Dairy Farming General

johnny122 · 10-04-2015 10:36AM

leg wax wrote: »

nice idea ,but i can see a cow getting her tail caught in it and leaving some of it behind her someday .

Would that be a bad thing? Tails are a pain in the ass!

Blackgrass · 10-04-2015 10:52AM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Have been well over the 250kg/ha nitrates limit here the last three years and all I get is letters outlining how they are going to take my sfp, still musnt of dawned on them that I don't receive one and have no intention of applying for entitlements, what can the department actually do to you if they haven't got the sfp stick to beat you with provided your farming perfectly legally and not polluting our being proven to have polluted waterways

Mind if I ask how that works in practice?
We do little things like 6m margins around waterways and 3m around a lot of field edges by drains and stuff, as an low level environmental scheme or set aside and more as higher level which needs bird seed mixes and pollen banks for insects etc...
We don't have the same nitrates rules due to type of clay soils holding nutrients very well but have phosphates and other directives may affect guys flying solo?

Dawggone · 10-04-2015 06:18PM

frazzledhome wrote: »

The thing we all forget is that the drop in the value of the euro is keeping our milk price off the floor. As you rightly said we are actually worse off as our cash has lost some buying power

Correct. Farming in Europe has been blessed with good luck with the 25% devaluation of the euro and the halving of the price of oil at the same time. Better than quotas

.
In fairness any fool (inc myself) could have made money from dairy these last few years. What if there is a prolonged period of depressed prices?

RightTurnClyde · 10-04-2015 06:46PM

Dawggone wrote: »

Correct. Farming in Europe has been blessed with good luck with the 25% devaluation of the euro and the halving of the price of oil at the same time. Better than quotas .
In fairness any fool (inc myself) could have made money from dairy these last few years. What if there is a prolonged period of depressed prices?

Dawg, I presume not much of Europe can produce milk at 30c or less, for a prolonged period. (Or maybe they can??)
All we have to do is keep ourselves fitter that the guy next door (Europe) and take advantage of whatever situation comes to pass. We're a small player. I'd be hoping that what happens will be like what has happen in the financial situation at the moment. The dead weight of Europe is slow to recover and the measures put in place (interest rates,etc) to lift Europe, means that we are recovering faster than any other country. Same with milk, once we can keep producing milk a cent or 2 cheaper than the rest of Europe, what ever rules or regs or supports or Quotas they bring in, we still have the advantage ( however small) and multiply on them.
Once we can keep ourselves fitter or cheaper (however small) than the neighbor (Europe) we should be okay

Markcheese · 10-04-2015 07:59PM

Aren't the euro devaluation and the oil price reduction kind of canceling each other out a bit - (oil is traded in dollars, we get a lot less dollar for our euro -)
Mind you the less intensive the system , the less oil per litre that's used - which should suit grazing based systems -

just do it · 10-04-2015 11:44PM

What value would you put on the likes of these calves? What are the questions I need to be asking?

http://www.donedeal.ie/view/9123646

Greengrass1 · 11-04-2015 08:20AM

just do it wrote: »

What value would you put on the likes of these calves? What are the questions I need to be asking?

http://www.donedeal.ie/view/9123646

Just have a look at his solids and fert figures for the last few yrs ie empty rate and 6 wk cakvibg rate.
should make good cows if the first cross

frazzledhome · 11-04-2015 08:21AM

just do it wrote: »

What value would you put on the likes of these calves? What are the questions I need to be asking?

http://www.donedeal.ie/view/9123646

Have a look in the calving shed and see has he many left to calve
EBI
Sire was he AI
Was mother AI bred
Look at mothers and asess whole herd. If you see a hint of a flat foot or any feet trouble with dams go home and don't even ask price. Xbreds have good feet but when they go wrong they are culls

Greengrass1 · 11-04-2015 08:22AM

26l
3.58p
4.47bf
scc 137
p was nearly at 3.3 thus day last week with silage in
pure or killer

frazzledhome · 11-04-2015 08:30AM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

26l
3.58p
4.47bf
scc 137
p was nearly at 3.3 thus day last week with silage in
pure or killer

25 l
3.52 p
4.97 f
Scc 140
Urea 29
25 cows on oad as lame or under BCS
Cows bursting, putting on condition, bulling strong almost all calved about 10 days to finish.

