So what are your plans for 2018

Reggie. · 16-12-2017 2:02pm #1

So folks with 2018 around the corner,
what have you planned for it or what's on your checklist?

Atm I'm happy with the farm size and amount of cattle for the minute.

Planning to increase the contracting side of things either this year or early 2019.

whelan2 · 16-12-2017 8:24pm

2018 Will be a big year here, new milking parlour and cubicle shed going up , plans are in the process of being drawn up at the moment. Will be a big change.

kk.man · 16-12-2017 9:37pm

Going to get all the sheds painted in the place. I will get more of the yard concreted. Increase the cattle numbers if I can.

Grueller · 16-12-2017 10:27pm

Same as 2017 plans. Batten down the hatches and spend nothing that is not going to improve livestock or land. I was getting accounts done over the last two evenings and this strategy worked well last year so I am going to keep it up.

Dunedin · 16-12-2017 10:33pm

Putting up a 3 bay slatted shed with creep for calves. Starting it ASAP once weather takes up in spring.

5 acres ploughed since August but weather broke and didn’t get it sown so that’s priority in spring.

May do another 8 acres in August but will play it by ear.

Mooooo · 16-12-2017 10:36pm

Road going in, finance sorted for it. Hope to plan out facilities for where they'll be in a few years and apply for planning. Depends on going clear in test but may but in cows in spring of I can and ditch the winter milk

X6.430macman · 16-12-2017 11:21pm

Simple, Spend more hours driving gear than ever before..

ganmo · 16-12-2017 11:30pm

Get power to the shed. It's wired already

mahoney_j · 16-12-2017 11:31pm

Small increase in cow no’s,Sr on milk platform 3.6 and that’s as far as I’m going ,workload ,lack of Labour limiting
Sell 600 plus kgms per cow
Cover my outside cubicles ,no fault with them bar ,slurry storage .i either dig another tank or roof it ,decision made to roof .plans drawn up and ready to submit next week
Get a bull calf into ai

Timmaay · 17-12-2017 12:38am

Labour main limit here also, with the extra land I've got this year I could easily lump an extra 50 cows on in the morning, but would only be more unneeded work and stress for me. Litres and solids per cow took a drop here this year, which was disappointing, calving spread still too wide, still too many passager cows, who aren't pulling their weight enough (very average milk yields, or dry themselves off early etc), plenty room for improvement there instead of heading off and chasing cow numbers for no reason other than bragging rights ha. Having said that if the right opportunity labour/partnership wise did show up I'd look at expanding away in the future, the opportunity is here in terms of land etc.

feartuath · 17-12-2017 12:45am

Boss man passed away in January.
No one to consult ask an opinion with or tell me I am doing it wrong.

Suckler cows now to 15 from 36 a few years ago.
Working in a stressful off farm job 50 ish hours a week.
Undecided about the future, beef.calf to beef or dairy heifers rearing or trees.

kollegeknight · 17-12-2017 2:20am

feartuath wrote: »

Boss man passed away in January.
No one to consult ask an opinion with or tell me I am doing it wrong.

Suckler cows now to 15 from 36 a few years ago.
Working in a stressful off farm job 50 ish hours a week.
Undecided about the future, beef.calf to beef or dairy heifers rearing or trees.

I am sorry you are dealing with this.

Avoid trees for a few years until dust settles.

I am in your position. Dad died 3 years ago, we cut everything back to pay for treatment that didn’t work. And sold cattle to pay for his funeral.

Talk to someone who knows- either a person in your position or an ag advisor who has seen this before.

Westernrock · 17-12-2017 3:22am

kollegeknight wrote: »

I am sorry you are dealing with this.

Avoid trees for a few years until dust settles.

I am in your position. Dad died 3 years ago, we cut everything back to pay for treatment that didn’t work. And sold cattle to pay for his funeral.

Talk to someone who knows- either a person in your position or an ag advisor who has sffinstey seen this before.

+1 talk to anyone you can who has any experience in your situation, take things easy and only make changes you have to until you are decided about the future

carrollsno1 · 17-12-2017 6:40am

Keep travelling try and stick a few more pound in the dairy dream fund.

darragh_haven · 17-12-2017 9:29am

Continue to milk the system, and not dairy cows. Seriously considering renting out 50% to 60% of the farm.
Hopefully change the day job to something a bit more local

anthony500_1 · 17-12-2017 10:04am

feartuath wrote:

Boss man passed away in January. No one to consult ask an opinion with or tell me I am doing it wrong.

feartuath wrote:

Suckler cows now to 15 from 36 a few years ago. Working in a stressful off farm job 50 ish hours a week. Undecided about the future, beef.calf to beef or dairy heifers rearing or trees.

