What if any changes are you going to make to you're current system with costs going out of control.

Plan is to keep finishing cattle calf and suckler to beef, with a few tweeks.

With grain situation, store cattle and weanlings are going to be in for a serious hit in price. Lads won't have the appetite or the larger operators won't have the liquidity to buy big amounts of grain. This is going to leave a serious shortage of finished cattle at this time next year. People will try to finish mad this fall to avoid the shed. I can see a lot of culls and under finished cattle this autumn and back end, this will depress price, but once these are washed thru the system, numbers will tighten very quickly

Finish Angus crosses out of the shed at this time next year. They are the stock that will be the quickest and take the least amount of meal to get there. Let the Suckler bred stock back to grass to finish.

Better quality silage to be made. Will end up with 3/4 of 2021 pit left . This tested out at 70%dmd and 13% protein. This will have serve the majority of the next winter. Pit silage crews are now going to really have to look at the pricing per hour and not per acre. This may benefit taking the early may crop.

Put in a chunk of whole crop and cover with some second cut. Any thing to reduce the cost of ration.

Finishing cattle will need energy and grass silage can't provide it.

Its all about being nimble and trying to think 5 steps ahead of everyone else

• Reducing stock numbers, all Cull cows and poor performs out the gate asap.
• Fatten the replacement heifers instead of giving them the Bull, they should fatten on grass and leave good money
• Reducing the tractor hours, no more leaving the Tractor idling away in the yard it's switch off as soon as it's finished
• No more fertilizer being bought, I've only 1/3rd of my usual amount.
• No more Impulse purchasing at the mart.
• No more Impulse purchasing at the Co-op
• Drastically reduce the amount of baled silage, it's not economical. I can't afford the Contractor charges and he can't afford to subsidise me
• Purchased a new Baler (new to me) I'm going to make as much hay as possible now, should be easy to save light meadows that got very little fertilizer
• Factory the Bull and empty Cows as soon as breeding season is over, no more 2nd and third chances it just makes for late calving
• Sell Weanlings straight off the Cows, zero meal given to them.
• December 2022 I'll reassess everything and see if I am any worse off

Sucklers or the vast majority getting the gate. Will graze the out farm with my own dairy cross cattle.

Have about 40-50% of next years silage requirements left over so closing less ground.

Cancelled a builder I had booked for a tank, cubicles and a shed. I need the storage and cubicle space but I'll throw a few 2nd hand cubicles in a shed I have already and tough it out for a year or 2 and re assess.

Anyone else feel that contractors, agri merchants etc. are kind of over-engaging in the hyping up of costs.

It's like that they're trying to justify the massive increases that they are inevitably off-loading on to the farmer.

Don't get me wrong, the costs are rising and will seemingly continue to do so (as Russia gets cut off over the next few years). But hyping it up to a point that farmers are panicked is hardly good for the whole industry either.

Have a decent stack of feed left over as of now …will make same ammount of first cut as last year and leave decision on second cut till it’s done

have 90% of fertiliser I used last year bought and that’s it

make more use of contractors with precision equipment like gps fertiliser spreaders and t shoe slurry

stock numbers …won’t be any drastic change as in back of my heat I’m thinking of a reference year cow numbers even allowing for selling few duds will be up 9 on last year …all fr bull calves will be sold …have Angus calves from now on …will keep them and sell in October

will keep production per cow up and try and increase it …cap feed at 1.5 t and try aim for 1.3…all weather dependant with a historic high milk price think it’s right call

cut out buying stupid shite I don’t really need

Will high oil & gas prices not be a good thing for Irish farmers? Ireland having the lowest carbon footprint in Dairying in Europe, plus the 3rd lowest in Beef in Europe. Prices increases add to costs here, but across Europe, the increase will be far higher. Think of the European Dairy guys with their indoor, all year round systems. Huge diesel and fertiliser bills. Ireland dairying, on the other hand - cows lying in the rich summer grasses. No comparison in margins.

I'd be slow to cut numbers. Expect big increases in Beef and Milk prices.

For me, it's weird as I never had as much silage and I also have some fertiliser left over from last year. Usually never the case.

I have to smile when I read this sort of drivel. You’re probably the same type of lad that will ask the contractor why didn’t he just put in a big 100,000 gallon tank and buy the diesel when it was cheap? Or ask him why didn’t he “go up the north” and buy net/polythene where it’s cheaper.

Can I ask did you go to your contractor last October when a lot of this was predicted and forward pay him for your work for this year so he could get his diesel and all in when it was cheaper and save you money this year? I highly doubt it. But still you’ll expect him to carry all the cost and wonder why he hasn’t millions invested a year early to save you a few hundred on your few acres.

I’d be worried about any farmer that has to wait for the contractor or merchant to tell him what’s happening, surely anyone with the intelligence to be able to farm can see what’s happening for themselves without having to wait for their contractor to tell them? It’s literally all that’s being talked about for the last month all over the world.

2 cent cut in green Diesel excise.

... Cause food production is valued and important.

Not worth 2 shites …..some joke

Off the excise duty per litre. So it's bought in, the govt add an automatic 56 cent, think it is 56 cent, and then other taxes are applied as a % of purchase price, Vat etc.

So the middle bit added on automatically will be 54.

That's the gist of it.

I've always had the belief that farming is about saving money as much as it making money. I always found it strange people would leave tractors running ideal for hours without use. They'd be down at one end of the yard working away with the tractor running away at the other end.

I'm trying to calculate what is the best option. I've got a little under 1/2 the silage needed for next winter right now but a lot of animals still housed and not going out for 2-3 weeks.

A - Feed more meal now so there is more silage left over for next Winter. With the price of fertiliser, fuel, wrapping etc the price of silage is going to go up and yields are going to go down. I don't want to find myself short this time next Spring and it will take the pressure of pushing a higher yielding second cut.

B - Feed less meal and more silage. Gamble on reasonable first cut yields and a very good second cut. This will require more fertiliser if the slurry isn't doing a good enough job.

C - Stay the same and get animals out as soon as ground conditions and weather allow. Buy in fodder and feed more meal next Spring. This seems like the worst option.

Ration is not your friend, especially this year coming.

Just heard today that a large Clare based silage contractor, will not be doing silage this year.

Sow a heap of clover