Size of your dairy herd

Feckthis · 28-05-2015 10:48pm #1

Just curious as to how many of you have increased your herd this year and by how much?
Every dairy farmer I have spoken to has increased number.

mahoney_j · 28-05-2015 10:52pm

Feckthis wrote: »

Just curious as to how many of you have increased your herd this year and by how much?
Every dairy farmer I have spoken to has increased number.

Increased by 24%,will go another 20/25% over next 2 years.thatl take me to 3.5 Sr.

frazzledhome · 28-05-2015 11:25pm

Tiny increase here. We were at full production a few yrs ago as we had spent a lot on quota.

We are on target to grow 2 tonne more grass this year. I feel that this will allow us to add another 10% in cow numbers with most silage being brought in.
No major capx necessary aside a bit of labour saving. We will however need to increase the calf housing.

Timmaay · 28-05-2015 11:32pm

mahoney_j wrote: »

Increased by 24%,will go another 20/25% over next 2 years.thatl take me to 3.5 Sr.

Only up this year by 10%, Current aim is 50% more which when I offload the heifers of the milking block, will stock me at 3 cows/ha, but critically about 130 which is about the limit of a single labour unit.

Deepsouthwest · 28-05-2015 11:35pm

Increased by 10% this yr, have increased by around 10/15% every yr for nearly the last ten yrs. This was done by acquiring quota through most means possible(parent partnership, buying from relations, buying restructuring quota, mpp partnership, temp leasing etc). Never paid a super levy fine, not even this yr. however it's all worth zilch now, and I'm left buying shares!

frazzledhome · 28-05-2015 11:37pm

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Increased by 10% this yr, have increased by around 10/15% every yr for nearly the last ten yrs. This was done by acquiring quota through most means possible(parent partnership, buying from relations, buying restructuring quota, mpp partnership, temp leasing etc). Never paid a super levy fine, not even this yr. however it's all worth zilch now, and I'm left buying shares!

Sounds familiar, often told how lucky we were

;)

keep going · 29-05-2015 1:28am

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Increased by 10% this yr, have increased by around 10/15% every yr for nearly the last ten yrs. This was done by acquiring quota through most means possible(parent partnership, buying from relations, buying restructuring quota, mpp partnership, temp leasing etc). Never paid a super levy fine, not even this yr. however it's all worth zilch now, and I'm left buying shares!

Similar here, have gone up 10 cows ayear with the last six and intend to continue the same way but I must admit the volume of work is starting to show so may draw a line somewhere

Mulumpy · 29-05-2015 1:40am

Increased herd size by 12% this year to bring my avg. Sr to 3.5. The weather over past month has really put me and cows under savage pressure. Will be going back to original 3.25 level for next year. Lesson learnt, no interest in paying stupid money for renting grass

visatorro · 29-05-2015 6:31am

increased 60% over last four years. will be cutting back due to labour issues and my own management not being what they should be because of a number of other things going on. have highly stocked milking block here. it's difficult unless you have a perfect grass year like last year. with my situation more doesn't mean more money

RightTurnClyde · 29-05-2015 7:09am

Up 33% this year. Plan to do another 28% for next year. That will bring me to a SR of 3.3 and I'm stopping at that. I have very little CapEx to do and the additional 28% is being done to cover getting a full time milker next year.
Have to have a life aswell.

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 7:16am

frazzledhome wrote: »

Tiny increase here. We were at full production a few yrs ago as we had spent a lot on quota.

We are on target to grow 2 tonne more grass this year. I feel that this will allow us to add another 10% in cow numbers with most silage being brought in.
No major capx necessary aside a bit of labour saving. We will however need to increase the calf housing.

Talking to my vet a while back and he says that this is where most lads are falling down ,load in extra cows and cubicles but nothing done with calving pens or calf sheds.load of lads that never had calf rearing issues had them this spring due to packing too many calves into small poorly ventilated sheds

frazzledhome · 29-05-2015 7:22am

mahoney_j wrote: »

Talking to my vet a while back and he says that this is where most lads are falling down ,load in extra cows and cubicles but nothing done with calving pens or calf sheds.load of lads that never had calf rearing issues had them this spring due to packing too many calves into small poorly ventilated sheds

Totally agree, never a truer word. We've kept Pre 28 day mortality below 3% but there's pressure building. The way we manage is to keep bull calves moved off farm weekly for March.

We've got the housing but its not calf housing iykwim. All penned and then into grps of 35 in bigger sheds.