Simmillar situation here, uncle passed away in 2015 he had destocked to 14 beef heifers as his wife was long term ill and he cared for her before he got sick himself, 4 months later he passed away

Started off with zero funds in the pot, 18ha and 14 5yr old heifers so was limited as to my options. Anyways 2015 I ai'd 6 of his suitable heifers, had 3 calf's, in 2016 ai'd 6 again 1 calf in 2017...... Disaster,
bought a bull in 17, I've 8 to calf from Feb 18, and another 2 heifers coming on stream for bulling,

so in 2018 my plan is bull 10 in total, keep all off spring to either 18 or 30 months depending on how things go and get a rolling system of selling 10 each year.
Then try gather a few pound to invest in a decent tractor with loader and retrofit a shed for suitable winter housing.

Feartuath don't do anything to rash as another poster said def don't plant with out serious consideration and time giving to the subject. 1 hasty decision could ruin your farm for not just your life but generations to come.

emaherx · 17-12-2017 10:13am

My main aim this year is to tidy up the yard and cattle handling facilities (on the smallest budget possible, so some guntering on the way). Need to make the place as time efficient as possible.

Think a few extra cameras will be needed as my house is a bit away from the yard. Might install some smart switches to turn on and off the lights remotely so I won't have to buy the most expensive night vision cameras. Would also be handy to add the electric fence to this also.

mahoney_j · 17-12-2017 10:31am

darragh_haven wrote: »

Continue to milk the system, and not dairy cows. Seriously considering renting out 50% to 60% of the farm.
Hopefully change the day job to something a bit more local

A wise man !!!!!

GrasstoMilk · 17-12-2017 1:13pm

More cows and more young stock and get a better work routine in place.
300 ft of feed passage for go in.
More reseeding and finally finish the house we've been at all year
Sticking with straw bedding for the foreseeable. Have gotten a straw blower and it has made winter a lot easier. The new feed passage will mean all the cows will be in 2 sheds beside each other instead of being split between 4. And the feed passage will make it much easier to buffer feed cows aswell as feeding during the winter

stanflt · 17-12-2017 1:14pm

Up cow numbers to 200 by the end of 2018- increase beef numbers to 200 by the end of 18

Maintain output from the cows 675kg ms on co op report

Add another few units to the parlour

And continue with zero borrowings on the farm

charolais0153 · 17-12-2017 2:44pm

If milk price collapses and there is no intervention to fall back on. Are ye still going to expand?

stanflt · 17-12-2017 2:47pm

charolais0153 wrote: »

If milk price collapses and there is no intervention to fall back on. Are ye still going to expand?

Well I've 180 to calve and I've 40 already calved this autumn so I can't really stop expansion-

All expansion is done from within so the money is already spent rearing the young stock so milk price is irrelevant tbh

mahoney_j · 17-12-2017 2:50pm

charolais0153 wrote: »

If milk price collapses and there is no intervention to fall back on. Are ye still going to expand?

Nope consolidate ,milk price will collapse and will go back up again ,more cows means more work ,only so much 1 person can do and Labour is hard got on part time basis .

Bullocks · 17-12-2017 3:05pm

stanflt wrote: »

Up cow numbers to 200 by the end of 2018- increase beef numbers to 200 by the end of 18

Maintain output from the cows 675kg ms on co op report

Add another few units to the parlour

And continue with zero borrowings on the farm

Did you always do beef with the dairy or is this a newish venture ?

GrasstoMilk · 17-12-2017 3:12pm

charolais0153 wrote: »

If milk price collapses and there is no intervention to fall back on. Are ye still going to expand?

Not really. You have to look at the long term. Can't be making decisions based on one year. Great example is this year and last year. 2 completely different years. Have seen a lot of different milk prices since I started farming at home in 2013 and have expanded in each one of those years

Kevhog1988 · 17-12-2017 10:03pm

Double the amount of ewes for me and put up a shed.

Cattlepen · 17-12-2017 10:20pm

Am going to try the ai route with my sucklers. Had bad luck with expensive bulls the last few years. I am also hoping treat it will improve my pedigree Angus breeding. Open to opinions on this choice good or bad

charolais0153 · 17-12-2017 10:33pm

Cattlepen wrote: »

Am going to try the ai route with my sucklers. Had bad luck with expensive bulls the last few years. I am also hoping treat it will improve my pedigree Angus breeding. Open to opinions on this choice good or bad

Good

anthony500_1 · 17-12-2017 11:32pm

Cattlepen wrote:

Am going to try the ai route with my sucklers. Had bad luck with expensive bulls the last few years. I am also hoping treat it will improve my pedigree Angus breeding. Open to opinions on this choice good or bad

Def if your around the farm to watch for ai it's a super way of improving breading within your herd, biggest issue I had was spotting heifers in heat and if they repeated or not as I was not living on farm and no one around during the day to keep an eye on them.

darragh_haven · 18-12-2017 12:21am

mahoney_j wrote: »

A wise man !!!!!

