Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

I pay €40 cash a milking to a local lad who will milk weekends. He let's me know every Friday evening what milkings he can do on the sat and sun.

All he has to do is bring in cows and milk and close gap after no moving wires. It takes about 1hr and 20 mins in total so It's handy pocket money for him.

He has no farming background but they're plenty of these guys and girls out there. Its just takes a bit of time to train them in to it.

Just holiday cover for few weekends and maybe odd week once a year, milk 8 at a time.

I see "Dairy Herd Manager wanted" adds in the farming press for the past few month offering as low as 30K - are these people actually getting replies and if so does the likes of milking, mucking out etc. included in the role??

I believe those adds are a needed to apply for a work permit for foreign labour.. they aren't looking for replies

All very well till your audited ….small one offs I’d get over giving cash but if work any way half regular better register properly and put it thru books the proper way 2 lads here during spring and regular relief Milker all thru books all legit and all happy …..

Like I said have family and friends building, without exception the labour content of the builds is almost entirely cash. All of them would be getting self build mortgages, a rated homes fully certified by engineers, who by the way are looking for cash aswell, architects cash.. how revenue are letting it go is beyond me it's absolutely rife with one off house builds..like gtm says they can't get cash off the big sites

Have you got invoices etc of the lads doing the work with their registered vat number etc and cash paid accounted for and wrote on invoice, if your using mortgage money drawn down their probably is zero issue, but if trying to expense it to farm accounts without the above your accountant is horsing

If this dairy exit scheme happens I reckon there will be serious interest ….im farming since I was a young lad ….in my own right since 2010 and the changes even since 2010 are huge ….the changes happening now and what’s proposed will be bigger again and will drastically change the landscape for anyone milking cows expansion as we’ve become accustomed to since quota abolition won’t be possible and a lot of heavily borrowed new entrants especially are in for very rocky ride

A mechanic from Wicklow happened to be in the yard here recently.

He sold haylage delivered locally for €55. What he's doing for the last number of years and he said there's more farmers around going the route. Is buy a few cattle when grass comes in Spring. Make silage or haylage in summer and sell. Then sell the cattle in the autumn. He has no cattle for the winter. So no work. Solves lots on nitrates too.

If a farmer or stud owner bought 250 bales off him that's €13,750.

You'd be cracked giving that amount of money for 250 bales. But you'd be cracked not to be selling 250 bales if you got that money.

There's lots looking at easier options.

Just supposing I get in a few young lads in college to milk at weekends, holidays etc. and pay by bank transfer, do they have to go on my books or is there on onus on them to look after their own tax? Is there some exempt threshold or anything to cover occasional workers like this?