is entering dairying still an option

I would agree that there is not much money out of milking. First both Jay and GTM are both still paying for expansion stage. I somehow think both will continue to expand if they can. Jay is buying in a lot of feed and GTM as leased or purchased land. When either are finished expand they will generate substantial cash reserves with a company structure.

In OP's case he is not looking at substantial borrowings. In essence he is looking at making a fairly decent living not generating wealth as Nay and GTM are

As a PAYE worker it very hard to generate wealth. A single person earning 80k/ year will have 1006 in disposable income and pay nearly 28k in deductions. When you earn above 50-60k in any private company you earn it.

Most people earning that sort of cash will have hidden costs such as travel and clothes expenses. Youngest lad is working in a bank he forked out 300 euro for a suit and shirt last week.

Most people in decent jobs will have 10 hour days minimum. Maybe 100/ week in work expenses ( diesel, car expenses, clothes food etc). On food in most higher paid jobs you will end up eating it 1-2 times a week.

At the small medium sized farm scale the amount of personal expenses people can write off can be the equivalent to 100/ week and often double or treble it. That is a 200 euro plus gap compared to a PAYE workers. IMO being self employed is worth 10 k minimum in real income terms.

The amazing thing is a lot to lads do not notice it

Replying to the second part re PAYE worker.

100% agree - huge hidden costs associated for professionals in just attending work and a 10 hour day/50 hour week is far from uncommon. And often a hell of a lot of pressure in a lot of them jobs.

It's more than just write-off. I paid wages to all my children while going to college it was an average of 10 k/ years for 10 years.

2/3 of motoring expenses cars, tyres servicing fuel, you could go on. Telephone, rubbish, heating oil, electricity there is a write-off on the hem all. Cat and dog food go through the accounts.

You have access to this and equipment to do jobs that few PAYE workers. Spend nearly 1k on a power washers last year. It will do as much around the house as on the farm. Chainsaw nearly everything it dose is related to timber for the house.

As I said it's worth 300/ week in real terms. A thirty K farm income could be the equivalent of 55k in real terms if you had to pay tax on money to spend on items like that.

And if you are not working in a big organisation you will not get the colour of that kinda money.

Ya working from home is great however it's mostly lower paid call center type work.

Most people on better pay have to be mobile. Meetings, being at the end of a phone for 12+ hours a day. Ya you have specialised IT work that pays well that can work from home 3 days a week.

Guards, ESB, teachers, medical professionals are all on the 50 k+ by the time they are 40 ( 20 years into there career) but there is a load of people out there spend there life earning sub 40k/ year that's 617/ week.

I had great jobs from the time I was 40- a few years ago. I got an opportunity to walk out the door three years ago and grabbed it with both hands. After 15-30 years in a lot of them jobs you are burnt out.

With me it was the traveling I used to put 50k kilometres on the company can ever year towards the end. S bit in the private car as well great money but you earn it.

Lads with good jobs often have specific skill sets. They are not doing any repetitive work like putting clusters on and off cows

working from home is far from just lower paid call centre workers - quite the opposite really. Generally it’s support functions/non-front line or those that simply could do their work remotely - I know plenty of people earning over €100k that haven’t stood in the office in two years.

it’s generally more of the higher paid jobs as they’re trusted more to work remotely but it does vary by company.

WFH will not remain for 5 days (assuming we stay out of covid) but I do see a hybrid of 3 days office/2 WFH becoming common and most workers will be ok with that.

Money, shmoney. It doesn't really matter that much as long as you have enough.

There is lads out there with hundreds of cows and they can't make ends meet. Plenty lads doing fine with 50.

It's the same with jobs. Some lads with a huge wage but they will never be able to manage it.

I had a job for 20 years and the biggest part I miss is the fact that you could close the door and walk away at the end of your week or to take a 2 to 3 week holiday and not have a care in the world. Self employed is hard going but rewarding at the same time.

And you can add "out sick" pay onto that list

WFH doesn’t mean it’s a soft touch so kick that one to touch. Remember you’ll be doing the exact same job you were doing in the office as WFH with the same boss, same deadlines, challenges, reports, etc. and in the majority of cases without the same facilities such as shared drives, printers, etc.

In a lot of cases, the number of zoom/Teams meetings has increased therefore lessening the time you have to actually do your job. In my team at work, the majority have chosen to remain in the office and not WFH and there are many others in other sectors that are 100% WFH and are dying to get back to the office. There is a huge social aspect to being in work too which people miss and that’s understandable.

But like farming, it’s down to the individual circumstances. Prior to pandemic, I was commuting 2 hours each way to work so you can imagine how I felt having 4 hours not traveling every day. Other considerations are appropriate office space at home, reliable broadband, printer, others in a house WFH too will have an impact.

I do agree about salaries and the perception that because Johnny wears a suit to work and is in an office that he has a good job. Recruitment is a big part of my role and I can tell you that €50k is a good salary and not many are on it.

That's odd. I'm in an engineering field based role.

We are recruiting at present, offering 50k +(plus car and unlimited fuel) will get laughed at. And I'm not talking about degree educated candidates here.

55k is the very minimum for anyone who can tell you what a P&ID is and what a PLC is used for.

Average salary in 2022 in Ireland is €44k according to cso. Engineering/construction fields are in a boom again with a lot of head hunting and a genuine skills shortage driving up salaries at present so yes, they would be well north of €50k with lots of sweeteners thrown in. But equally, vast majority of construction is in Dublin and significant commuter cost associated too. When I was commuting to Dublin, it was costing me €200 a week which is €20k gross per year.

for every job at €80k, there’s another ten at €40-50k and as has been said many times here and other threads, it’s all about what works for the individual. I wasn’t thrilled about my 2 hour commute but I knew it was working in the time until I got transfer closer to home (1 hour commute now if you call that close!!) but I’m happy enough with a couple of days WFH and a few in the office