Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Mooooo · 22-07-2020 10:00pm

How many units and how many cows? Liners may be due a change possibly? Could just be the one cow to cause an increase like that. Have you recorded this year yet?

Say my name · 22-07-2020 10:00pm

Grueller wrote: »

Ugh. F*cking scc gone up to 177 from 76. I'll have to strip them in the morning now. I have a few that kick the sh1te out of me every time I have to do it.

It could be 76 again the next collection and ne'r a cow touched..

Acquiescence · 22-07-2020 10:04pm

Grueller wrote: »

Ugh. F*cking scc gone up to 177 from 76. I'll have to strip them in the morning now. I have a few that kick the sh1te out of me every time I have to do it.

Depending on amount of cows you'd be lucky to see a clinical presentation with that jump I'd say.

Would you be aswell off paddle testing whatever was showing as high in the last recording and then strip them all if the next bulk sample is high?

Grueller · 22-07-2020 10:06pm

Say my name wrote: »

It could be 76 again the next collection and ne'r a cow touched..

Ya I milked them two hours early on Sunday and they were fair agitated over it. Could be the cause.

Say my name · 22-07-2020 10:12pm

Grueller wrote: »

Ya I milked them two hours early on Sunday and they were fair agitated over it. Could be the cause.

Leave it and see the next test then would my advice.

Now if you posted 400. Then it's a different story.

straight · 22-07-2020 10:19pm

I strip them every milking. Love the hardship.

straight · 22-07-2020 10:23pm

Sacrolyte wrote: »

What’s the crack with this “Tag threshold” for calf registrations. Hope it’s not the Green Party been sneaky trying to cut cow numbers.

I'd say not. They're just going to remove us from the land through designations. Ah well.

Sacrolyte · 22-07-2020 10:55pm

straight wrote: »

I'd say not. They're just going to remove us from the land through designations. Ah well.

Might do us a favour

Say my name · 22-07-2020 11:01pm

They'll all be breeding Fleckviehs here now.:)
153k for a polled Fleckvieh bull.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3138885316204438&id=571066442986351&anchor_composer=false

Mooooo · 23-07-2020 8:06pm

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Some may be interested

https://twitter.com/irishgrassland/status/1282740869473415168?s=21

The hour this evening was very interesting, good event

Buford T. Justice XIX · 23-07-2020 8:10pm

Mooooo wrote: »

The hour this evening was very interesting, good event

Interesting grenade thrown by Conor Creedon, the ground he limes in the Autumn is the land he goes to first in spring:D

Mooooo · 23-07-2020 8:32pm

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Interesting grenade thrown by Conor Creedon, the ground he limes in the Autumn is the land he goes to first in spring:D

That's what you want it hear is lads own experiences too. Slurry out on silage ground picked up Tues, was gonna go with urea next week and perhaps lime the week after if weather plays ball.

Castlekeeper · 23-07-2020 8:34pm

Mooooo wrote: »

The hour this evening was very interesting, good event

Am I missing something or is there no link on that tweet?
I'm a member and I wasn't sent any link???

Say my name · 23-07-2020 8:35pm

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Interesting grenade thrown by Conor Creedon, the ground he limes in the Autumn is the land he goes to first in spring:D

If you can get biology going and going deeper into your soil. It'll hold more moisture and be more free draining if that makes sense.

There was a man told me his son did a stint on a silage harvester in New Zealand. One instance there was a thirty minute downpour of an inch and a half of rain. The crew had to stop. But an hour later they could start up again. The volcanic soil just soaked up the water no run off. Said you could actually hear the water going down into the soil.

I'll have to get my hands on these tests.
In my eyes they'll be the only soil test that will matter a damn to the farmer.
It's a test to see how much (in teagasc talk) soil nitrogen mineralization your soil is doing. It'll also show how management is going.

https://solvita.com/co2-burst/

Say my name · 23-07-2020 8:39pm

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Am I missing something or is there no link on that tweet?
I'm a member and I wasn't sent any link???

Here.

https://youtu.be/d1lVk2etTBI

Castlekeeper · 23-07-2020 8:42pm

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Interesting grenade thrown by Conor Creedon, the ground he limes in the Autumn is the land he goes to first in spring:D

Why is that a "grenade"?
Lime generally flushes nutrients from the soil so it would make sense that there would be a corresponding flush of growth.

