As the title asks and if so what system did you change to and how is it working out
JFC one is €350 plus VAT but it is very expensive. Delaval one is about €160. Evert second year would actually do you on them for a service though.
If the op wants a guaranteed income then maybe solar, agri forestry or forestry are another option to consider.
Maybe Dexter cattle would extend the grazing season. Then go organic and leave them out most of the year
What type of farming do you do yourself?
Suckler to beef. What about yourself?
In fairness the majority of agricultural land on the East coast is either in tillage, horticulture, dairy, drystock or bloodstock whilst huge swathes of the same land was absorbed for housing and industrial use. Around where I come from in NCD there used to be several suckler/pedigree beef herds but they are all gone now and the land is either built on or converted to tillage or horticulture. The few remaining dairy herds are still there but they would be traditional herds with (I presume) little or no borrowings.
Sucklers, don’t usually finish them tho, sell as weanlings or stores.
I want to stay farming cattle, just looking alternatives to suckler system & what other people have switched to
In the southwest here so land type not suitable for organic or out wintering
Got out of suckers when decoupling arrived. Buy one and a half year old fresians @about 450+kg.Send to factory following year. Simple system never with about 30months as not enough tick all the boxes.
What way do the sums add up comparatively...although you are prob 2 long out to be able to compare are you?
Sad to pedigree stock all going.
I suppose there are a good shot of angus pedigree still around.
I think when you have to contend with a 6 month winter then livestock aren’t a runner.
Has anybody here ever tried Joel Salatins methods?
Or holistic planned grazing by the Savoury institute.
I think farming needs to be completely changed in the way it’s thought about.
New ideas & some new blood in the game it’s virtually impossible for anybody trying to get in the game to get a farm
@Jjameson I had a good year last year, I had 13 bulls & 7 heifers in that batch, 2 of the heifers I kept for replacement. So used the cow returns in working my average. They made over €2,300 each. Cattle were killed at 27 /28 months & my caving interval is 374 days. I keep a very tight eye on AI'ing cows anything not cycling at 6 weeks would get a shot to come around but it's unusual as I think keeping the mineral buckets help with that.
A lot to be said to working to improve soil biology etc. Some very good contributors on here in that area.
New ideas as with any change have to be considered otherwise you get left behind.
It must be near impossible to break in to farming if you don’t inherit a farm but have a passion for it.
It is impossible, even to try get an acre or to two is snapped up.
Looking at the options for fruit & veg in supermarket’s is depressing. Almost nothing being grown here.
Yes. You would be lucky to get Irish produce.
Maybe apples, spuds, carrots, parsnips. Eating veg in season could be a challenge.
I try and buy Irish myself. I seek it out. I don’t mind paying extra for Irish organic veg etc.
You could get a traditional cottage acre in the country which would give a bit of ground with a house.
Same here & allot of people I no want their food to come locally.
Consumers know blueberries or raspberries from Morocco or Chile ain’t doing themselves or the planet any favours.
thought about the cottage idea but would require a lot of money & virtually impossible to get tradesmen to do the work now.
It’s daft when you see fruit coming in out of Africa. They are literally exporting their own water.
Chile is another one. Pink lady apples come from there. They used to be from New Zealand. Some good apples grown in Ireland.
Local produce more often than not tastes better as well.
Was in a calf shed before where at the side walls in each pen there was two bits of concrete coming off the walls a couple of foot in length. The dividing gates were hing on these and when closed back towards the side walls there was enough space for the calves to be held during cleaning without any great deal of moving them. The only bit of spronging really required was where the calves were held while the loader passed through. I thought it a great idea at the time and still do
I'm in the extreme southwest and quite a few of us are organic. Why do you think our land isn't suitable for it?
Also - I've outwintered 22 Dexters this winter without any major problems.
There's a fine living to be made finishing Dexter bullocks for beef buying them in as weanlings for which the current price is bad. I'd do it myself if I was 10 years older and sick of breeding stock.
What's the outlet for the finished Dexter cattle? Its my experience that Dexter beef in the right hands is valuable but Dexter cattle not so much.
ABP Scheme but they need to be finished properly.
A deal with a good craft butcher - ideally a chain.
Direct selling but that's slow to build.
Thank you for that. I'm assuming that you'd have to be organic and the Dexters would need to be purebred registered to qualify for the APB scheme?
I wasn't aware that such a scheme existed. Direct selling requires a marketing skill set and isn't for the faint hearted.
ABP scheme does not require them to be organic but yes pedigree - birth notified is enough which is a fiver for a non-breeding male. No DNA or anything.
95% of Dexters in the country are Ped regd so not a problem.
They also require Bord Bia QA membership.
Box or half animal schemes are a lot of work but they pay if you put the effort in years 1 to 3.
Organic payment would be jam on a system like that so pretty much a no brainer.
That's interesting, it's a wonder there's not more lads at it it so. Most Dexter weanlings/stores I see make humble money when sold live.
As you said if you could claim the organic payment and the fact that Dexters are low imput in all regards you'd have a cushy setup.
There's a neighbour here has Dexters and was trying to sell me a few heifers for breeding last year.
What's the mature weight of a Dexter cow?
(The neighbour got a bit coy when I asked her)
It depends on the cow but I'd imagine it would be somewhere either side of 300kg. There's some seriously small poor quality Dexter genetics about, I saw cows lately that wouldn't have been much with 200kg mature weight.
Does it have any real impact on your tax situation if you sell all your Sucklers in one year? Provided they are accurately valued then the sales should be balanced out by the (opening stock minus closing stock)...
Also if you are bdgp, beep etc do you need to hold onto animals until the date the scheme concludes?
Yes too long out.Can keep a lot more cattle on the same ground. Last year's cattle came in a s820 and went out at e1500 Very little Labour with fresians. The suckler. premium From before decoupling is also still coming
How do you control rushes organically without spending a mint on land drainage? I'd plough the place if I outwintered
I see Dexter steers yearlings pbr on done deal for 600e @ 200-300kgs
Looking at Cootehill tonight, someone had about 20 super suckler cows with calves at foot (3-4 months old) and back with the bull, from around €2,100 to €3,100 and most were around the €3k mark. Its good money for anyone selling out.
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