First calves weaned only about 20 still in shed rest out oad. Third round of fert half done will finish Mon. Whole farm has 4000 gls slurry with another 2000 to go out as grazed

Greengrass1 · 11-04-2015 08:40AM

frazzledhome wrote: »

25 l
3.52 p
4.97 f
Scc 140
Urea 29
25 cows on oad as lame or under BCS
Cows bursting, putting on condition, bulling strong almost all calved about 10 days to finish.

First calves weaned only about 20 still in shed rest out oad. Third round of fert half done will finish Mon. Whole farm has 4000 gls slurry with another 2000 to go out as grazed

On 3 kg meal here. Will drop back to 2 soon cows milking best they have ever here this spring

jaymla627 · 11-04-2015 08:52AM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

On 3 kg meal here. Will drop back to 2 soon cows milking best they have ever here this spring

Why would you go pulling meal, will be feeding 4-8kg kilos depending on cow yield for the next couple of months would reckon I'm getting at least 1.5 litres of milk for every kilo of meal going in at the minute....
Yield here is currently 29 litres at 3.7bf and 3.5p with 50% of the herd heifers, another thing is the higher a herd peaks the better your setting yourself up for the rest of the year..

Greengrass1 · 11-04-2015 09:02AM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Why would you go pulling meal, will be feeding 4-8kg kilos depending on cow yield for the next couple of months would reckon I'm getting at least 1.5 litres of milk for every kilo of meal going in at the minute....
Yield here is currently 29 litres at 3.7bf and 3.5p with 50% of the herd heifers, another thing is the higher a herd peaks the better your setting yourself up for the rest of the year..

Your herd is built to yeild milk mine isn't. If Stan says grass is enough to get 25 l then I should be getting more with the meal by your figure there.
But I'm not
great quality grass in front of them well able to keep up what there at off 2kgs
aswell as that I pulled them back to 3 on Monday and they have gone from 25 to 26 l since.

jaymla627 · 11-04-2015 09:18AM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Your herd is built to yeild milk mine isn't. If Stan says grass is enough to get 25 l then I should be getting more with the meal by your figure there.
But I'm not
great quality grass in front of them well able to keep up what there at off 2kgs
aswell as that I pulled them back to 3 on Monday and they have gone from 25 to 26 l since.

Would have a mix of everything here theirs 20 x-bred jerseys in the herd aswell, that fact they went up would be more down to the weather if anything, if you where to get a wet week your yield is going to drop back from 26l fairly quickly if cows are nearly solely relying on grass...

mahoney_j · 11-04-2015 09:28AM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Would have a mix of everything here theirs 20 x-bred jerseys in the herd aswell, that fact they went up would be more down to the weather if anything, if you where to get a wet week your yield is going to drop back from 26l fairly quickly if cows are nearly solely relying on grass...

Great figures jay considering 50% heifers and x Breds.serious milk potential there with excellent solids .agree re weather on gg figures.like u feeding between 4 and 8 kg here fty on all grass .herd has 32% heifers this year and currently doing 31.2 Ltrs 3.98 fat 3.47 p 32 urea 65 scc.

mahoney_j · 11-04-2015 09:28AM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Would have a mix of everything here theirs 20 x-bred jerseys in the herd aswell, that fact they went up would be more down to the weather if anything, if you where to get a wet week your yield is going to drop back from 26l fairly quickly if cows are nearly solely relying on grass...

Great figures jay considering 50% heifers and x Breds.serious milk potential there with excellent solids .agree re weather on gg figures.like u feeding between 4 and 8 kg here fty on all grass .herd has 32% heifers this year and currently doing 31.2 Ltrs 3.98 fat 3.47 p 32 urea 65 scc.

Greengrass1 · 11-04-2015 09:29AM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Would have a mix of everything here theirs 20 x-bred jerseys in the herd aswell, that fact they went up would be more down to the weather if anything, if you where to get a wet week your yield is going to drop back from 26l fairly quickly if cows are nearly solely relying on grass...

They won't be solely on grass they'll be on 2kg for all of breeding.
I'm stocked low and may aswell be using the grass instead if baling it all.
I'll be baling lots as is

jaymla627 · 11-04-2015 09:37AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Great figures jay considering 50% heifers and x Breds.serious milk potential there with excellent solids .agree re weather on gg figures.like u feeding between 4 and 8 kg here fty on all grass .herd has 32% heifers this year and currently doing 31.2 Ltrs 3.98 fat 3.47 p 32 urea 65 scc.