Mooooo · 23-07-2020 8:45pm

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Am I missing something or is there no link on that tweet?
I'm a member and I wasn't sent any link???

It was on the website and on agriland as well as social media I think.

Say my name · 23-07-2020 9:17pm

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Why is that a "grenade"?
Lime generally flushes nutrients from the soil so it would make sense that there would be a corresponding flush of growth.

People forget though being a ground up rock dust. That it's now in a form available to biology. So it feeds bacteria. And that bacteria gets eaten by that bacteria and that fungi and so on. So you'll get nitrogen release just from the biological increase.

Mooooo · 23-07-2020 9:23pm

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Why is that a "grenade"?
Lime generally flushes nutrients from the soil so it would make sense that there would be a corresponding flush of growth.

It was more in response to the belief that it can make ground difficult in wet weather and he said he was in paddocks first the following spring following aut application

jaymla627 · 23-07-2020 10:10pm

Mooooo wrote: »

It was more in response to the belief that it can make ground difficult in wet weather and he said he was in paddocks first the following spring following aut application

If going with calcium lime youll have zero issues, but mag lime like roadstone have is a big no no if on wet heavy ground

Castlekeeper · 24-07-2020 10:23am

jaymla627 wrote: »

If going with calcium lime youll have zero issues, but mag lime like roadstone have is a big no no if on wet heavy ground

You would have issues with Ca lime on black ground, from what I've read Conon has gravelly ground.
Ca loosens, Mg tightens, there's a large school of thought that as the proportions are important too.

Castlekeeper · 24-07-2020 10:28am

Say my name wrote: »

People forget though being a ground up rock dust. That it's now in a form available to biology. So it feeds bacteria. And that bacteria gets eaten by that bacteria and that fungi and so on. So you'll get nitrogen release just from the biological increase.

Which might depend on how biologically active the soil is?
I was more thinking of the chemical effect ion exchange and especially P availability.

Say my name · 24-07-2020 10:32am

Castlekeeper wrote: »

You would have issues with Ca lime on black ground, from what I've read Conon has gravelly ground.
Ca loosens, Mg tightens, there's a large school of thought that as the proportions are important too.

Roadstone I believe will mix cal and mag lime to whatever proportions you require.
There's a few I know are getting their soil test results and then are getting the lime mix made up to adjust their Ca:Mg ratio in the soil the way they want it.

Say my name · 24-07-2020 10:40am

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Which might depend on how biologically active the soil is?
I was more thinking of the chemical effect ion exchange and especially P availability.

If you spread mag lime you'll get a big P release from soil.
It's an issue around here with high soil magnesium to keep the P in the soil.

If there's anyone reading this from east Wexford in the macamores and they're digging out a pond or have a marl hole. I'd be a customer for your spoil. :pac:
(Seriously now).

straight · 24-07-2020 5:35pm

I fell asleep during that IGA conference last night. Fair play to all the heros and what they achieve but the same old thing over and over gets tiresome. Woke up for a man near the end saying about so many people dairy farming that aren't meant to be I felt like the bold boy in the class for not doing what I was told and expanding like hell and taking on more ground,contracting out heifer rearing, etc.

mahoney_j · 24-07-2020 7:14pm

straight wrote: »

I fell asleep during that IGA conference last night. Fair play to all the heros and what they achieve but the same old thing over and over gets tiresome. Woke up for a man near the end saying about so many people dairy farming that aren't meant to be I felt like the bold boy in the class for not doing what I was told and expanding like hell and taking on more ground,contracting out heifer rearing, etc.

Watched it all ,3 really good farmers 3 great stories lots to take from all 3.may not fully agree on everything but different strikes different folks

straight · 24-07-2020 7:48pm

mahoney_j wrote: »

Watched it all ,3 really good farmers 3 great stories lots to take from all 3.may not fully agree on everything but different strikes different folks

Ones interpretation of a good farmer can be alot of things but for me it's not one that burns themselves out at cows like alot of fellas are at. Not talking about the 3 lads there now. In fact I'm probably more guilty of it myself but I'm trying to move away from being a slave to the whole thing. I admire the lads that are able to drop the whole thing when they want and go to events, holidays, pastimes, etc. I'm here trying to get into the top 10% and even the top 5% and I don't know why because I was never in the top 30 or 40 percent of anything else all my life. Jeez I badly need a few phucking pints.

mf240 · 24-07-2020 7:55pm

I like cows .

