outfarm why would you bother. 7 miles is 15-20minues each way and maybe a gate to open and close. Drystock do not need to be seen each day except maybe the calves. If the Friesians you breath are growth I consider keeping them and selling the beef cross bulls. Friesians calves are low value but would turn decent money finished at 28months. Even if you want to sell as stores as they will be the earliest calves and if you are capable of putting weight on them off grass (getting them to 500ish kgsat 18-20 months) they leave you as much as a HE bullock. FR calf 20-50 euro at 15 days old 500 kg FR bullock 800-850 euro. HE bull at 15 days 150-200 euro 450ish HE bullock 900 euro.

I expect you will try to finish the beef cross heifers off grass at 20-22months. Band the bull calves at 8-10 weeks that way you can run all your calves as one bunch and all your yearlings, you can throw any cu cows into this bunch as well.and finish then off grass during the summer

tractorporn · 28-09-2020 10:48PM

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Build a second simple parlour in the out farm and calve all your cows at home and for the first rotation.

Move the cows over there for the peak grazing season and make most of your silage in the home block and bring back any excess as silage.

Bring the cows back home for the last rotation and hire a bit of zero grazing for that every day or second day.

That would simplify your system, I'd say, and allow extra cows to be carried to use the extra grass without the need for beef cattle. There will be a bit of hauling the late cows over but a haulier would carry the whole milking herd over in a morning.

I haven't read the whole thread yet so maybe this has been mentioned already. Similar to what others suggested would it not be easier to draw milk home instead of grass and milk with a mobile milking unit?

A lad I went to college with used one in the UK afaik it was featured on Farmer Weekly. Low setup cost and you could then use the 80 acre block for grazing?

https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/mobile-parlour-milks-92-cows-in-the-field-26372843.html

https://www.fwi.co.uk/machinery/dorset-dairy-farmers-build-bespoke-outdoor-parlour

Bass Reeves · 28-09-2020 11:09PM

tractorporn wrote: »

I haven't read the whole thread yet so maybe this has been mentioned already. Similar to what others suggested would it not be easier to draw milk home instead of grass and milk with a mobile milking unit?

A lad I went to college with used one in the UK afaik it was featured on Farmer Weekly. Low setup cost and you could then use the 80 acre block for grazing?

https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/mobile-parlour-milks-92-cows-in-the-field-26372843.html

https://www.fwi.co.uk/machinery/dorset-dairy-farmers-build-bespoke-outdoor-parlour

Milking cows a distance away from your home is not fun and the extra cows may leave you no better off.may leave you no better off. While 7 mile may seem a small distance. You will have to get up each morning travel 20 minutes and bring in cows to milk. Milking in the Evening after you have finished will entail a 20-30 minute before finish. This is totally different to milking cows on a home block after morning milking you can stroll down to the house to have breakfast on an out farm it will entail having a canteen type faculity there to eat unless you are big into a flask and sandwidge every morning for breakfast. It will entail 7-10K extra travel during the year to milk cows. That about 1K in extra running costs for transport before wear and tear is calculated. It will add 5 hours extra to your farming week during the milking season.Valuing your time at 20/hour it equivlent to nearly 4K/year

Zero grazing

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