A dribble bar didn't have to be that expensive. I retrofitted one to a 1650 gallon tank on small wheels. It is strange looking but keeps all slurry away from about 300ft of tanks. The cost of the dribble bar was €15k including VAT. I got €4400 back in a tams grant. That left it at €10600. A neighbour bought in halves then leaving us at €5300 each. We put it on my tank and when its beat we will buy a tank in partnership and move the dribble bar over.
I know partnership doesnt suit everyone but we are one full season in and there has been no clash yet as weare both fairly ok for storage and both on dry ground.
It's one of those arguments where everyone is right and everyone is wrong .there is a tendency to forget about slurry once the cattle go out and people get busy with grass and sowing and other stuff.by rights the slurry deadline should be the first of july as in slurry should go before 1 st and second cut but there d be war if you said that.on the contractor versus own gear.theres no doubt having your own gear gives great control but you still got to get it done whereas contractors will al as do almost every other job first if a weather window comes after april
Was just listening to a teagasc podcast there. 1900 euro costs per cow similar to 2022. Not much space for the cows that are not pulling their weight there.
Dry ground is a massive factor. Contractors under too much pressure around here between slurry dates, hedging dates, weather, dropping everything to go at tillage, can't get drivers, etc.
The 300 bales would have just replaced 300 bales of buffer which were eaten into by animals kept in sheds for longer. That is why the buffer is there.
300 unplanned bales would indicate a land area of 60 acres which would indicate you were spreading too much fertilizer and of course more fertilizer had to go out if 60 acres were taken out of the rotation. After the bales were cut the slurry could have gone out then but I suppose there is an excuse for then as well.
I would not agree contractors makes much more sense from a labour and machinery point of view. During the wet weather there was plenty of contractors sitting idle......the panic stations.
Neighboring farmer has his own gear. In June when he had the silage cut he rang a contractor to give him a hand to get slurry out as he knew he could not get it done by himself.
Yes that is why the derogation was cut back. When stocked at extremely high levels it means you must be full steam ahead all the time. Any hiccup prevents certain farming actions.
Anyone above 150 kgs/ HA from now on, but it will be reduced further. I would be presuming that virtually all farmers wil have to use LESS within 5 years of not sooner.
Contracting makes much more sense. However there is many jafs that will not get the finger out. They think ever year will be perfect. Look at the amount of lads that ended up with first cut in August and hay in September.
They are just another symptom on the opposite end of the scale the
Dry ground and lots of dairy farmers
Alot of dry ground in your area and not too many dairy farmers either I'd say
For slot of farmers getting a dribble bar or trailer shoe would also require upgrading the tractor. Even with tams it's a fair expensive move.
Why …..I’m in dero ….I abide by the rules ….zero interest in having big expensive tank in yard and running and racing getting loads out here and there or on Sundays /evenings ….my area has a good few contractors doing various types of work ….all slurry contracted out as is spring and silage fertiliser ……too many lads don’t value there time
Is it just derogation farmers who have to use LESS from 2024?
Or are splash plates essentially being banned for everyone?
Judging by some of the comments on here it's no wonder the derogation is in trouble.
I see some one man operations like that who do their own slurry. Its usually after the evening milking that they find the time to go at it in the spring time anyway. Working away until 10 or 11. I think life is to short for that
Then why did the farm organisations beg the department for an extension.
Have very good contractors, paid whatever way they want but there is only so much work they can get thru. Told to come whenever they can get to us. They are covering bigger areas and more jobs. Some parts of the country like down here have a higher customer base as well
Just because some of us use contractors doesn't mean we fcuk it out either, I just tell em not to come if weather doesn't suit, have heavy ground here as well it won't see slurry for the next 6 months at least hasn't got it in the last month either.
Re having the gear to do it yourself that's all specific to ones own farm and circumstances. Grant not available on LESS to dero farms either
Ye must all have crap contractors ….I have my own 2500 gallon tank ….no t shoe or dribble bar and no way in hell I’m buying one …I spread parlour washings and add water to tanks etc with it …..contractor with t shoe spreads everything but the parlourvwashings …..super service never lets me down as long as o don’t just pick up the phone and say tanks are mixed come on soon as .no wear and tear on tractor and more free time to do other things
i would get out of milking cows if i had to put out my own slurry.
There is no excuse for lads not having their own slurry spreading gear with Tams grants available. Slurry is a valuable resource with the cost of fertiliser and should be used wisely. It is critical to any prospect of saving the derogation that the messing of getting a contractor in to spread when conditions aren't suitable must stop.
My point was about contractors and availability, and still stands
Yeah. We got some out earlier in the year but then it pissed rain later on.
We cut an unplanned 300 bales off fields that would have been normally grazed but the animals were still in the shed until very late this year. LESS or no LESS, you aren't going to be lashing out slurry on top of covers that you'll be taking out for baling in a week or two.
Found it hard to get contractor to spread slurry this year, when I wanted him was busy, and raining when he wasn't
It's now at a stage for most farmers to have some independence in slurry spreading. Ground conditions and weather dictate so much in farming. I farm heavy ground and trying to rely on a contractor to get slurry out is tricky. Being able to go when ground and weather conditions are right is key. Years ago the father used to use a contractor and got sick of waiting. 30 years ago he bought a simple 1600 gal tank and tipped away. It spread a lot of slurry and I changed it with tams 3 years ago. It's an investment that pays for itself, but has a time and diesel cost.
It's getting to a stage with contractors, their workload is massive, numbers are dropping out, drivers and finance issues are mounting.
I stand over what I said. A lot of lads have no problem f@@king it out after the reopening date in January to make room in tanks. Then it's too wet in March and April and too dry in June. Then there is too much grass after that. There is always excuses. It's the same nearly every year and it's much the same excuses.
On decent ground which is where grain is grown you would have spread slurry most of the summer. Lads just want ideal conditions.
I got back to my point in January after the end of the closed season no matter the weather a lot of kafs have no issue f@@king it out
Biggest issue round here is contractors are too busy and late harvest compounded it again. Any short break in weather was used for grass or grain for the last 2 months
I wouldn’t be following much of his advice 🙄tbf
You do talk some shite , a hell af a lot ground was waterlogged right up to the April 20th ,this year if people had not lowered tank in feburary when ground was right they were completely fuked!!
Are you saying Aidan’s “They’ll be grand f*ck ‘em” advice on meal feeding might have another down side??? 😂
The problem is too many kids will not change there habits. They are quite happy to spread in the middle of January or early February but make no attempt in March/ April and will use any excuse if a bit of grass will be effected.
With LESS equipment it's possible to spread even on 3-4''of grass. No ideal conditions to suit them must be in place.
Sales so far considering dero have been pretty good ….another sale of 100 heifers this Saturday in kanturk ….some really well bred heifers Ai bred lots records in calf to sexed semen
If you listen to scanners scanning rates on large part have been poor ….12/20% plus very common ……heifers 10% plus too ….lots sexedcsemen used as well …..reality grass has been **** for most of year ,lads expecting far too much from it without adequate supplementation
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