Dont want 2 herds of them though

Suppose each to their own

GrasstoMilk · 24-07-2020 8:43pm

straight wrote: »

Ones interpretation of a good farmer can be alot of things but for me it's not one that burns themselves out at cows like alot of fellas are at. Not talking about the 3 lads there now. In fact I'm probably more guilty of it myself but I'm trying to move away from being a slave to the whole thing. I admire the lads that are able to drop the whole thing when they want and go to events, holidays, pastimes, etc. I'm here trying to get into the top 10% and even the top 5% and I don't know why because I was never in the top 30 or 40 percent of anything else all my life. Jeez I badly need a few phucking pints.

Well time off to me is just as important as profit, but it's hard to get there without putting in the hard yards first.

We went contract rearing last year for the first time, best decision we ever made.
Super uniform bunch of heifers from our best cows that in really looking forward to milking.
We were doing a good job on them but this guy is doing an excellent job, I'm not chasing my tail.during calving and breeding to go check heifers on the outfarm and I can devote my time to just the cows,
We're milking more cows and it doesn't feel like any extra work

Grueller · 24-07-2020 9:07pm

At the mention of contract rearing. I have an outfarm that I am keeping sucklers on at the moment. I am looking for an exit strategy from sucklers and have an idea of contract rearing. The only snag is that I would want to batch them with my own heifers. I have plenty grass and housing for up to 45 on top of my own heifers. Would mixing the heifers be a deal breaker?

GrasstoMilk · 24-07-2020 9:21pm

Grueller wrote: »

At the mention of contract rearing. I have an outfarm that I am keeping sucklers on at the moment. I am looking for an exit strategy from sucklers and have an idea of contract rearing. The only snag is that I would want to batch them with my own heifers. I have plenty grass and housing for up to 45 on top of my own heifers. Would mixing the heifers be a deal breaker?

Tbf I wouldn't be mad about it and it would be be a deal breaker for us but there is guys out there rearing 3 or 4 groups of heifers from different farms

Wildsurfer · 24-07-2020 9:57pm

straight wrote: »

I fell asleep during that IGA conference last night. Fair play to all the heros and what they achieve but the same old thing over and over gets tiresome. Woke up for a man near the end saying about so many people dairy farming that aren't meant to be I felt like the bold boy in the class for not doing what I was told and expanding like hell and taking on more ground,contracting out heifer rearing, etc.

I know there's nothing as annoying as someone harping on with the same old spiel over and over...

straight · 24-07-2020 9:58pm

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Well time off to me is just as important as profit, but it's hard to get there without putting in the hard yards first.

We went contract rearing last year for the first time, best decision we ever made.
Super uniform bunch of heifers from our best cows that in really looking forward to milking.
We were doing a good job on them but this guy is doing an excellent job, I'm not chasing my tail.during calving and breeding to go check heifers on the outfarm and I can devote my time to just the cows,
We're milking more cows and it doesn't feel like any extra work

Milking more cows but are you making more money. I prefer rearing them myself. I may have trust issues. Ha.

Farmer2017 · 24-07-2020 10:03pm

Lads now that breeding season over what do ye do with the stock bull between this and next may

whelan2 · 24-07-2020 10:16pm

Farmer2017 wrote: »

Lads now that breeding season over what do ye do with the stock bull between this and next may

Sell him for more money than you bought him for and buy another next year

GrasstoMilk · 24-07-2020 10:19pm

straight wrote: »

Milking more cows but are you making more money. I prefer rearing them myself. I may have trust issues. Ha.

