All things Dairy

Location
West Wales
Motley looking crew they all last aug/oct born?
Mostly yeah but some November’s too. Had a crap year for heifers last year and then they really struggled to get going. Probably 80kg difference
QUOTE="dinderleat, post: 6868243, member: 211"]
Why aren’t you grazing them?
[/QUOTE]

lack of suitable grazing means they’re staying in and the R2’s are going out this year. Home is full with cows which means these are on rented ground. They normally go to a block just opposite us but theR2’s are there this year.
The grass really wasn’t good enough which meant feeding them with the snacker all summer. Coupled with poor water supply over there it can be a real headache. We’ve got less staff than ever and milking more cows so we’re just feeling our way through what’s best.
We handed back a block of land last year because i was looking at my invoice at the end of the month and it was Constant fuel, garage Sarni and a bag of crisps. It wasn’t good for me or the animals.

That would feed nearly 5 of my cows per day. Wowzers.

it needs some seriously careful costing but it all depends what price we put on animal performance now. It’s not ideal I’ll be the first to admit but for the moment it’s a means of buying in labour in effect.
 

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
Mostly yeah but some November’s too. Had a crap year for heifers last year and then they really struggled to get going. Probably 80kg difference
QUOTE="dinderleat, post: 6868243, member: 211"]
Why aren’t you grazing them?

lack of suitable grazing means they’re staying in and the R2’s are going out this year. Home is full with cows which means these are on rented ground. They normally go to a block just opposite us but theR2’s are there this year.
The grass really wasn’t good enough which meant feeding them with the snacker all summer. Coupled with poor water supply over there it can be a real headache. We’ve got less staff than ever and milking more cows so we’re just feeling our way through what’s best.
We handed back a block of land last year because i was looking at my invoice at the end of the month and it was Constant fuel, garage Sarni and a bag of crisps. It wasn’t good for me or the animals.



it needs some seriously careful costing but it all depends what price we put on animal performance now. It’s not ideal I’ll be the first to admit but for the moment it’s a means of buying in labour in effect.
[/QUOTE]
Have you thought about an Advantage feeder, 24 hour access, but can be regulated down to 3 kg / day. Infuriating to set initially, but work well when you have. I have two, take a tonne and a half each.
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
Feed to breed... got to maximise growth potential in first year of life so no point in scimping. These darlings are 7 -8 months old and on 4kg of blend and ad lib straw per day

20200409_141816.jpg
 
Location
West Wales
lack of suitable grazing means they’re staying in and the R2’s are going out this year. Home is full with cows which means these are on rented ground. They normally go to a block just opposite us but theR2’s are there this year.
The grass really wasn’t good enough which meant feeding them with the snacker all summer. Coupled with poor water supply over there it can be a real headache. We’ve got less staff than ever and milking more cows so we’re just feeling our way through what’s best.
We handed back a block of land last year because i was looking at my invoice at the end of the month and it was Constant fuel, garage Sarni and a bag of crisps. It wasn’t good for me or the animals.



it needs some seriously careful costing but it all depends what price we put on animal performance now. It’s not ideal I’ll be the first to admit but for the moment it’s a means of buying in labour in effect.
Have you thought about an Advantage feeder, 24 hour access, but can be regulated down to 3 kg / day. Infuriating to set initially, but work well when you have. I have two, take a tonne and a half each.
[/QUOTE]

yes I certainly have and was all set to order some before the sh!t hit the fan. that said I suspect they may well pay for themselves in better managed feed consumption. What do you feed via yours?
 

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
Have you thought about an Advantage feeder, 24 hour access, but can be regulated down to 3 kg / day. Infuriating to set initially, but work well when you have. I have two, take a tonne and a half each.

yes I certainly have and was all set to order some before the sh!t hit the fan. that said I suspect they may well pay for themselves in better managed feed consumption. What do you feed via yours?
[/QUOTE]
Rearing pellets, from Mole Valley with a fat spray on so they don’t absorb too much water and block the slide.
 

jimmer

Member
Location
East Devon
View attachment 869378
Hopeful some yard time will reduce the R1’s blend consumption. We’re trying them on ad-lib to reduce work load with staff off etc so far they’re eating about 8kg a day :oops: I’m hopeful they’ll settle to more like 5 for a month or two. If not the bags will have to be back out.
Turn them out , have faith in grass
You seem to be constantly having hairbrain ideas due to labour issues , it's lighter at night now , load the kids up after tea with a bag of barley and check them , a few squirts of diesel is a damn sight cheaper than your current policy of subsidising feed mills
 
Location
West Wales
Turn them out , have faith in grass
You seem to be constantly having hairbrain ideas due to labour issues , it's lighter at night now , load the kids up after tea with a bag of barley and check them , a few squirts of diesel is a damn sight cheaper than your current policy of subsidising feed mills
I would tend to agree and they will be back out again that’s for sure but need to get somewhere with water for a start.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
water for milk always a good bet, the truly horrendous truth, water is dearer than spot milk, Been messing around with water today, we have pipes layed on top of ground, and dig them in, next time we reseed, dug in a 400m length, where we finished, we located the old pipe, going underground, and across grass, great, connect the 2, safely under, no water the other end of old pipe, we had caught it x2 with subsoiler, another 3 hours wasted.
 
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SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.8%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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