At times, I really question what the hell I'm at. Everyone of my farming friends are telling me to go dairy farming, and Jack in the day job. And that my place would be well set up for 100 to 120 cows. I don't know is it fear or stupidity that is stopping me doing it.

Mac Taylor · 18-12-2017 1:02am

Going for quality not quantity. Try to improve the purebreed side of the business. Tidy up the out farm and the yard. Like others have said try to maximize reward for minimum effort.

davidk1394 · 19-12-2017 11:26pm

Travel to Australia. Experience a bit of the world. Set up a farm partnership with my parents.

enricoh · 19-12-2017 11:29pm

darragh_haven wrote: »

At times, I really question what the hell I'm at. Everyone of my farming friends are telling me to go dairy farming, and Jack in the day job. And that my place would be well set up for 100 to 120 cows. I don't know is it fear or stupidity that is stopping me doing it.

Oul lad was talking to a lad that installs milking machines, they are booked solid for the next 18 months. Loads of lads all there lives at tillage sticking up to a million n more into going milking. Fair balls to them, but it struck me like it was 10 years ago n everyone buying the second n third investment property. If everyone's runningin one direction, I'd go the other.

Muckit · 20-12-2017 8:28am

darragh_haven wrote: »

Everyone of my farming friends are telling me to go dairy farming. I don't know is it fear or stupidity that is stopping me doing it.

Or the reality of the commitment. And no more than rearing children you never know that til you're stuck in the middle of it!

patsy_mccabe · 20-12-2017 10:58am

enricoh wrote: »

..... Loads of lads all there lives at tillage sticking up to a million n more into going milking. .......

I think we need to plan for having no straw in the future.

TITANIUM. · 20-12-2017 11:06am

Another year of heavy consolidation beckons for me. Took on a sizeable enough(for me anyway) farm loan a few years back when I took things over after the auld lad passed away,in 2018 it'll be done n dusted thank God.
Any improvements will have to be done by myself.
I will have some nice heifers coming on stream and I kept all the ewe lambs this year so they'll be going to the Ram in October.
Steady as she goes I suppose.

squinn2912 · 20-12-2017 11:18am

Get reseeding done that we missed last year.
Do AI course and get some experience at that with the replacement heifers. Consider turning the bull into sweeper.
Try out some first cross dairy stock.
Improve book keeping and work on benchmarking.
2 non farming ones;
Run a 2:55 marathon.
Maintain 100% pass rate in school.

carrollsno1 · 20-12-2017 12:14pm

squinn2912 wrote: »

Get reseeding done that we missed last year.
Do AI course and get some experience at that with the replacement heifers. Consider turning the bull into sweeper.
Try out some first cross dairy stock.
Improve book keeping and work on benchmarking.
2 non farming ones;
Run a 2:55 marathon.
Maintain 100% pass rate in school.

Heifers would generally be harder to get than cows as a beginner. Would it be possible to use a bull with the cows and AI aswell, calves could be genomic tested to see whos the daddy. Would be pricey but cheaper than a low conception rate.

Timmaay · 20-12-2017 12:32pm

squinn2912 wrote: »

Get reseeding done that we missed last year.
Do AI course and get some experience at that with the replacement heifers. Consider turning the bull into sweeper.
Try out some first cross dairy stock.
Improve book keeping and work on benchmarking.
2 non farming ones;
Run a 2:55 marathon.
Maintain 100% pass rate in school.

Would be a very tidy marathon, I take it it's not your 1st?

squinn2912 · 20-12-2017 12:36pm

carrollsno1 wrote: »

squinn2912 wrote: »

Get reseeding done that we missed last year.
Do AI course and get some experience at that with the replacement heifers. Consider turning the bull into sweeper.
Try out some first cross dairy stock.
Improve book keeping and work on benchmarking.
2 non farming ones;
Run a 2:55 marathon.
Maintain 100% pass rate in school.

Heifers would generally be harder to get than cows as a beginner. Would it be possible to use a bull with the cows and AI aswell, calves could be genomic tested to see whos the daddy. Would be pricey but cheaper than a low conception rate.