Yep sure are. The cost of rearing them hasnt increased just seeing the true cost of them now

Outfarm used for silage to feed the cows and home farm is solely for milking cows.
Growing more grass around the parlour now as a result too
Much simpler system for us and more free time

Farmer2017 · 24-07-2020 10:55pm

Paid too much for him to do that after one season

Timmaay · 24-07-2020 10:55pm

You have me temped now also ha. I was thinking about rented another 10/15ac here to grow maize but I'm prob better off just ditching the heifers instead. And maybe I'm better off ditching the maize also given how cheap drycow silage is, buy that all in and cut alot more pure leafy silage instead of maize hmmm.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 24-07-2020 11:14pm

Farmer2017 wrote: »

Paid too much for him to do that after one season

You can keep him with the cows and cull them as normal or keep him with one or two incalf heifers in a section of a paddock.

Just don't fire him somewhere on his own for the rest of the year. Keep him in a group or he's just going to get frustrated and cross.

cjpm · 24-07-2020 11:32pm

When i'm milking i usually wear waterproof trousers and a short sleeve jacket.

Too damn hot and sweaty during the summer though....

Would prefer a long apron for the warm evenings, however most aprons I've seen don't seem to cover the back of your shirt and trousers.

Any better aprons available?? That actually wrap around the wearer??

Opinions appreciated

alps · 24-07-2020 11:34pm

Grueller wrote: »

At the mention of contract rearing. I have an outfarm that I am keeping sucklers on at the moment. I am looking for an exit strategy from sucklers and have an idea of contract rearing. The only snag is that I would want to batch them with my own heifers. I have plenty grass and housing for up to 45 on top of my own heifers. Would mixing the heifers be a deal breaker?

If you have a good disease history and can show you do a good job, its certainly a runner. A friend of mine is doing it. He used to keep the bull calves to slaughter, bow he takes in heifers from another farmer.

He's a good operator and is motivated to have the contracted heifers better than his own. He'll pull amy light ones for extra feeding and keep them all on track.

The risk is a breakdown with either of them. If the rearer goes down, he's prepared to buy the heifers allowing the owner to source a new batch from the market place to fill his requirements.

If the owner gets locked up, they'll probably just let that group off to the market..

Gotta be prepared to be flexible as it's a little more complicated when the rearingbfarm has milking facilities..

K.G. · 25-07-2020 9:00am

Timmaay wrote: »

You have me temped now also ha. I was thinking about rented another 10/15ac here to grow maize but I'm prob better off just ditching the heifers instead. And maybe I'm better off ditching the maize also given how cheap drycow silage is, buy that all in and cut alot more pure leafy silage instead of maize hmmm.

You wouldnt mind going through the economics of maize versus leafy bales.by my reckoning leafy balrs come in at close to the same price as ration.we ll say the grass is costing 8cent a kilo to grow.mow bale wrap move and stack could come to 15 e and more a bale at 4 or5 bales to acre which at 200 kg dm a bale is another 8 cent.technally to compare properly you should allow a land charge as i presume the maize is on rented ground or at least like for like with ration as extra feed bought in.so if you take 10 ton dm grass at rent of 200 an acre you could add another couple of cent.now balance the cost of heifer rearing in the equation.these are only a figures to think about and can be easily disputed

K.G. · 25-07-2020 9:25am

whelan2 wrote: »

Sell him for more money than you bought him for and buy another next year

Bulls were kinda cheap and plentyiful this year

jaymla627 · 25-07-2020 10:25am

straight wrote: »

I fell asleep during that IGA conference last night. Fair play to all the heros and what they achieve but the same old thing over and over gets tiresome. Woke up for a man near the end saying about so many people dairy farming that aren't meant to be I felt like the bold boy in the class for not doing what I was told and expanding like hell and taking on more ground,contracting out heifer rearing, etc.

I reckon in the next decade to comply with nitrates/environmental constraints and still have a viable number of cows to make a living without having to farm 100's of acres , herds will be fully housed and slurry only digestors will become essential to elimimate ammomia emissions, really intresting company called Biolectric specializing in this setting up a base in Ireland, no amount of protected urea our high ebi environmentally friendly cows in strict grass based systems been preached by teagasc is going to negate the eco-warriors and their enablers the green party who will have the dairy industry in their crosshairs

straight · 25-07-2020 10:39am

jaymla627 wrote: »

I reckon in the next decade to comply with nitrates/environmental constraints and still have a viable number of cows to make a living without having to farm 100's of acres , herds will be fully housed and slurry only digestors will become essential to elimimate ammomia emissions, really intresting company called Biolectric specializing in this setting up a base in Ireland, no amount of protected urea our high ebi environmentally friendly cows in strict grass based systems been preached by teagasc is going to negate the eco-warriors and their enablers the green party who will have the dairy industry in their crosshairs

NO NO NO. Invest in cows that eat grass and don't spend money on concrete or roofs or all that rubbish. Bla,bla, bla. Sure where could it all go wrong.

