Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

I would say their ambitious, ambition doesn't go well with farming. .Secondly I think there's enough for a decent living but not to get rich

AIB obviously, ‘backing brave!’

That was tongue and cheek, they’re gone brutal, all dealings are with them at home but will be going with BOI for loan over the next 10 days if they don’t match what they’re offering BOI have been far easier to deal with.

It was mostly ulster for the bigger lads especially lads interested in the second and third farms they were looking for my business when I was looking for a couple of fairly big loans at the one time they were the only ones keeping manners on bank of Ireland in my case anyway they were coming in substantially lower with interest rates and were more flexible around levels of security etc. The agri lender for them had it as a selling point that they were the bank of choice for the people who were driving on and expanding.

That's the main point I think it's nearly like the joke ..how do you make a million farming...you start with two 🤔 if everyone knows the margins are tight over a five to ten year cycle what In gods name convinced lads that loads of staff in different counties never mind yards was going to give big returns.......and I'm not talking about the group farm.

They may be . And to an extent your right

Kev but. From my point of view wheres the margin. Teagasc advice on a farmer converting to dairy is or was that you would not break even in first four years and no profit for the next two. That was a few years ago and they had no figures for the second unit set ups when asked . Now obviously there's a variety of reasons for this to be better or worse than the above scenario (edited auto correct kept putting Kevin instead of kev)

Well you come across as bitter, very bitter

You'll say you're not but you're posts are littered with mentions of heros and poor performing cows. All ways of putting other lads down. But then you'll sign off with "there's enough people outside farming to put farmers down" so it's all good.

If you think so. it's your opinion 🤷...everyone is entitled to their own.

Labour, if you haven't got a good highly experienced team managing the farm and farming it like their own your f**ked unless your prepared to put in the hours yourself to make it work.....

Then the margins most years simply aren't their to pay enough to form a team like the above so corners are cut and farm owners expect lads to work 60 plus hours a week and milk cows twice a day year round,workers leave then and you get a vicious cycle and revolving door of staff coming and going

It’s quite simple really

if you had 2- 300 cows on mostly owned land with loans for cap ex on that farm nearing an end and it not needing any immediate investment soon you had a ball of money and heifers to put some where

johnny and Mary down the road 10 miles away with a 100ha block are gone old and want to retire and the place is available at reasonable money and you have heifers and money to buy there cows and have milk flowing straight away in a few months

thats basically the blue print for alot if these places and the home place carried it for a year or 2 until it got going and then all of a sudden the cash from at home is freed up again

i personally know one family operation who have bought an awful lot of land in the last 5 years in one of the busiest farming areas in the country and wouldn’t have done it with out all the cows they’re milking

in time they’ll have a block of ground for each child should they wish to Persue farming or an asset they can liquidate either

im not trying to big ppl up or run ppls noses in it but it is possible and clever lads have made it work and fair play to them.

just look at the hickeys there from Kilkenny, shrude operators who own an awful lot of land now. It is said they came into alot of money along the way but what about it if that’s the case. They spent it wisely. They may not be liked but you can’t deny the lads that are making this work are willing to go above and beyond what others aren’t.

A bit of luck involved along the way too of course !

Not according to some you know....

You’d need extremely deep pockets the guys who have that rented long term won’t let that go easy, prominent contractors and big dairy men.

My father started off with 50 acres and we have over 400 between us all now. Alot of hard work and sacrifice but loved it as we went.

The problem with alot of these lads is that they know nothing else only farming and that's all they see to do with their surplus money. Diversification is important I think myself.

I don't know alot of those guys that are spoken of here but the problem I have is that they are used as poster boys to drive on less skilled and able people down a similar road which often just leads to ruin.