The group of heifers was bought as 10 day old calves of a really good operator down in cork who had excellent solids/yield but was getting out of milk due to bad health, the real bonus this year is have 30 heifer calves of this group all of nice milky plus 300 kg holstein bulls really looking forward to seeing these ladies hit the parlour in two years time

Greengrass1 · 11-04-2015 09:41AM

Well sure say weather was the factor then.
It's pointless for me to feed 4kg meal for 25l when I can easily get it off grass

mahoney_j · 11-04-2015 09:47AM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Well sure say weather was the factor then.
It's pointless for me to feed 4kg meal for 25l when I can easily get it off grass

Yeah ur right gg but in your herd you'd have a big variation in yields and cow type from the hol to the je to the jex.i bet you have a fair few doing 30 plus Ltrs these need more than grass to hit peak,maintain condition and go back in calf.you can't treat a cow doing 30/40!ltrs same as one doing 20/25 if u do she won't last.grass is king but it is a very variable feed from day to day and field to field and needs adequate supplementation

Greengrass1 · 11-04-2015 09:54AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Yeah ur right gg but in your herd you'd have a big variation in yields and cow type from the hol to the je to the jex.i bet you have a fair few doing 30 plus Ltrs these need more than grass to hit peak,maintain condition and go back in calf.you can't treat a cow doing 30/40!ltrs same as one doing 20/25 if u do she won't last.grass is king but it is a very variable feed from day to day and field to field and needs adequate supplementation

Yes but I haven't the gear yet to feed those 30l girls different from the 25 l ones.
They have always gone incalf though.
They wouldn't be here if they didn't and this spring has been alot kinder to them than previous springs

Dawggone · 11-04-2015 12:09PM

Markcheese wrote: »

Aren't the euro devaluation and the oil price reduction kind of canceling each other out a bit - (oil is traded in dollars, we get a lot less dollar for our euro -)
Mind you the less intensive the system , the less oil per litre that's used - which should suit grazing based systems -

No Mark. The devaluation of the Euro should have driven the price of oil up by a minimum of 25%, but we are poxed lucky that the price of oil has halved at the same time.
It's a good example of how economics and geopolitics affect our businesses.
This time it's a saviour but the next...?

Dawggone · 11-04-2015 12:37PM

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

Dawg, I presume not much of Europe can produce milk at 30c or less, for a prolonged period. (Or maybe they can??)
All we have to do is keep ourselves fitter that the guy next door (Europe) and take advantage of whatever situation comes to pass. We're a small player. I'd be hoping that what happens will be like what has happen in the financial situation at the moment. The dead weight of Europe is slow to recover and the measures put in place (interest rates,etc) to lift Europe, means that we are recovering faster than any other country. Same with milk, once we can keep producing milk a cent or 2 cheaper than the rest of Europe, what ever rules or regs or supports or Quotas they bring in, we still have the advantage ( however small) and multiply on them.
Once we can keep ourselves fitter or cheaper (however small) than the neighbor (Europe) we should be okay

Without wages my CoP is 28cpl.
I've a neighbour (that is constantly borrowing kit!) that started up north with 21ha and is now farming 84ha with big borrowings attached. His CoP is 30.4cpl

I find the business thinking of being able to produce for less than your neighbour a bit strange...if price goes tits up it means you're not losing as much as your neighbour, but you are still losing!

It was an insane move for Ireland to join the euro when most is the foreign trade is in Stirling and Dollar. Therefore Ireland is always out of sync with Europe's economy.
I bet there are many businesses in Ireland that are suffering hard if they are buying product in Stirling/Dollar.

Overall I agree with what you say though I would say it differently:). Just because you can produce a product for the world market cheaper than your neighbour isn't a guarantee of success. It means that you have a better margin that's all.

RightTurnClyde · 11-04-2015 01:17PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Great figures jay considering 50% heifers and x Breds.serious milk potential there with excellent solids .agree re weather on gg figures.like u feeding between 4 and 8 kg here fty on all grass .herd has 32% heifers this year and currently doing 31.2 Ltrs 3.98 fat 3.47 p 32 urea 65 scc.

jaymla627 wrote: »

Why would you go pulling meal, will be feeding 4-8kg kilos depending on cow yield for the next couple of months would reckon I'm getting at least 1.5 litres of milk for every kilo of meal going in at the minute....
Yield here is currently 29 litres at 3.7bf and 3.5p with 50% of the herd heifers, another thing is the higher a herd peaks the better your setting yourself up for the rest of the year..

