Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

GrasstoMilk · 23-12-2025 09:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092277#Comment_124092277

he’s honest any way. Good old Irish begrudgery alive and well. Not many have the stones to do make the move they did

daiymann 5 · 23-12-2025 09:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092283#Comment_124092283

What further on is he apart from his ego getting a boost.Youll not see me on grassmen or farmflix boasting but if it makes guys happy live in a foreign land borrow loads of cash make videos or podcasts to show how great u are.

GrasstoMilk · 23-12-2025 09:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092288#Comment_124092288

further on than you with your imaginary farm

straight · 23-12-2025 09:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092283#Comment_124092283

You've totally misread what I wrote again. Berudgery my hole. Pity more like. Guys like that might be your heroes but not mine. I think I've made that pretty clear time and time again.

daiymann 5 · 23-12-2025 09:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092289#Comment_124092289

I might ring up farm flix and grassmen get them to make videos of me mouthing tripe.Look if youve an ego to feed go ahead make videos.

GrasstoMilk · 23-12-2025 10:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092342#Comment_124092342

wouldn’t class him as my hero but I’d admire his ambition and his guts to gamble his families legacy, his lifes work and start over. Very few have done it.
What he’s at is the American model of dairy farming. It’s in no way comparable to us here. It’s good to get an insight into how it works over there.

mahoney_j · 23-12-2025 10:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092283#Comment_124092283

agree ,watched the videos of him and his operations on farm flix….honest assessment on robots and there running costs …..eye watering amounts of money to set up and run those units …he has came a long way from 170 cows in Fermanagh

mahoney_j · 23-12-2025 10:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092288#Comment_124092288

I know it’s Christmas and all that but would you ever fook off back and go play farming simulator again for yourself

greenfield21 · 23-12-2025 10:17PM

What are they doing to cut costs, actually felt like he wasn't concerned about costs which is very concerning from an Irish perspective. Appears they are still making money at these prices. Their potential for growth is crazy.

Impressive setup and what they have managed to achieve over there, it's definitely not as easy as people think, fair play to them.

straight · 23-12-2025 10:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092399#Comment_124092399

Ya, I enjoyed the insight. Looking forward to part 2. Looks like they'll be cutting numbers and there is a shortage of replacements. I don't envy him though. Dont get how that makes me a begrudger is all.

daiymann 5 · 23-12-2025 10:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092419#Comment_124092419

Ive seen it many times before when companies get so big a small mistake can bring them down smart company owners employ smarter people than themselves they down boast on social media.Average dairy farmerbin ireland will never go broke they just do without wages in a bad year just enough to live off.All them boys on agri media are mouths ego hungry not out to help anyone unlike me here giving free advice.

alps · 24-12-2025 12:05AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092441#Comment_124092441

Was there any indication of the timeline as to when they might begin culling? Was there an indication to when the industry overall would start that cull?

GrasstoMilk · 24-12-2025 12:09AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092441#Comment_124092441

“The banks want to see his accounts every month. Says it all really.”

He’s on a system that’s based on borrowed money. If you want the money that’s how it works. I’ve a friend who had a large loan with boi and they wanted his year accounts every year along with a in person meeting every year

Lots of farms here have gone the robot route and switched back to a parlour. Nothing new there. It’s just the fact that he has 20 of them

green daries · 24-12-2025 12:11AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092664#Comment_124092664

I know they have been short at least the last two years of heifers but they’ve grown the national herd by culling less sooooo. Any time now but starting from a higher Base

straight · 24-12-2025 12:33AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092674#Comment_124092674

Not my kind of system. It's just a different point of view like. Nothing begrudging about it. Know nothing of that lad In america apart from the podcast. Dont envy his position at all.

straight · 24-12-2025 12:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092664#Comment_124092664

As the bull calves land, the poor performers will be taken out. Some cows 2 or 3 months in calf won't be worth waiting for either. Alot of cheap feed over there at the moment so alot will depend on the milk/feed price ratio. I guess the banks will be telling them how to run their farm. I think they are going more into it in part two. The whole thing is like a house of cards really.

daiymann 5 · 24-12-2025 12:40AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092722#Comment_124092722

Is there any need to prodcast to the world how one runs there buisness

daiymann 5 · 24-12-2025 12:41AM

There was a lad in nz with a heap of robots it didnt end well

Bass Reeves · 24-12-2025 12:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092185#Comment_124092185

Basically he is a trader, he buy in everything watches what costs he can, and its dependent on milk price. Beef cross calve cross and cull cows are keeping these head above water along with probably the cheapest grain for 50+years in real terms with a combinationof bumper collect.

But that only lasts for so long, grain farmers will go bust, grain will get dearer at some stage.

In reality he is no longer a hands on dairy farmer, he has delegated many day to day tasks, see the way he mentioned his son overpayed for soya by 20 euro a ton. Accross his business that could have been a 50k+ mistake.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092425#Comment_124092425

He is worried about costs but he has an inate understanding of the business, he realises he cannot do a lot about most costs they are what they are, basically he watches the numbers and culls when appropriate and hoe's he is more efficient than the majority out there. At present the numbers are working for US farmers because of low grain and high beef prices. The beef price has added risk from the point of replacement heifers.

