Water John wrote: » Kowtow, you are right about scale. One person may manage 100 cows. But larger farms with 5/600 cows actually always have a labour unit for 100 cows, 150 if very mechanised.
Milked out wrote: » Down 38L a day now, early spring calver went down in parlour yard yday, got her out and she got up but walking poorly. This evening now she's only throwing herself from side to side in the field. Back injured. The north wind is lethal in the parlour here dries out the yard and it's like ice then when cows dung on it. They are very violent coming in for feed too which is when she got knocked, maybe more so because I'm leaving em off as they are being milked and ones behind are mad to come in and get out again. Getting 6kgs in parlour and going into 1000 covers and cleaning it out. Regrowth is slow with cold weather but ground with a bit of cover is moving a bit alright
keep going wrote: » In our area in the fifties there was over 70 suppliers supplying the creamery in our area whereas now there are only 3 and soon to be two.the thing is there is more milk coming out of the area now than there was then but the 70 suppliers were busy every day too , were they less busy than me now I doubt it.the point is every business has to evolve and enevitably you get more production than generation before.i have no doubt people will be comfortably handling 3 hunderd cow in the near future
whelan2 wrote: » Lifting a cow here for 2 weeks, she's not getting any worse but its a total pain, carrying water to her etc
Buford T. Justice V wrote: » Lost 3 cows in the last 2 weeks with meningitis. Thought it was grass tetany and treated for it for a day before i called the vet. Too late though. They died after 3-4 days down. I saved the last one though but she is still a bit wobbly but still milking.
Panch18 wrote: » Absolute utter nonsense There is no compassion between the work involved in dairy and tillage. The 7 day a week of dairy alone Tillage lads haven't a clue about work
keep going wrote: In our area in the fifties there was over 70 suppliers supplying the creamery in our area whereas now there are only 3 and soon to be two.the thing is there is more milk coming out of the area now than there was then but the 70 suppliers were busy every day too , were they less busy than me now I doubt it.the point is every business has to evolve and enevitably you get more production than generation before.i have no doubt people will be comfortably handling 3 hunderd cow in the near future
Panch18 wrote: » Expand expand expand??? Again I think you're talking rubbish here The lads who stayed milking 70 cows and rearing calves to year and a half are just as well off as the cows who doubled cow numbers, probably better this year in fact. Cattle selling strong will partially offset drop in milk, and they haven't the banks to satisfy like those who have expanded Slow and steady wins the race. Chopping and changing on a whim is a recipe for failure
mf240 wrote: » Keep an eye on the rest of them. If you see one with one ear slightly down or disorientated give her an antibiotic. The wobbly cow will respond to vitamin b1. Are you feeding silage. Any chance there was clay in it?
kevthegaff wrote: » I pay rent upfront but maybe I'm the fool!
whelan2 wrote: » would that not be listeriosis?
kowtow wrote: » No question people are handling more cows, but I wonder when you start to scale up do litres / man become more important than cows / man? After all at some point in scale the family labour or cash cost method we often hide behind becomes a sideshow... the labour has to be accounted for because it has to be paid out. And then the question is are you better of with a million litres per labour unit or 100 grass fed cows... it all depends on the price of feed relative to land. When feed is very dear it's easy to argue for grass, but grass fed cows surely don't scale as easily as indoor - if scalability is measured in sales per labour unit. As feed becomes relatively cheaper and paid labour is a bigger factor I think grass feeding becomes harder and harder to justify.
pedigree 6 wrote: » When I was 2 years old I was 2ft 10in tall. When I got to 18 years of age I grew to 5ft 11in. If we had to use your example of growing I should now be nearly 10 ft tall.:) I'd love to place a bet with you. That one man won't be able to do all the work/labour on his/her own on a 300 cow herd and take a wage without using contractors in 12 years time otherwise you are just being a supervisor/manager and if that's the case Walter Furlong's operation down here is a 1labour unit.:)
Markcheese wrote: .. I suppose breeding and education would be the extra factors that boost production
keep going wrote: » the contractorsfor machinery is a donedeal,its becoming a specalised game any way.well what are we putting on it
kowtow wrote: But the Education... hmm... the little minxes look interested and thoughtful for a bit but half way through the lesson one of the bigger ones stands up and they all f@@k off down the lane to eat grass.
pedigree 6 wrote: » Only machinery then contracted out. Rear the replacements yourself. None of this contract rearing or selling the calves and buying back 2 yr olds. You show me the one man 300 cow labour unit not management but labour and management in the one person in 12 years time and the looser eats kovu's monkey bread.
visatorro wrote: » Anyone still going with slurry on grazed paddocks or is it too late in the year. Watery ish stuff, 1500 gallons an acre plenty I'd imagine. Thinking of going dribble bar again
Markcheese wrote: No one can really call an economic cycle till after the fact.. is this a long term flat line of milk price..??. i'll tell you in 5 or 10 years... a lot depends on oil price , (saudi and russia could double the oil price in the morning)....
browned wrote: 300 xbred, 350acres all in one block, 30 units herringbone with acr's = 10 rows. all cows milked Once a day. Relief milker every 2nd weekend. Calf rearer hired in for the spring, night watchman for feb/March to supervise night calvings. Flying herd. Self fed pit silage for the winter. Probably a greenfield site for labour efficient farmyard design. All machinery work contracted out.