Reason we're slow to purpose build is I haven't come across a successful calf house yet. I think the person rearing has an awful lot to do with calf health

st1979 · 29-05-2015 7:47am

When u lads say s.r of 3.5 do you mean on the grazing block or whole farm.

Timmaay · 29-05-2015 7:56am

st1979 wrote: »

When u lads say s.r of 3.5 do you mean on the grazing block or whole farm.

Grazing for most I'd say. I'm surprised at the amount of yas close to your limit already, the harvest 2020 50% increase won't be coming from here unless we all go down the high input/output road ha.

Greengrass1 · 29-05-2015 7:57am

will be about 15% up on last yrs numbers. Next yr is a big jump. About 30% on this yrs figures.
All ill be basicly doing is cows and calves. Have a lad in mind to approach about doing some relief milking for me next spring.
Dad does majority of feeding during winter. That helps alot
could go another 20% agsin but ill need somewhere to grow silage or contract rear heifers. Contract rear heifers would be s good option I think but how many are keen to tske on winter and soring heifers

oxjkqg · 29-05-2015 8:02am

Increased 9% here, up to 78, will not go much more than that. The harsh winters and harsh spring and really harsh summer so far are inhibiting our abiltiy to grow grass.

kevthegaff · 29-05-2015 8:55am

Gone up 30% and another 10% nxt year, going to increase until this mountain cant take no more bovines! SR 1.8

Sam Kade · 29-05-2015 9:19am

Timmaay wrote: »

Grazing for most I'd say. I'm surprised at the amount of yas close to your limit already, the harvest 2020 50% increase won't be coming from here unless we all go down the high input/output road ha.

Harvest 2020 is a load of codolodgy.

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 9:20am

Timmaay wrote: »

Grazing for most I'd say. I'm surprised at the amount of yas close to your limit already, the harvest 2020 50% increase won't be coming from here unless we all go down the high input/output road ha.

Ultimately Timmay,cows cN only walk so far and access to milking block land will shove us all that way ,wether we like it or not

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 9:24am

Greengrass1 wrote: »

will be about 15% up on last yrs numbers. Next yr is a big jump. About 30% on this yrs figures.
All ill be basicly doing is cows and calves. Have a lad in mind to approach about doing some relief milking for me next spring.
Dad does majority of feeding during winter. That helps alot
could go another 20% agsin but ill need somewhere to grow silage or contract rear heifers. Contract rear heifers would be s good option I think but how many are keen to tske on winter and soring heifers

Big jumps there gg but will u have slurry storage and extra cubicles/calf creating facilities in place.no point loading on nos to be a busy fool,no offence!!

frazzledhome · 29-05-2015 9:26am

mahoney_j wrote: »

Big jumps there gg but will u have slurry storage and extra cubicles/calf creating facilities in place.no point loading on nos to be a busy fool,no offence!!

Get the cows on GG the rest will follow, Rome wasn't built in a day. Get that tank full

frazzledhome · 29-05-2015 9:27am

st1979 wrote: »

When u lads say s.r of 3.5 do you mean on the grazing block or whole farm.

Whole farm for us. At 3.2 now

Sam Kade · 29-05-2015 9:28am

frazzledhome wrote: »

Get the cows on GG the rest will follow, Rome wasn't built in a day. Get that tank full

and keep refilling it.

whelan2 · 29-05-2015 9:29am

hope to get back to my 2009 numbers next year, not buying in stock ever again between johnes and ragworth posioning it was a total feck up

jaymla627 · 29-05-2015 9:33am

Timmaay wrote: »

Grazing for most I'd say. I'm surprised at the amount of yas close to your limit already, the harvest 2020 50% increase won't be coming from here unless we all go down the high input/output road ha.

Lads for the most part aren't breeding the cows to go the high output road anyways, with lads chasing high ebi their neglecting kilos of milk you really need a milk sub index of plus 200kg across the herd to be doing 7,000 litres plus

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 9:35am

frazzledhome wrote: »

Get the cows on GG the rest will follow, Rome wasn't built in a day. Get that tank full

Agree to a point but how about nitrates,and extra cows need extra storage and beeding and feeding ditto calves as well as more parlour units.not having a go but from his posts these are all things that we are told he is short ,slower steadier growth adding as u go is what I'd do unless you want to really bite the bullet and borrow heavy and build from start loading nos at same time

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 9:40am

jaymla627 wrote: »

