Dairy Chitchat 3

Timmaay · 16-08-2018 1:56pm

Someone asked the question about the greenfield 20% dip in production in the letters section, that's the one issue that they should not try sweep under the rug and shrug off against the snow etc. Bought in meal, in as expensive as it is should result in an increase in production, certainly not a dip of 20%! We are consistently getting some period of poor weather in the late spring that will seriously hinder milk production, I think it's critical to have some sort of backup in place for then moving forward, that's both in having a bank of milker quality fodder, and having suitable accommodation, their outdoor cubicles I'm OK with, except for the fact that they are far far too exposed.

yewtree · 16-08-2018 1:58pm

mahoney_j wrote: »

Full agreement from me on that,they can dress up figures whatever way they want

It's had one bad year, in 9. It is profitable over the long term. Lots of farms have bad years the important thing is to take the lessons from it and move on.
They have always had a land value, wages and capital repayments and as far as I can see are going to meet all commitments this year aswell.
They are not dressing up the figures at all

Mooooo · 16-08-2018 2:01pm

Timmaay wrote: »

Are you gonna turn off the parlour over dec/Jan? Ditched all the autumn calvers here 2yrs ago and zero regrets, but fair few april/may calvers and it definitely still pays to milk on the 2or 3rows into Feb. I certainly take my lie in then tho, rarely bother starting before 9am, 2 rows done in 20mins ha.

Depends on scanning. If I have a few empties and late calvers will milk on, which will likely be the case. Had eyed up drying off whole herd in Dec 12 months time.
Must have 2 clear tests for tb yet so hoping first week of Dec may be clear so will see what's in the market then, possible if I can find 30 proper autumn calved cows I may buy in then, get the milk going out the gate without the extra calves. Either that or buy Feb calving cows but I be afraid the better stock and choice will be gone come Dec

Timmaay · 16-08-2018 2:02pm

Mooooo any guess on how the maize will yield by you? It's the one big saving grace here this winter, if the 10ac I have yields 20t/ac that's say silage 315bales equivalent, or 32bales/ac, I'd be fairly screwed if I didn't have it.

Mooooo · 16-08-2018 2:03pm

Timmaay wrote: »

Someone asked the question about the greenfield 20% dip in production in the letters section, that's the one issue that they should not try sweep under the rug and shrug off against the snow etc. Bought in meal, in as expensive as it is should result in an increase in production, certainly not a dip of 20%! We are consistently getting some period of poor weather in the late spring that will seriously hinder milk production, I think it's critical to have some sort of backup in place for then moving forward, that's both in having a bank of milker quality fodder, and having suitable accommodation, their outdoor cubicles I'm OK with, except for the fact that they are far far too exposed.

Perhaps under estimating what cows actually eat.? You'd see it with the wagon and tested silage , you'd put out 23kgs dm and it'll all be gone and that's prob with some eating more.

whelan2 · 16-08-2018 2:13pm

Mooooo wrote: »

Depends on scanning. If I have a few empties and late calvers will milk on, which will likely be the case. Had eyed up drying off whole herd in Dec 12 months time.
Must have 2 clear tests for tb yet so hoping first week of Dec may be clear so will see what's in the market then, possible if I can find 30 proper autumn calved cows I may buy in then, get the milk going out the gate without the extra calves. Either that or buy Feb calving cows but I be afraid the better stock and choice will be gone come Dec

Any idea what fresh calved dairy stock are making?

Buford T. Justice XIX · 16-08-2018 6:30pm

https://twitter.com/DairyNZ/status/1027292494508118016?s=19

Mooooo · 16-08-2018 7:40pm

Timmaay wrote: »

Mooooo any guess on how the maize will yield by you? It's the one big saving grace here this winter, if the 10ac I have yields 20t/ac that's say silage 315bales equivalent, or 32bales/ac, I'd be fairly screwed if I didn't have it.