Lads ye're going well with the FTY. Turned it onhere for the 1st year.
Cows doing 32 @ 3.74f & 3.28p

Protein low because there was a week of heavy cover to get through, the last of the 1st round. But is sorted now, waiting for next test.
Question for ye, what are ye set at at the moment. I was at base 4kg to 25 litres, and +0.450 after that. average feed was ~6kgs
Me being a miserable boll1x, started toying with the rates, over 12 days I've briught the base back to 2.5kgs to 25. No change in yield so far, but average rate is gone back to 4.5kgs. Cows are content,condition holding, just more grass.
Are ye toying with the rates in any way, or have ye plans to to change the rates, depending on grass situation?

mahoney_j · 11-04-2015 01:28PM

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

Lads ye're going well with the FTY. Turned it onhere for the 1st year.
Cows doing 32 @ 3.74f & 3.28p

Protein low because there was a week of heavy cover to get through, the last of the 1st round. But is sorted now, waiting for next test.
Question for ye, what are ye set at at the moment. I was at base 4kg to 25 litres, and +0.450 after that. average feed was ~6kgs
Me being a miserable boll1x, started toying with the rates, over 12 days I've briught the base back to 2.5kgs to 25. No change in yield so far, but average rate is gone back to 4.5kgs. Cows are content,condition holding, just more grass.
Are ye toying with the rates in any way, or have ye plans to to change the rates, depending on grass situation?

I'm a miserable tight boll1x as well I had my fty set as u above but now 3 kg to give 26 kg and 0.35kg for every kg over that base .on it a week and production going one way...up..

freedominacup · 11-04-2015 01:32PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

I'm a miserable tight boll1x as well I had my fty set as u above but now 3 kg to give 26 kg and 0.35kg for every kg over that base .on it a week and production going one way...up..

So a cow on 30l is on just over 5kg?
Pr 3.45
Bf 4.05
30l
Scc 250

30% autumn calvers
40% heifers.

Cell count up from 140 due to a regulator fault. Which we have gotten sorted last two collections 165/170. Just over 31l today. Bf back to 3.7 pr up to 3.6.

Feeding 4kg of 18% plus 3kg dm of wholecrop. We were fairly sure the girls we bought had good potential but they've been running with the handbrake on for the past few years. We have a target of 7k litres sold/cow for this year are we on course?

mahoney_j · 11-04-2015 01:34PM

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

Lads ye're going well with the FTY. Turned it onhere for the 1st year.
Cows doing 32 @ 3.74f & 3.28p

Protein low because there was a week of heavy cover to get through, the last of the 1st round. But is sorted now, waiting for next test.
Question for ye, what are ye set at at the moment. I was at base 4kg to 25 litres, and +0.450 after that. average feed was ~6kgs
Me being a miserable boll1x, started toying with the rates, over 12 days I've briught the base back to 2.5kgs to 25. No change in yield so far, but average rate is gone back to 4.5kgs. Cows are content,condition holding, just more grass.
Are ye toying with the rates in any way, or have ye plans to to change the rates, depending on grass situation?

I'm a miserable tight boll1x as well I had my fty set as u above but now 3 kg to give 26 kg and 0.35kg for every kg over that base .on it a week and production going one way...up..

RightTurnClyde · 11-04-2015 01:35PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

I'm a miserable tight boll1x as well I had my fty set as u above but now 3 kg to give 26 kg and 0.35kg for every kg over that base .on it a week and production going one way...up..

Will you pull anymore as grass becomes more available. I'm nervous that the lower yielders, say 1st calvers, get squeezed at the bottom. And I don't want to change the Kgs/litre, in case the high yielded start producing off their back.

mahoney_j · 11-04-2015 01:36PM

freedominacup wrote: »

So a cow on 30l is on just over 5kg?

4.75 kg to be exact

mahoney_j · 11-04-2015 01:38PM

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

Will you pull anymore as grass becomes more available. I'm nervous that the lower yielders, say 1st calvers, get squeezed at the bottom. And I don't want to change the Kgs/litre, in case the high yielded start producing off their back.

No don't think I'll change ,I have all first calves set as one group with a base of 3.5 kg and 0.35 over.even if there doing 22 Ltrs there still getting 3.5.my max feed set at 8 kg so nothing gets more than that

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