Castlekeeper · 25-07-2020 10:57am

Grueller wrote: »

At the mention of contract rearing. I have an outfarm that I am keeping sucklers on at the moment. I am looking for an exit strategy from sucklers and have an idea of contract rearing. The only snag is that I would want to batch them with my own heifers. I have plenty grass and housing for up to 45 on top of my own heifers. Would mixing the heifers be a deal breaker?

It should make no difference, once they're you're own bred heifers. The contract reared stock will be exposed to the bugs on your farm anyway pretty much regardless of whether your stock are with them or not. Its the main risk of contract rearing. I got salmonella into my herd from a contract rearer with no stock who "forgot to mention" that his cows had it before and that he used to vaccinate for it. He turned out prick anyway, but that's a different matter.
You can't sterilise the farm and if there's anything bad there, well you'll be dealing with that anyway.

Say my name · 25-07-2020 11:05am

straight wrote: »

NO NO NO. Invest in cows that eat grass and don't spend money on concrete or roofs or all that rubbish. Bla,bla, bla. Sure where could it all go wrong.

I reckon it'll be the other way.
Farmers without the scale will have to look to add value by becoming 'organic'.
Glanbia will start an organic division like other big processors in the world.
The public will want to see cows out grazing on land and not indoors like pig farms.
Farmers through innovation and biology will produce and use nitrogen on farm.
The caveat, farmers will have to look at producing all their feed on farm to be economically viable and have trust in the feed.

Siamsa Sessions · 25-07-2020 11:42am

Say my name wrote: »

I reckon it'll be the other way.
Farmers without the scale will have to look to add value by becoming 'organic'.
Glanbia will start an organic division like other big processors in the world.
The public will want to see cows out grazing on land and not indoors like pig farms.
Farmers through innovation and biology will produce and use nitrogen on farm.
The caveat, farmers will have to look at producing all their feed on farm to be economically viable and have trust in the feed.

The Dairy Edge podcast from Teagasc did a special on organic milk recently. I’m no Teagasc fan but that podcast is well worth a listen.

Most organic suppliers have winter and liquid milk contracts. Price is 50-60c for that milk but organic meal is roughly twice the price of conventional stuff, so growing your own would be attractive. Summer price is up to 40c.

Very few suppliers in Ireland, and herd size varies from 20-200. Some lads are once-a-day too.

Biggest emphasis seems to be on growing the market though. It’ll be interesting to see if the EU puts money where it’s mouth is when it talks about 25% organic and makes marketing or advertising money available to promote organic milk, yogurt, and cheese

Acquiescence · 25-07-2020 12:08pm

cjpm wrote: »

Would prefer a long apron for the warm evenings, however most aprons I've seen don't seem to cover the back of your shirt and trousers.

Any better aprons available?? That actually wrap around the wearer??

I have a 'Flexothane Bib and Brace' which has the coverage you're looking for without the risk of stepping on it and murdering yourself that seems inevitable with an apron.

Mooooo · 25-07-2020 12:25pm

K.G. wrote: »

You wouldnt mind going through the economics of maize versus leafy bales.by my reckoning leafy balrs come in at close to the same price as ration.we ll say the grass is costing 8cent a kilo to grow.mow bale wrap move and stack could come to 15 e and more a bale at 4 or5 bales to acre which at 200 kg dm a bale is another 8 cent.technally to compare properly you should allow a land charge as i presume the maize is on rented ground or at least like for like with ration as extra feed bought in.so if you take 10 ton dm grass at rent of 200 an acre you could add another couple of cent.now balance the cost of heifer rearing in the equation.these are only a figures to think about and can be easily disputed

If buying in forage, maize is up there value wise definitely prob better value than grass silage.
If lads are getting young stock contract reared, What stocking rate do ye run the home farm without having to buy in forage? Assuming heifers come back a month before calving

Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

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