Not too sure, I would be hoping that. Some plants had one cob others had two and three, will talk to advisor and lad growing it and see what they think for harvesting and that. See on twitter some lads are thinking of harvesting already and crops in England which are fcuked all together. Didn't think that would happen up here when it regularly does well in much drier climates, unless it's a variety issue. The stuff in the pic is maybe 7.5 ft tall

Mooooo · 16-08-2018 7:41pm

whelan2 wrote: »

Any idea what fresh calved dairy stock are making?

Haven't heard. So much depends on tb test here no point looking at the minute as couldn't commit to buy anything.

Timmaay · 16-08-2018 8:20pm

https://m.independent.ie/business/farming/dairy/dairy-farm-profiles/we-aim-for-four-cuts-of-red-clover-silage-each-year-37211526.html

Good read. Shame it doesn't say what his overall sr is. Would be interesting to know what price per litre he gets, and cost of production.

straight · 16-08-2018 9:42pm

If a lad was thinking of buying a diet feeder and extra tractor i think the robot from lely would be worth a look. I know a guy that put one in a few years ago for 100k and running costs would be very low. They might be a bit cheaper now.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 17-08-2018 11:41am

I had a drip in the dairy ceiling with the last while so I said I'd fix it yesterday after lunch. So I climbed up to see what was wrong. 10 minute job at most.

Just finished it now. As I sorted one problem, I caused another so had to replace the most of the pipe work as they were the old Philmac fittings.

I'm half expecting to go down now and see another leak:(

freedominacup · 17-08-2018 2:29pm

Aidan Brennans piece in the business of farming section in the comic contains some real gems of wisdom this week. A couple of real classics.

blackdog1 · 17-08-2018 2:30pm

freedominacup wrote:

Aidan Brennans piece in the business of farming section in the comic contains some real gems of wisdom this week. A couple of real classics.

Didn't he say a few weeks ago if your cows aren't dropping in milk your over feeding them?

boggerman1 · 17-08-2018 2:35pm

blackdog1 wrote: »

Didn't he say a few weeks ago if your cows aren't dropping in milk your over feeding them?

Goes to show college degrees are really useful.

GrasstoMilk · 17-08-2018 3:23pm

freedominacup wrote: »

Aidan Brennans piece in the business of farming section in the comic contains some real gems of wisdom this week. A couple of real classics.

Well I think he's right about cows intakes with meal and trying to build covers with it.
Feeding 6 kg here and cows are still eating as much grass as ever. I won't be putting in the strip wire though

mahoney_j · 17-08-2018 3:52pm

freedominacup wrote: »

Aidan Brennans piece in the business of farming section in the comic contains some real gems of wisdom this week. A couple of real classics.

I’d pay very little attention to his supposed words of wisdom .........u just can’t farm from a textbook

Mooooo · 17-08-2018 5:16pm

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Well I think he's right about cows intakes with meal and trying to build covers with it.
Feeding 6 kg here and cows are still eating as much grass as ever. I won't be putting in the strip wire though

As we move on grass will have less energy and all cows appetites are at peak, so meal won't displace grass as much. However the point he makes about not getting a return unless it's reducing the amount of grass eaten is bollix, more milk or condition on their backs is a return this year of all years. Even the condition one as to put condition on dry cows this year won't be cheap at least doing it before dry off gives some return in the tank. I dunno maybe he is going off the Greenfield cows only doing 16 litres or whatever but id say most cows in the country aren't of that type and may respond better to meal feeding.

Gawddawggonnit · 17-08-2018 6:09pm

Mooooo wrote: »

Don't put silage bales here thru feeder, old keenan paddle, only likes pit silage really. Most lads in our group are sorted. Have sourced or pitted wholecrop etc and some getting westerwolds. Others ok but worried beet would be too far back in yield.
Walking farm later on will hope to make more bales this week, pit 20 acres of lighter stuff the first of sept, as a slight change in rain would run the risk of not getting in there any later, and 25 acres more will be pitted mid Sept. Maize could nearly be coming in the same time.

Maize coming on nicely.

