Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

ftm2023 · 03-02-2026 05:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124202807#Comment_124202807

😂😂 I had a teacher in school, he used be on about how such and such a fella would end up sweeping the streets.

My very first day of Ag College the teacher told us “if any of ye are here to become millionaires then ye better leave now” — the same fella had a bit of a farm himself and he was a useless little man who used give his time telling us that we’d be better off getting jobs in Tesco or Dunnes. He couldn’t run his own farm as you could probably guess 😂 I like dairy farming but it’s not a brilliant way to make money and I imagine for anyone that wasn’t reared to it all their life that they’d find it very hard to adjust. It’s a vocation more than a job

Siamsa Sessions · 03-02-2026 09:45PM

“Hell is other people”

The council lad sweeping the road probably has 1 direct boss but that boss could have 3-4 bosses above him he has to answer to. Any brain fart they come up with from behind their desks ends up being pushed onto the lad with the brush.

His fellow road workers mightn’t be great craic either.

No matter what you’re at, the people you work with (or don’t work with!) can make all the difference.

Grueller · 03-02-2026 10:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124202567#Comment_124202567

So now the 39 hr week we were told about includes overtime,shift allowances and maybe even being a supervisor. Try paye work for someone else sometime. Very difficult to get over €50k without significant qualifications or very long hours.

lmk123 · 03-02-2026 10:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203770#Comment_124203770

don’t forget the senior drivers

White Clover · 03-02-2026 10:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203637#Comment_124203637

True post. Lots of brain parts in organisation's all over the country. Some of them have to be read back slowly to the proposers to get them to see sense.

yewdairy · 03-02-2026 10:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203770#Comment_124203770

Spot on

Average gross full time wage in Ireland is 44k. So half all full time workers are below 44k. Any handy job 9-5 without much responsibility will be be paying 30-35k. There might be exceptions but that's the reality. Well run dairy farm when you have a bit of cop about tax allowances can stand up against any profession

mahoney_j · 03-02-2026 11:17PM

reading this thread last while you’d nearly have to check is it the dairy thread ….or a thread about council workers ..street cleaners etc 😁😁

whelan2 · 03-02-2026 11:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203944#Comment_124203944

Too Depressing to talk about grass and the weather atm

mahoney_j · 03-02-2026 11:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203958#Comment_124203958

gone past half way now ….first time since I started farming in 2010 that I havnt been able to turn cows out by day in janurary …still tho heap of good grub in yard ,cows coming into milk nicely ,calves onto auto feeder last week

awaywithyou · 03-02-2026 11:40PM

Mike fitzmaurice and John gibbons having a right go at each other on tonight show on tv3

mf240 · 03-02-2026 11:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203987#Comment_124203987

I haven't the last of the cattle in yet, was waiting to move on a shed of finished cattle .

At this stage I won't have the last of them in before the good farmers are letting them out.

older by the day · 04-02-2026 12:10AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203958#Comment_124203958

In fairness it's the third of February.

The past couple of years have people spoiled. If it was fairly dry in march I'd take it. If it could dry up around the 20th of March and let everything out full time, with a bit of buffering at milking, that is considered a good spring here.

mf240 · 04-02-2026 12:12AM

Supposedly a dry February is a bad omen for rest of the year

Bass Reeves · 04-02-2026 12:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124203865#Comment_124203865

No that is the median wage. Average full time earnings are 1026/week or a bit over 53k. That is skewed by wages in Dublin and larger Urban area. AFAIK the rubbish collector wages is the old Binman rate. Councils no collect bins however they still have that on there payscales as when they exited bin collections the employees that were redeployed probably held onto there pay rates.

There is a significant difference between a self employed wage of 50k and a PAYE wage of 50k. in the last 1-2 years private sector wages have taken a significant hike especially in setors that employ building type workers. However it varies as to where in the country you work. I know a lad that got a 15-20% pay rise last year, however his employer had little option as otherwise he was off to work on the Adare Bypass. he was a very skilled machinery driver but could also manage sites work for his employer. I think he jumped from a over 800 to about 1K. General operatives in construction type work are on 800ish, trades are 1000-1200 if directy employed. You will get a bit more in the city and Dublin rates are higher again.

If as a sole trader you are showing 50k in earning, you are also writing off a good percentage of car, phone, electricity and heating costs. You have access to tools and equipment that you can use for personel use as well as buying tools for personel use that are never used in the business. if as a dairy farmer you cannot put 10-20k out through the side door you are doing something wrong.

Castlekeeper · 04-02-2026 08:34AM

Why would any business manager with access to very large capital be talking about manual labour jobs?

If youre looking at building sites, it's looking at putting plant into them etc.

Castlekeeper · 04-02-2026 08:35AM

On a more cheerful note...

(And bonus content… there's Bill and George discussing their ideas for Derry girls...)

whelan2 · 04-02-2026 10:09AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124204036#Comment_124204036

I'd never have cows out in January or February here. Lucky to be out at night in April. Let it rain away now and bring on the drought in the summer

straight · 04-02-2026 10:13AM

I really feel for the lads that can't get grazing in Jan or indeed Feb. 🤣

There are some really useful tips in aidan brennans new podcast. I didn't listen but I could tell you exactly what it says.

Some More useful advice in the latest Grass10 newsletter. Really worth a read....

Be brave lads. Fortune favours the brave.

Opening cover here of who gives a sh1t.

whelan2 · 04-02-2026 10:15AM

Spring grazing walk on here locally today. Even the driest farms around here wont be out for a while

ginger22 · 04-02-2026 10:20AM

Why are ye comparing a lad in a job to a self employer dairyman like apples to oranges. The lad in the job arrives 5 mornings a week to work with his hands in his pockets and forgets about it in the evening, weekends, bank holidays and annual holidays. The lad dairying is on call 24/7, has millions tied up in capital, has ongoing investment to make every year. Has rules and regulation doing his head in every day.

whelan2 · 04-02-2026 10:30AM

Doing the feeding is all new to me. Started a new pit this week and where I was giving out 4200kg a day last week to milkers they are only getting 2500 now and finding it hard to finish it. Very dry silage, it'd nearly blow away when filling feeder.

straight · 04-02-2026 10:33AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124204473#Comment_124204473

There is no comparison. One couldn't get paid enough to be a dairy farmer. It really is like a vocation and not something you do for the money.

Siamsa Sessions · 04-02-2026 10:44AM

I’d have €150k to spend alongside the €80k already spent to get set up right here (60 cows). That €150k includes €50k ish on a calf house but I’ll manage away with this for now. A few hours to set up and take down. I’ve calf hutches too (from a very decent man) to make up a lean-to against an existing shed. I’d prefer the 5-star accommodation for them but I’ll get on with it for now.

mahoney_j · 04-02-2026 10:50AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124204442#Comment_124204442

thanks for the sympathy ….in my case here and lot farms locally land is dry and it’s common for lads to do some grazing in janurary and good bit more in February ….it’s next to impossible to graze atm and pretty pointless imo ….most have sheds and lots would have no shortage of quality forage ….slurry and the extra workload of having cows in is more the issue ……saying that I’ was talking to a lad not far from me with a dry farm that would never let his cows out till paddy’s day at least as he thinks his cows will get pneumonia and mastitis etc etc …..just a mental block if u ask me