All things Dairy

[jimmer]

That's just tech speak for saying you're thick

 

[Jdunn55]

This was a nice sight this morning they were all lying down until I took my phone out, excluding the one facing the wrong way finally got the heifers lying in the cubicles properly just had a phone call from dad to say my oldest suckler cow died last night, tbf she was nearing 19 and has given us 20 calves so don't think I can complain too much

 

[RJ1]

Last couple of days' work before the new shed's ready.

 

[Bald Rick]

Last couple of days' work before the new shed's ready.

You got the Poles or the Irish fitting them?

Both were an "experience"

 

[RJ1]

You got the Poles or the Irish fitting them?

Both were an "experience"

We're doing them. Mattress is a bit time consuming but happy with the way it's turning out.

 

[Bald Rick]

We're doing them. Mattress is a bit time consuming but happy with the way it's turning out.

Fair play to you.

However you missed out on the Irish boys. It was quite a thing having to translate from them to our Welsh builders.
And the Poles never stopped

 

[Ducati899]

You got the Poles or the Irish fitting them?

Both were an "experience"

I had the poles fit mine,never seen blokes work like them

 

[deleted user 837354]

Looking through the various photos you do give the viewer/reader of this thread a very clear picture of the dairy 'way of life' which takes me back to being maybe 16 years old and walking the cows down the lane with the dog and feeling quite impressed with my own responsibility on those long summer days which you always remember as being bright sunshine and plenty hot.

I must admit, having looked back at the very start of the thread, and seeing Cows n grass' posts I did wonder for a second why the heck you would want anything else other than some cows, some grass to graze them on and a parlour to milk them in. Robots, self propelled foragers, 10,000 litre milk silos and suddenly it isn't as fun as it used to be?

But back to the way of life, there must be a way of 'marketing' it. Sell working holidays and build a cottage or make an old outbuilding habitable? Charge folks big money to live on the farm and know what it is to get up in the morning and feel as I did when I was 16?

 

[vantage]

Charge folks big money to live on the farm and know what it is to get up in the morning and feel as I did when I was 16?

Farmers don’t think anything of getting up at 4am, the rest of the population don’t think much of it either!

 

[Stuart1]

Is there a machine out there that will chop straw bales to 1-2 inches long? The feeder wagon just isn’t efficient at it. Watched a few videos of Tegal machines and from what I could see it looked chopped fairly well but a video is deceiving.

 

[som farmer]

Looking through the various photos you do give the viewer/reader of this thread a very clear picture of the dairy 'way of life' which takes me back to being maybe 16 years old and walking the cows down the lane with the dog and feeling quite impressed with my own responsibility on those long summer days which you always remember as being bright sunshine and plenty hot.

I must admit, having looked back at the very start of the thread, and seeing Cows n grass' posts I did wonder for a second why the heck you would want anything else other than some cows, some grass to graze them on and a parlour to milk them in. Robots, self propelled foragers, 10,000 litre milk silos and suddenly it isn't as fun as it used to be?

But back to the way of life, there must be a way of 'marketing' it. Sell working holidays and build a cottage or make an old outbuilding habitable? Charge folks big money to live on the farm and know what it is to get up in the morning and feel as I did when I was 16?

l think we all should look at ways/ideas, to engage with the public. The gap between where food actually comes from, and where the public thinks it comes from, has never been greater. If we can help bridge that gap, and make a pound or two, got to be right. The future of cheap holidays abroad, might not be quite so easy to afford, and harder to get there.

 

[MJKFarming]

Is there a machine out there that will chop straw bales to 1-2 inches long? The feeder wagon just isn’t efficient at it. Watched a few videos of Tegal machines and from what I could see it looked chopped fairly well but a video is deceiving.

Hay buster is the one.

 

[Stuart1]

Hay buster is the one.

I did see that, however the price tag is the stumbling block. Don’t know of one over here in NI either that would do contract work.

 

[bigw]

Is there a machine out there that will chop straw bales to 1-2 inches long? The feeder wagon just isn’t efficient at it. Watched a few videos of Tegal machines and from what I could see it looked chopped fairly well but a video is deceiving.

We had a demo of a teagle machine a ew years ago that would chop straw pretty short using different sized screens.

 

[Beef farmer]

I did see that, however the price tag is the stumbling block. Don’t know of one over here in NI either that would do contract work.

Buy one and go contracting. 10 years ago there wasn't any here. Now 3 or 4 contractors are out all winter busy. It's great for people who love to over complicate dry cows

 

[DairyGrazing]

Buy one and go contracting. 10 years ago there wasn't any here. Now 3 or 4 contractors are out all winter busy. It's great for people who love to over complicate dry cows

Don't let the ranchers put you off. Best thing we ever did in our situation was grind straw for the dry cow diet. Haybuster is the best because it has screens. Rotor grind can be a bit hit and miss.

 

[Bald Rick]

I had the poles fit mine,never seen blokes work like them

The Irish were unbelievable.
For a start, they got fined for an overloaded transit.
Arrived, pitched a tent in the shed, broke out the energy drinks and the ganja and set to work until they passed out.

 

[Conrod96]

I did see that, however the price tag is the stumbling block. Don’t know of one over here in NI either that would do contract work.

Guy in our area does straw grinding I’d say if you were doing an amount he’s travel up your way I’d think or there’s guy in Co Down does it as well I think

 

[Stuart1]

You don’t know the model number of the machine you had on demo?

We had a demo of a teagle machine a ew years ago that would chop straw pretty short using different sized screens.

 

[Stuart1]

Buy one and go contracting. 10 years ago there wasn't any here. Now 3 or 4 contractors are out all winter busy. It's great for people who love to over complicate dry cows

Couldn’t think of anything worse than going contracting to be honest. Straw is the bees knees for dry cows. Nothing complicated about it.