Lads for the most part aren't breeding the cows to go the high output road anyways, with lads chasing high ebi their neglecting kilos of milk you really need a milk sub index of plus 200kg across the herd to be doing 7,000 litres plus

Disagree jay,chasing ebi here,not neglecting milk and delivered 7300 milk kg last year.milk sub index for herd is+144 kg

stretch film · 29-05-2015 9:51am

frazzledhome wrote: »

Whole farm for us. At 3.2 now

Exporting slurry to satisfy nitrates?

stretch film · 29-05-2015 9:56am

Up 30% this year . Slower progress next few years. Just barely requiring derogation last year so really talking stocking rates in that context see whole farm at 2.8 to help smooth bumps

Greengrass1 · 29-05-2015 10:00am

mahoney_j wrote: »

Big jumps there gg but will u have slurry storage and extra cubicles/calf creating facilities in place.no point loading on nos to be a busy fool,no offence!!

I was waiting for this

have a massive hay shed here that's always half empty by feb so we'll get pens made up for it that will hold alot of cakves. Man buying calves has said he'll take bulls every week which will help alot
tbh only for the winter milkers I don't need cubicles. Dry cows are great on the straw. Bit of work alright but if we get lagoon or some form of storage in this yr and parlour in ill be doing vert well. And sure of I don't get parlour in I wouldn't be the first lad to milk 100 cows through a 6 unit

Mehaffey1 · 29-05-2015 10:05am

This year went to 800 peak milked from 690 last season. Stocked at 3.2 to the ha at peak this year

Farmer Pudsey · 29-05-2015 10:06am

Greengrass1 wrote: »

will be about 15% up on last yrs numbers. Next yr is a big jump. About 30% on this yrs figures.
All ill be basicly doing is cows and calves. Have a lad in mind to approach about doing some relief milking for me next spring.
Dad does majority of feeding during winter. That helps alot
could go another 20% agsin but ill need somewhere to grow silage or contract rear heifers. Contract rear heifers would be s good option I think but how many are keen to tske on winter and soring heifers

Would have no problem as long as I was getting paid a proper rate for doing it. However would not be interested in AI'ing or calves sub 12 weeks

stretch film wrote: »

Exporting slurry to satisfy nitrates?

Department is supposed to be starting to look at this. There was some slurry moving on paper only. Cost of moving can be expensive if going a distance unless you are near tillage land.

kevthegaff · 29-05-2015 10:07am

Lot of guys maxedout around here, see more z grazers on the road here! Im building steady, have 160 cubicles, 12k litre tank, lots of slurry storage, calving facilites. Need 20unit parlour, maybe more calf pens also. Wont be splashing out till nxt year as bought land, superlevy, sheds and done up house, cashflow is tight!! Im aiming for 160 cows in 2-3 years, labour during calving and contracting out slurry, fencing.

freedominacup · 29-05-2015 10:09am

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

There was some slurry moving on paper only.

Never!!!

Timmaay · 29-05-2015 10:12am

I'm only properly appreciating this fully now myself, in GGs and my case our dad's are still very active on the farm, effectively the labour element has been doubled. In comparison to alot of the rest of you's I'll be expanding rapidly also, and 2bh we are shy on slurry storage and shed space also, however plenty of opportunities exist, the 60% young farmer grant, rent sheds, out winter on kale etc, I don't mind a botch fix here on a temporary scale like a year or so using likes of kale if it leaves me better off down the line. Very worst case scenario you can always destock.

Deepsouthwest · 29-05-2015 10:15am

frazzledhome wrote: »

Whole farm for us. At 3.2 now

Woo! That's high for whole farm, u need every nook and cranny pushing out grass at that rate. Are u making all ur own winter feed from this ground as well?

Deepsouthwest · 29-05-2015 10:16am

Mehaffey1 wrote: »

This year went to 800 peak milked from 690 last season. Stocked at 3.2 to the ha at peak this year

Where are u farming again?

Timmaay · 29-05-2015 10:20am

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Woo! That's high for whole farm, u need every nook and cranny pushing out grass at that rate. Are u making all ur own winter feed from this ground as well?

Stocked at 2.9 overall farm here, but like fu*k am I making all the winter feed here ha, buying in 15acres of grass silage and 8 maize ha. If I could hit 3.2 buying in the same I'd be happy, will take more reseeding and try push up afew index 2 fields to 3.

Deepsouthwest · 29-05-2015 10:21am

mahoney_j wrote: »

Ultimately Timmay,cows cN only walk so far and access to milking block land will shove us all that way ,wether we like it or not

If all farmers get "shoved" down the hi input/output system, the a lot of farmers will go broke or at least just be busy fools, u really have to be at the top of ur game to make money out of that system.

