All things Dairy

[MrA.G.]

Obviously time for dinner if the assistants are tucking in

 

[Happy hillbily]

Been trying to get a tidy way of storing these plastic posts for ages pleased we managed it for the cost of a bit of wire an a tensioner.
Sadly the pigtale board was £25 in coach bolts!

Not quite as tidy but does the job

Made these as I have lost my hammer in stakes for hard ground. Does the job to keep the cows out of the bales.

 

[Jdunn55]

Right, these photos are making me feel like an untidy slob, can someone PLEASE post a photo of their electric fencing stakes scattered in piles around the yard?

It would make me feel a lot better, thanks

 

[Slowcow]

I would but it's dark

 

[Jdunn55]

I would but it's dark

Best time to have an inspection I reckon, the place looks much nicer in the dark

 

[Uggman]

years ago bought a fly 'bait' put on top of a big bottle of water, and it filled up in 24 hrs, couldn't believe the amount, and couldn't get another either.
its scary how many flies are about, and thank goodness for repellents.

Sorry don’t mean to come across as negative but we moved back into dairy in 2013 with a plan which has since gone out the window totatlly. It’s been a hard slog and anything that could go wrong has. I love what we’ve done and achieve but when you consider the carpenters on my new house are charging £20-£25 an hour + it makes you seriously question things. It’s irrelevant if you don’t have to borrow all the 500k it’s the total cost vs total return and if we are all honest with ourselves then investing in the stock market if you have cash available would likely generate more return

Yeah but just think where you live and where the chippys live and your building a new house live and you might have a better work life balance especially this time of year with the kids off school and home every day!

 

[som farmer]

Yeah but just think where you live and where the chippys live and your building a new house live and you might have a better work life balance especially this time of year with the kids off school and home every day!

live away from the buildings, the 'bait' was where we reared the calves.

 

[Uggman]

live away from the buildings, the 'bait' was where we reared the calves.

Sorry didn't mean to tag you!

 

[yin ewe]

Best time to have an inspection I reckon, the place looks much nicer in the dark

I don't like walking round our yard in the dark in case I trip over something

 

[Martyn]

you are learning, might be interesting to reread some of your early posts.
Milk is what pays the bills, and milk must come first.

I kind of agree, but it's a very tricky game, it's more about valuating risk, yes milk cheque pays bills and keeps cashflow alive, but in this job I think often you make the most money by choosing when the best time is the jump/commit to a purchase or a sale. Gut instinct is essential and not copying the neighbors, volume has little comparison to profit.

 

[som farmer]

I kind of agree, but it's a very tricky game, it's more about valuating risk, yes milk cheque pays bills and keeps cashflow alive, but in this job I think often you make the most money by choosing when the best time is the jump/commit to a purchase or a sale. Gut instinct is essential and not copying the neighbors, volume has little comparison to profit.

and that is the joy of business, its what we do.
gut instinct is usually right, think outside the box, forget what others do, unless it works for you.
the simple rule of thumb, make more correct decisions, than wrong ones, you will never get them all right !

 

[Lewis]

In calf heifers tucking into there hay breakfast.

 

[som farmer]

In calf heifers tucking into there hay breakfast.

our bullers don't like there hay and silage ration, nor being inside.
some ####### left a footpath gate open, took us 5 hours to round them up into a farm yard, had to haul them back, TB test next week, so into the shed they went.

 

[Lewis]

Travelling trough the field of heifers to get to the youngstock to feed them hay/pea straw the last 3 or 4 weeks. dropped a wad as going through off the jcb and they went mad for it so may as well carry on if they want it. Grass has started to alter here but forecast is dry for the foreseeable

 

[crashbox]

Not many mention fodder beet on this forum. They will do 30-35 tons an acre sometimes more. Least they will grow in any weather once established.

They don't when it's too dry and they don't close the canopy, the ground bakes then...

Also not so easy to feed to cattle compared.to clamped maize, but have a mate who uses it for outwintering dry stock pretty effectively

 

[Lewis]

Bullocks getting there belly fill.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Right, these photos are making me feel like an untidy slob, can someone PLEASE post a photo of their electric fencing stakes scattered in piles around the yard?

It would make me feel a lot better, thanks

No, ours are all in use, patching up broken fencing and the ground is too hard to break new fence posts putting them in! Just had to buy some more bundles and they are in the pack still so they don't count!

 

[Princess Pooper]

Not many mention fodder beet on this forum. They will do 30-35 tons an acre sometimes more. Least they will grow in any weather once established.

We feed bought in fodder beet usually from as soon as it is available (around late Oct) for the whole season until April. Rather concerned what price/availability will be this year (they come from Wisbech area).

Even if we get late rain they will then leave them in the ground for longer to increase yield (can't blame them) which means later availability!

 

[Tim G]

We feed bought in fodder beet usually from as soon as it is available (around late Oct) for the whole season until April. Rather concerned what price/availability will be this year (they come from Wisbech area).

Even if we get late rain they will then leave them in the ground for longer to increase yield (can't blame them) which means later availability!

How clean are they? Do you have to wash them?

 

[Headless chicken]

Not many mention fodder beet on this forum. They will do 30-35 tons an acre sometimes more. Least they will grow in any weather once established.

Fodder beet is planned in our rotation for next year. Hoping to let heifers out by day on it after serving back in on bales. Hoping we can halve the required amount of bales we need to make