What way are you fixed?

johndeere6920s

Well-Known Member
Maybe we have a thread that covers this already but I see alot of posts about fodder and the likes scattered all over the place so I thought this might be a good idea.
How we are fixed ourselves on the contracting side we have a lot of silage still to cut kinda the past 10 days haven't been much use around here and that's pushing things back.
Ground is starting to get a bit tacky youd call it just the bare surface is getting wet.
If we get gathered all that is supposed to be got there won't be a massive fodder shortage around here.
Lads might be back a small bit in bale numbers but nothing crazy.
A nice bit of reseeding going in lately too.
 
Got about 200 ish acres of straw left to bale, ended up with 60 on the ground last night with it being not good enough to bale. Straw has been baling up more this year generally, overall been a bale to the acre up with the big square. Prices off the field have eased a bit recently and made the standing prices per bale look not so out of the way. Not sure how much silage left tbh, some seem to have enough but others are well down so they may be trying get a cut late on.
Got about 60 acres of fern to bale sometime, not my favourite job!!!!:tdown:
 
Weeeelllll as a stand alone farm we've enough (ish ) silage pit n bale for the winter provided it ain't too long, but we'll try an have some more if the grass grows,
We've got straw in the sheds in the dry, again enough for what we want , but have some shedded up for a bloke who's bought it, he's no where neare enough, our part of the West Country is still plenty dry, need some more damp, don't wanna pray to,hard coz when it starts it won't stop till April 2019,,,,??
 
Think we'll scrape out. Trying to work out exactly what we have or need as not finished cutting silage. Will probably be OK as long as the winter is six months less.

Might have to cancel one of the foreign holidays and let the Bentley back to the finance company
 
Think we'll scrape out. Trying to work out exactly what we have or need as not finished cutting silage. Will probably be OK as long as the winter is six months less.

Might have to cancel one of the foreign holidays and let the Bentley back to the finance company
I know you are joking about the holiday, but a break away from the place would be well earned this year, recharge the batteries and clear the head too
 
I know you are joking about the holiday, but a break away from the place would be well earned this year, recharge the batteries and clear the head too
We had a tough first 4 months this year so when we sold some cattle in may we booked flights and bit by bit have been paying off accommodation for a holiday in Spain in October. It has really been something to keep me motivated and I'm really looking forward to it.
 
I know you are joking about the holiday, but a break away from the place would be well earned this year, recharge the batteries and clear the head too

A day away would crown the lad , never mind a week in the sun. Especially milking all year around.
I have very recently captured a lad to milk , and it's great to not have to come back to milk.
 
A day away would crown the lad , never mind a week in the sun. Especially milking all year around.
I have very recently captured a lad to milk , and it's great to not have to come back to milk.

Around here it's easier to find a lad to milk cows than to drive a tractor. Having to milk cows every day is some pain I don't know how you stick them.
 
Around here it's easier to find a lad to milk cows than to drive a tractor. Having to milk cows every day is some pain I don't know how you stick them.

Around here , it's impossible to find a lad to do either.
I get sick of them reguralily , get over it quickly , and the cycle goes on.
I only milk for 10 1/2 months of the year. I wouldn't stay milking all year around like 240 for a million a year.
 
i milk all year round because if i stoppped for 6 or 8 weeks i know i,d never go back to it :yes:


I find it harder every year myself. But after a day or 2 you get back into it. The bad winter in 2010 or 11 cured me of milking through the winter. No water , frozen machine twice a day . I gave longer drawing kettles of hot water than milking cows.
 
i milk all year round because if i stoppped for 6 or 8 weeks i know i,d never go back to it :yes:

God , I don't know. I finish up mid December and start early Feb .
Come late January , you would be kinda looking forward to have a row of cow's to milk .
I wouldn't be overly fond of milking either but ,I have lots of debt and it's a great incentive to keep going .
 
i milk all year round because if i stoppped for 6 or 8 weeks i know i,d never go back to it :yes:

Its one of the biggest regrets that I have, giving up milking. I was raised at it. At 3 years old I was putting clusters on cows and taking them off. At 7, the old pair could go away for an evening and I was able to milk 30 on my own. It brought me a great fondness for working with stock. I'd love to be still at it.
 
I was hoping to get some ground closed for a cut of silage but this notion seems to evaporated. starting to get some water but closing for silage on the 1st of September doesnt seem like much of an idea. every animal thats over 500kgs is, or are in the process of going on ad-lib grain diet (I did say never again to grain ad-lib, but im left with little option), this should reduce my demand for grass by over half, and hopefully then the remainder will be able to find sufficient grass, but still growth rates are way way behind demand
 
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Hopefully going to fill the pit this week. What would usualy have gone into the pit was baled, it was a good call too because it was poor stuff and poorly yielding. What has grown now should be far higher quality and should save us some serious feed for sheep this winter.

However. It's hard to know if we will have enough silage to buy the amount of stores we usually buy for winter. Don't want to end up running out of bales with nowhere to turn out in spring, espessialy as bales are doing serious ££££ to dairy lads who are feeling it badly. So will probably just buy some big lads to fatten indoors.


We have learnt that perhaps a change in system is called for, that being that from now on first cut will be bales for cattle rather than pit for sheep, as we consistantly see that the aftergrowth from that first cut (following grazing) is far better quality. And bybthen we are able to get a lot more quality stuff as more lambs will be sold so more land to keep.
 
I had one field stop for 2nd cut hoping to get 60 bales of it to do me I only got 9 so depressed I gave them away to a neighbour who was glad to get them who will have feck all by January so I went again it was looking great 10 days ago and it was starting to disappear into the ground again so I'll see what this rain does
 
A local man got 12 acres baled yesterday, grand total of 66 bales. With them and the bit in the pit 'twill want to be a kind winter.
 
starting to get some water but closing for silage on the 1st of September doesnt seem like much of an idea.

I am taking a cut this week and was thinking of closing again for another cut. Do ye think this is worth it? Considering the quality in October and even it might be very wet also.
 
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