Is that due to the cow being that bit more opened up? My plan is to do the training - I've been on a waiting list since the summer… and then take it from there. At the moment I'm just interested in it if I don't take to it so be it but it'd be a light load to carry. I don't think I'd go into testing the calves just yet but the bull is Lim so wouldn't be hard to see how successful I'd been - might not put the results up here!!!

squinn2912 · 20-12-2017 12:38pm

Would be a very tidy marathon, I take it it's not your 1st?

Thanks. You're right the next one will be number 12. I've done 5 below 3 hrs so next one I hope to take on a different target. Love it as a release from school work and farming but it does cut into Saturdays a lot. Still, everyone has some sort of hobbie

tanko · 20-12-2017 1:56pm

squinn2912 wrote: »

Is that due to the cow being that bit more opened up? My plan is to do the training - I've been on a waiting list since the summer… and then take it from there. At the moment I'm just interested in it if I don't take to it so be it but it'd be a light load to carry. I don't think I'd go into testing the calves just yet but the bull is Lim so wouldn't be hard to see how successful I'd been - might not put the results up here!!!

The cervix of a heifer is very small compared to a cow. Im doing my own Ai for 16 years and still find some heifers tricky enough. I'd only have 6 or 7 every year and would get the local Ai man to do 2 or 3. Cows are easy enough done once you get the hang of it. Its handy to be able to do them when it suits yourself.

squinn2912 · 20-12-2017 2:19pm

THats what I'm thinking it would be great to have control over it to serve at the optimum time etc
I'll keep the ai mans number though!

tractorporn · 20-12-2017 5:02pm

Formally register the farm partnership with DAFM

Apply for TAMS on a few safety bits and pieces around the place.

Finish off the transfer of the land into my own name.

Downsize the sucker cows to the BDGP reference or maybe just above it to be on the safe side.

Resurface the silage slab. Might try and widen it as there no wall on one side.

After that plod along for another while and apply for every scheme going. Have plans for another shed but that's for 2019

Limestone Cowboy · 20-12-2017 9:52pm

In the process of drawing up plans for a shed at the moment. Hopefully I'll get planning and approved for Tams and get to make a start at it later in the year. Need to put up a crush in a holding pen on an outfarm, have all the bits got and just need to put it up. Nothing else out of the ordinary planned really. Other than that it's just trying to save a few euro to renovate the old farmhouse in 2019.

Dakota Dan · 20-12-2017 10:04pm

enricoh wrote: »

Oul lad was talking to a lad that installs milking machines, they are booked solid for the next 18 months. Loads of lads all there lives at tillage sticking up to a million n more into going milking. Fair balls to them, but it struck me like it was 10 years ago n everyone buying the second n third investment property. If everyone's runningin one direction, I'd go the other.

There was a tillage farmer in cork bought a dairy farm during the last dairy bubble and he got a few ould fellas that were milking all their lives to run it. The ould fellas didn't have the interest and it went belly up and he stuck with the tillage.

Dakota Dan · 20-12-2017 11:25pm

Just listening to farm talk program on the radio about new nitrates rules. They are saying 2 cows/hectare and almost going back to organic levels eventually also a limit of dairy cows on a herd number. We'll be back to the stone age shortly.

Muckit · 21-12-2017 8:58am

Dakota Dan wrote: »

There was a tillage farmer in cork bought a dairy farm during the last dairy bubble and he got a few ould fellas that were milking all their lives to run it. The ould fellas didn't have the interest and it went belly up and he stuck with the tillage.

It's a bit of a strange move alright when you think about it. A tillage farmer is used to being stuck in the cab if a ttactor ploughing tilling spraying, harvesting. How does that translate to dairtying? Animal husbandry needs to be A1 but a tillage man would have no prerequisite knowledge in that area.

As regards getting help in, hard to manage staff when you dont know yourself what is required.

patsy_mccabe · 21-12-2017 10:39am

Have 4 relatives either very sick or recovering at the moment. Actually 5 If you count marriage relations. 2 are very sick with right battles. Would love for them to pull through. One of them has a 5 year old daughter oblivious to it all. That's my wish for 2018.

Muckit · 21-12-2017 12:08pm

Your Health is your Wealth. It's often thrown out there but it's not until one or ones family goes through some serious health issue, we realise the full weight of it.

I was digging a grave during the week (never did it before) and that would make you ponder life too and how fleeting it is.

Reggie. · 21-12-2017 1:38pm

Muckit wrote: »

Your Health is your Wealth. It's often thrown out there but it's not until one or ones family goes through some serious health issue, we realise the full weight of it.

I was digging a grave during the week (never did it before) and that would make you ponder life too and how fleeting it is.

I've lowered many a person into a grave unfortunately. I'm not too long on this earth either

So what are your plans for 2018

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