OAD milking for dairy entrant
- Thread starter Swaley
- Start date
I'm sure your potential profit is higher at 150 and I agree there are some economies of scale but that is 600,000 litres, you can make a good profit selling half that or less. Milking 60 OAD could compliment his 500 ewes well I think and be profitable.
Now, i got mine 12 months before starting.
Now this makes sense. Oad with some scale. 150+ it gives you options and some money to spend.
Skintagain
Member
- Location
- Perched on the Pennines
I thought you were young you seem restless. herd of friesians leave the calves on for a few weeks and get top dollar for calves and milk them oad after dad has come off. You have a good start with your family by sounds of it. Couple of shorthorns cause they still look nice
Farmer Keith
Member
- Location
- North Cumbria
maybe I’ll delete my earlier posts!There is a chap on the edge of dartmoor milking 60 i think supporting 2 people, they do 5000 L all from grass, no cake at all.
Not oad they don't.
No but i was making the point that you don't need lots of cows. 150 on OAD would do the same milk as say 100-120 on TAD, you do not need that many cows to make a good living, great if you can but on 60 acres a non-starter.
Headless chicken
Member
- Location
- West Wales
All depends on what your debt levels are too. Farm free from debt that has historically invested into keeping its infrastructures and machinery fresh is a very different position from starting with a debt and only the land.
Kiss
Member
- Location
- North west
If your only 20 I’d sod off somewhere either nz or plenty of good operators here now and learn how to do it properly, you’ll probably earn nearly as much doing it as you would starting at home anyway! Witness 3/4/500 calvings
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
- Location
- M6 Hard shoulder
If you are not yet milking and are young enough, get out into the world and see how it can be done on farms of similar size to your own, I would imagine Ireland either north or south would be a good starting point to gain some knowledge. Once you fire up that parlour whether once or twice a day your options for gaining knowledge and visiting farms becomes more restricted.
Ireland is a great shout, lots of very profitable sub 100 cow herds with a total focus on production from grass. Also as a starting point check out the 'Teagasc' website and webinars for lots of articles and videos.
Now that is a bloody good suggestion. You'll come back a better farmer for sure, farm will hopefully still be there, and you'll be able to seriously push on, if it's what you still want to do.
Bank manager will listen to you more, too.
So milking 250 cows oad and had or could get 7840000 ? I find that hard to understand.
Plenty of jobs around Lazonby that could give you dairy experience. Milking. Calving. Rearing calves. Feeding up. Grazing management. Half days on someone else's farm a half days doing sheep on your own.
I Work 4 to 5 days off farm now at dairy farms also other sheep farms on top of working at home have done for quite a few year now, been ast to half manage an estate in the last few years but don't won't to commit myself to someone else's stock to that extent.
Fair enough that's pretty good for your age. I'd think experience with someone else's stock is ideal as you will of made all the mistakes you can with them not your own
Dolphenby at Eden Hall would be one of the best spots to learn off the owners.Very minimal very switched on. Johnny's a top geez. I'd interview him if you could.