jay gatsby
Well-Known Member
Absolutely the right attitude. A few lads I know in recent years going up in numbers and decided to milk on a few over the winter when the price was good, turns into a vicious circle
Once a day milking
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Carrigogunnell
Well-Known Member
I think lads do themselves no favours, if you are milking cows at 7 am and still milking cows that night at 8 pm that cannot do anyones mental health any good. I know with covid we are in strange times but you have to have something outside of farming either it be sport, cards,acting anything really.
Around here lads are pretty good on milking times but we do a good bit of work 10 k away for 4 or 5 lads, sweet jesus they might not start cows till 8 or after and be still milking at 9 or 10.... the same lads then be doing more bolloxing during the day. These are the very lads that will tell ya there sick of the hrs and working..
Around here lads are pretty good on milking times but we do a good bit of work 10 k away for 4 or 5 lads, sweet jesus they might not start cows till 8 or after and be still milking at 9 or 10.... the same lads then be doing more bolloxing during the day. These are the very lads that will tell ya there sick of the hrs and working..
I know this crack of milking through the winter is a balls,(unless your into winter milk of course )like kevereland said it’s hard to bate it having Xmas and new year not milking cows neway and each Sunday evening too . Are they x breeds cows you have then keverland ?
We would be guilty of that here alright starting late carrigounnell !
We would be guilty of that here alright starting late carrigounnell !
If you have good facilities its no big deal to be milking all yr round.to many milking in parlours thats to small.milk and washup in the hour.anywhere up this neck most lads are milking through.with a 5 to 6 mth winter and the odd time a bit longer there in and have to be fed anyway
kverneland es 80
Well-Known Member
We were winter milk and have good facilities .things came to a head this day 14 yrs ago when my father died suddenly at 66 yrs of age I had 3 children under 2 yrs of age .changes had to be made .we might go back to winter milk in the future. Winters are short here in normal circumstances 60 to 90 days
Mf240
Well-Known Member
believe it or not i like milking christmas night , gets me out of the house and freshens the mind plus the radio is always great at that time
jf 850
Well-Known Member
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believe it or not i like milking christmas night , gets me out of the house and freshens the mind plus the radio is always great at that time
I havent milked on Christmas day in maybe 15 - 20 years .
But , I'd be the same , as in i like going out in the afternoon of Christmas day to gave cattle silage . Like being on my own for a while. No radio though. Never listen to it. Odd time maybe Spin Sw.
NO interest in news , current affairs.
And half the world would be much better off , to not listen to all the depressing drivel being horsed out by the likes of George Lee re COVID , at the minute .
I would look at the news 20 times in the year .
2 Red Masseys
Well-Known Member
You'll find another way to fill up your day if you go OAD imo
I know one herd at it and they nearly do all there own machinery work, can't see much point in that tbh
If it was me I'd be extending the parlour so it was only 5 or 6 rows to milk, be hard get fed up of that I think, you'd be milked and washed up in the hour
You'd loose an awful lot of output not to mention cows that dont suit, they'd surely pay the repayments on an extension or a new build to make things quicker, we're extending our parlour this winter after only putting in a new machine 3 years ago - still have 2 years repayments left on that part 😂 will be back to 7.5 rows vs the 12 this year. This will sort us for the foreseeable i hope!
One thing is for sure is that it's done for lifestyle and not for profit
I know one herd at it and they nearly do all there own machinery work, can't see much point in that tbh
If it was me I'd be extending the parlour so it was only 5 or 6 rows to milk, be hard get fed up of that I think, you'd be milked and washed up in the hour
You'd loose an awful lot of output not to mention cows that dont suit, they'd surely pay the repayments on an extension or a new build to make things quicker, we're extending our parlour this winter after only putting in a new machine 3 years ago - still have 2 years repayments left on that part 😂 will be back to 7.5 rows vs the 12 this year. This will sort us for the foreseeable i hope!
One thing is for sure is that it's done for lifestyle and not for profit
Mf310
Well-Known Member
Many rows is that? 2.5 hours from opening the gap to closing gap? Wouldnt be excessive considering , we would be just over 1.5 hours here from turning on machine to closing gap, we have Battlatch so cows will be in yard for milking time so that saves i suppose near on a half hour every milking too.
nothing unusual about that if it includes going for and putting out the cows , handy paddock near the yard maybe quicker and then the far away ones a bit longer even
AYF
Well-Known Member
Not enough of a price is ever given on that in costings!!
Mate of mine sumed it up. Put in a rotary, everyone said it won't pay, big herringbone is what you need at your numbers.
I asked him how it was going, his reply was that he'd milked then had breakfast with his kids, and picked up his 11 yr old up from school for the first time ever two days after starting in the rotary. Can't put a price on that he said. He has 4 kids and had missed far too much of their lives from standing in a pit 4 hrs morning and night in his old setup.
If we listened to teagasc and accountants all the time we'd have nothing on making big investments.at the end of the day very few will get wealthy farming but if we can get a better quality of life with it so be it.always get the pair up and ready for creche and sometimes young lad might be gone to bed if hes tired when id come in
AYF
Well-Known Member
It was. They had built the cows up to big numbers befoe investing big in infrastructure.
thefarminglad
Well-Known Member
I do it the final month before dry off. Does it pay. I will be honest and say if you are milking 80 plus cows it would be more profitable to employ someone to milk them for the second milking in the day.
FIAT 450
Well-Known Member
It's something to consider oad I'd say podge. If you do decide I'd start in the spring, dry off now and when you start calving go straight to oad. Might be easier on cows, just my view nothing scientific about it. But be warned it can rise scc and you will see a bit of a decrease in yeild
Arthur
Well-Known Member
Talking to a man just yesterday, does OAD until calving is gone quiet then twice a day.
So need a bit of advice please because I am struggling as what to do
Ok we are dairy farming here the father is shoving on in years now I am not mad about milking cows (as it is so demanding) but have been doing it for the last 15 years I i was thinking if I had to do it on my own I would crack up.its very hard to get any 1 now as ye know and 96 cows won’t pay a wage for a full time worker anyway so I was thinking
1.would it be a good idea to start looking into/breeding a cow for OAD milking I know this won’t happen for 5 or 6 years but ...
2.heifer rearing
3.dry cattle
4. Rent out farm
????
Ok we are dairy farming here the father is shoving on in years now I am not mad about milking cows (as it is so demanding) but have been doing it for the last 15 years I i was thinking if I had to do it on my own I would crack up.its very hard to get any 1 now as ye know and 96 cows won’t pay a wage for a full time worker anyway so I was thinking
1.would it be a good idea to start looking into/breeding a cow for OAD milking I know this won’t happen for 5 or 6 years but ...
2.heifer rearing
3.dry cattle
4. Rent out farm
????