Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

I never really pay attention to calf prices but sold some white heads this week born before christmas and got between 700-800€. Wild I thought and never seen prices like it. This year is looking up if that continues.

They didn't make me take out insurance on the loan last year. I did anyway.

Is your partner not involved also?

Some good point there straight.To be honest its not purely money we would be doing it for.

Thanks everyone for the input,some great points to take on board.We will know where we stand with the final planning say on the 1st week of March regarding the planning board and Mr Sweetman.

lads saying cows have to milked twice a day, in winter if cattle are in the shed they have to be fed twice a day. On a dry stock farm here I’m averaging an hour in the morning and an hour to an hour half on the farm on the days I’m working off farm, that’s just for wintertime. It’s more for the days I’m not working. I’m around the same age as the poster thinking of changing. I was looking into changing a few years ago but between trying to build a house and some other family commitments I felt I would be too exposed if I borrowed to convert. I didn’t have the courage basically.
but I think at the stage of life I’m at with kids in school, the flexibility of dairy farming would be a positive. I wouldn’t be lambing aswell as working off farm so I don’t think my days would be any worse off in the long run.
there is a lot of pros too it I think. As Whelan said, you can make it as hard or as easy as you want. As straight said about reinvesting money into the farm all the time, that’s happening on most dry stock farms too

Everyone knows dairy farms local to them that are working daft hours and no letup all year long and have a revolving door with staff.

But the brutal truth is that situation is entirely of the farmers own making. Too many farms spend all day working and no time at all organising and planning their work.

I was into a neighbours yard a few years ago, rears all calves. All the milk was carried from dairy to calf shed every day. A €400 sub pump would have saved some hardship

As someone who put a significant sum of money into buying land for dry stock when I was mid thirties , I would say the following ; The land will like a big elastic band - it will keep the money together and you won’t wake up some morning to hear that the value of it has fallen by 10 per cent overnight.
However , You will never , repeat never , be your own boss . I came from a farm that had no tb reactors since the first test in 1956 until 2023. I don’t farm it now but livestock numbers there have more than halved and it is still test after test after test . To the point that the entrance gate is closing a notch with every passing test .
No reason to believe that can’t happen on any farm

Be under no illusions

There was milking going on in your place none in his fair difference

obviously you have the first hand experience and I don’t so I won’t disagree with you.
I have heard opposite opinions too though. A local lad here made the conversion about 5 years ago. He was a top notch farmer, lambing a few hundred ewes and up on 50 sucklers. He had good sheds already but still built a new cubicle shed and new parlour. I asked him and his son on seperate occasions were they happy with the change and both were delighted. They liked the routine of dairying.
now that’s not a fair comparison to your scenario above where there is no help at all at all. The father here is in his mid 70’s, active And a good help, and there’s a grandson in school that’s interested.
I don’t know how you managed all the sucklers when not full time at home, some going.