K.G. · 24-12-2025 12:49AM

it s funny the different things people focus on.on.i thought the way they just bought 160 acres and before you knew there was a couple thousand cows,whambham just like that.here you d have to fight off a coupl of billionaire s to buy a bit of land ,submit a nutrients plan and deal with objectors from the other end of the country,spread the cheeks of you ass for to get finance and then work in a system progressing to put you out of .business.how long will it take before we see 1 2000 cow herd in ireland.

green daries · 24-12-2025 01:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092746#Comment_124092746

They will do there level best to never ever let that happen

ginger22 · 24-12-2025 08:17AM

The lads waiting for US dairy men to go broke could be waiting a while

Didn't Trump give 12 billion to the grain growers to bail them out. He won't let the dairy men go under either. EU farmers much more likely to go first

The EU don't give a fiddlers about farmers. We are a pain in the a,,.

ftm2023 · 24-12-2025 09:24AM

A lot of extremely interesting takes on US/Fermanagh dairy farmer Rodney Elliot

I haven’t listened to the podcast yet but definitely will today. I used see them on social media a lot but hadn’t come across them in a long time.

Last I had heard Rodney said he was milking 5,000 cows and owed $15 million dollars (if I’m remembering correctly)…… personally anyway — the whole thing wouldn’t be for me. Hope he becomes a billionaire at it, definitely don’t “begrudge” him 😂😂

It often crosses my mind as to how he’s getting on over there. If I remember correctly I think it was only 1 son that he still had in the business with him. You’d wonder would that son eventually sell up and move back to Ireland. Dakota is a fairly godforsaken spot versus just about anywhere in Ireland.

Bass Reeves · 24-12-2025 10:16AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092888#Comment_124092888

HHe Gave it to the grain growers, but the US left the cattle ranchers (sucklers farmer's) go to the wall, it will.let feedlot and dairying do the same. They are seen as businesses and will be replaced by other operators. Most are incorporated and you often have share investors in feedlots similar to horse racing here.....except al the investors expect to see a profit.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092934#Comment_124092934

IIt's being a juggler and keeping all the balls in the air. Was surprised he got caught with rotary parlours. I just cannot understand tge fascination with rotary parlours where you have access to labour. Maybe in really hot countries where a milker could struggle moving in the heat bit in Ireland and especially in a country where you have extremes of heat and cold mechanisation is always a struggle.

The cost difference between a rotary and a herringbone has a 10 year plus payback on labour alone AFAICS and you have higher running cost. I would have kept employing the Mexicans.

MMinimum Wage North Dakota is 7.25/ hour even if you were paying double it I have followed McAllisters thinking to his children, Keep the big mixer turning and keep Paddy filling it..

jaymla627 · 24-12-2025 10:56AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092993#Comment_124092993

Is it ai your using to write the above s**te talk our all your own work, its robots hes taking out not a rotary parlour!

They had a big sob story recently of ice raiding their farms and losing nearly all their workers, relying on mexicans on special visas and locals but they are very sore over having to pay the 25 dollars a hour required to entice the above

https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2025/10/10/dairy-farm-drumgoon-south-dakota-kristi-noem-loses-38-employees-after-federal-immigration-audit/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

green daries · 24-12-2025 11:03AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124093054#Comment_124093054

I think a lot of it has to be ai 🤔 he couldn't be spouting that level of shite on every thread he's commenting on....... its getting wearysome at this stage

straight · 24-12-2025 11:11AM

Another high flyer here on a good podcast. This time a bit closer to home....

Sullivan's Farm on Podbean, check it out! https://www.podbean.com/ea/dir-q367b-29bc9f30

daiymann 5 · 24-12-2025 11:47AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124093054#Comment_124093054

Bass is right see all the big derogation farmers getting slave labour visas.Wont pay local irish same boys mouthing at conferences about no young people in farming 1000 visas last year all money sent out of country 1000 young potential farmers not employed forva quid more its a disgrace .

daiymann 5 · 24-12-2025 11:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124093084#Comment_124093084

Proper farmer

ftm2023 · 24-12-2025 12:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124092993#Comment_124092993

As regards the $7.25/hour, let’s presume they work a standard 40 hour week so $290 - I reckon it if I was given an actual slave, I’d struggle to give them food, clothing, shelter, just basic medicine to keep them alive for $290/week… even if it’s for doing the most basic jobs imaginable on a farm, it’s only €6.14/hour. It was insanity that they ever put in anything bar the very most basic parlours imaginable. With the cost of labour over there, there isn’t much point in being the one to milk your own cows

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124093054#Comment_124093054

I read the article in your link. It was very interesting. Paints them in a pretty poor light. If we could all round up illegal immigrants to work for us for half nothing wouldn’t we all be on the pigs back 😂 the fact the man’s wife is American provides a lot more context to their move there. Presume she gave him an ultimatum that she was going back to America. He should have told her “off with you” and stayed at the fine farm he had in Ireland

Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

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