Gawddawggonnit · 17-08-2018 6:11pm

blackdog1 wrote: »

Hopefully get this storm this weekend. Have ordered 120 tonne of crimp wheat /maize meal mix. Gonna pump that into my autumn ladies. Should keep milk yields high and drop silage usage considerably. I'll cull a few more cows and hopefully get a good backend.

50:50 mix?

Gawddawggonnit · 17-08-2018 6:16pm

Timmaay wrote: »

Mooooo any guess on how the maize will yield by you? It's the one big saving grace here this winter, if the 10ac I have yields 20t/ac that's say silage 315bales equivalent, or 32bales/ac, I'd be fairly screwed if I didn't have it.

20t gross?
12-13tdm/ha?

In fairness there were those on here that said you’d be better off buying maize meal...with the way maize prices are going you made the right choice.

Gawddawggonnit · 17-08-2018 6:22pm

Timmaay wrote: »

https://m.independent.ie/business/farming/dairy/dairy-farm-profiles/we-aim-for-four-cuts-of-red-clover-silage-each-year-37211526.html

Good read. Shame it doesn't say what his overall sr is. Would be interesting to know what price per litre he gets, and cost of production.

He’d want to be growing his own concentrates. Organic maize meal €405/t, organic wheat €465, barley €415 etc etc.

Gawddawggonnit · 17-08-2018 6:24pm

boggerman1 wrote: »

Goes to show college degrees are really useful.

They’re no burden either...

Gawddawggonnit · 17-08-2018 6:30pm

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/expanded-national-dairy-herd-may-be-behind-e-coli-outbreak-1.3597435?mode=amp#.W3VzJilH2_8.twitter

Crap, everywhere.

Keepgrowing · 17-08-2018 6:33pm

mahoney_j wrote: »

I’d pay very little attention to his supposed words of wisdom .........u just can’t farm from a textbook

You know well he is farming himself and is very experienced at it. Play the ball not the man.

blackdog1 · 17-08-2018 7:14pm

Gawddawggonnit wrote:

50:50 mix?

75/25

Mooooo · 17-08-2018 7:22pm

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/expanded-national-dairy-herd-may-be-behind-e-coli-outbreak-1.3597435?mode=amp#.W3VzJilH2_8.twitter

Crap, everywhere.

Was it the same when the herd was larger in the years pre quota? Testing water here very year with bord bia has come back fine. Not saying there are or are not links but prefer whole pictures to be looked at before blaming any particular area, which seems to be lacking in a lot of areas these days.

mahoney_j · 17-08-2018 7:53pm

Keepgrowing wrote: »

You know well he is farming himself and is very experienced at it. Play the ball not the man.

Well aware he is not doubting his experience ,I don’t agree with a lot of what he reports ,find it very genetalistic and one way ,I’m entiteled to my opinion just as u or anyone else is ....

Say my name · 17-08-2018 8:11pm

Mooooo wrote: »

Was it the same when the herd was larger in the years pre quota? Testing water here very year with bord bia has come back fine. Not saying there are or are not links but prefer whole pictures to be looked at before blaming any particular area, which seems to be lacking in a lot of areas these days.

Ah it's the West and Midlands.
Those sheep and suckler farmers will get the blame.

And sure them folk don't know what a bar of soap is..

Is it that time of the year when the council's want to test all the wells?

Plus Irish Times...enuf said.

mf240 · 17-08-2018 8:16pm

Mooooo wrote: »

As we move on grass will have less energy and all cows appetites are at peak, so meal won't displace grass as much. However the point he makes about not getting a return unless it's reducing the amount of grass eaten is bollix, more milk or condition on their backs is a return this year of all years. Even the condition one as to put condition on dry cows this year won't be cheap at least doing it before dry off gives some return in the tank. I dunno maybe he is going off the Greenfield cows only doing 16 litres or whatever but id say most cows in the country aren't of that type and may respond better to meal feeding.

Id say continue to feed heavy in order to try build up covers or nab a few bales. If cows are in good condition or even fat at drying off then you have more options for the winter.

Dairy Chitchat 3

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