Timmaay · 29-05-2015 10:25am

Ha I was been sarcastic when I said about the high input/output, grass grass grass all the way here, parlour fty about as high input as it needs to go for most farmers.

Greengrass1 · 29-05-2015 10:35am

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Would have no problem as long as I was getting paid a proper rate for doing it. However would not be interested in AI'ing or calves sub 12 weeks

Department is supposed to be starting to look at this. There was some slurry moving on paper only. Cost of moving can be expensive if going a distance unless you are near tillage land.

No dice on the no ai. Calves grand ill look after them to 12 weeks grand.
AI is not as big a job as you think. My heifers are 5 miles away I go over at 9 am spend 10/15 min watching them and go over before milking around 4 ish. Have kamars on them so easy enough to spot them. And AI tech comes around 7 to AI if I've any bulling.
If a lad did 3 wks Ai I'd be happy and then let in a bull

freedominacup · 29-05-2015 10:37am

Up 50% this year. Expecting to go another thirty percent next year. Keep growing organically after that. No limit in mind. Plan in place to increase by around 2.5 times current numbers. Very dependent on access to land for forage and slurry. No plans to rent grass ground unless the highly unlikely scenario that ut comes available over the ditch.

Very much of the frazz frame of mind. Load on the cows they'll have to pay for it, whatever it is.

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 10:38am

Timmaay wrote: »

Ha I was been sarcastic when I said about the high input/output, grass grass grass all the way here, parlour fty about as high input as it needs to go for most farmers.

Agree but grass can ultimately only take u so far,,land and nitrates are the new quotas

freedominacup · 29-05-2015 10:42am

Just a note on the 130 cows per man. One man running 130 cows is not the same as three men on 350-400. The second scenario is very doable on a sustained basis. The first is close to impossible to sustain, not impossible to do for a short period but sustaining it year in year out I don't think so.

td5man · 29-05-2015 10:45am

Increasing 33% next year 15-20% the year after, need more land to go any further than that.

Greengrass1 · 29-05-2015 10:58am

freedominacup wrote: »

Just a note on the 130 cows per man. One man running 130 cows is not the same as three men on 350-400. The second scenario is very doable on a sustained basis. The first is close to impossible to sustain, not impossible to do for a short period but sustaining it year in year out I don't think so.

I definitely won't be doing it on my own. Dad and mam will still be very active around for a good few yrs to come will hopefully have a relief milker too to

mf240 · 29-05-2015 11:18am

Milking 51 at the moment. Will probably float around the 50 55 mark.

Started with 24 cows in 2003 and built cubicles milking palour and calf houseing. Put in roads resseeding and a lot of drainage.

Happy enough now and not interested in being a busy fool.

Brown Podzol · 29-05-2015 11:20am

Numbers up 15% here but output will be up over 30%. Stocked at 3.7 on the milking block and would have gone over 4 if the prediction for milk price was better. I agree with Mahony, good facilities with a one man show and everything with automatic in the title should be looked at carefully. Calf feeder, scrapers, cloister removers, drafting etc.

Milked out · 29-05-2015 11:41am

freedominacup wrote: »

Just a note on the 130 cows per man. One man running 130 cows is not the same as three men on 350-400. The second scenario is very doable on a sustained basis. The first is close to impossible to sustain, not impossible to do for a short period but sustaining it year in year out I don't think so.

+1, at 126 here on my own at the minute and it's a struggle to be honest. Currently stocked at 2.3/ha over all farm including out farm and land adjacent bought at start of year. will be dropping land leased ab hour away used for heifers and quota next year and hope to get parlour and roadway sorted this year and will be looking at labour options then. Will be heading for a stocking rate of 3 once up to speed with cows and see how we are then to be culled removed from herd prior to bull going in

dar31 · 29-05-2015 5:48pm

planned expansion for the next 3 yrs is a 75% increase in cow nos and a 100% increase in milk output, for the last few years cows yield has been curtailed by quota, but allowed us to increase nos slightly quicker.
need to put in more facilities to cope, but kale and a few prayers will get us by till then, all investments todate has been in cows land and grass, but we have reached a point where we have to spend a bit on concrete and steel, but we will be at full output with in a year of spending said

greysides · 01-06-2015 1:31pm

[mod]Splitting the original off to keep discussion going on both topics.[/mod]

Size of your dairy herd

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