All things Dairy

[vantage]

Also I like the the idea of 1 hp per cow

That maybe too much for a unit with a scraper tractor and nothing else, all contracted out!

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

If I was starting out I would not be buying new kit when I appear to be under stocked. But as with many things I’m probably wrong.

To be fair, I am the extreme opposite would never buy machinery and if I did it had to be old and cheap, I've always bought another cow, with hindsight I was wrong, he will always have quality food for his cows, people with small acreage are always at the end of the que with contractors and that means sh!t silage.

 

[lazy farmer]

To be fair, I am the extreme opposite would never buy machinery and if I did it had to be old and cheap, I've always bought another cow, with hindsight I was wrong, he will always have quality food for his cows, people with small acreage are always at the end of the que with contractors and that means sh!t silage.

Spring calving cows don t need much quality silage.

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

Also I like the the idea of 1 hp per cow

You wouldn't be overly struck on my db995 with getting on for nearly 300 cows at times then.

 

[lazy farmer]

I have no idea what those letters and numbers mean.

 

[Farmer Keith]

The spring that just keeps giving, hard frost followed by snow at 9am

 

[Jdunn55]

If I was starting out I would not be buying new kit when I appear to be under stocked. But as with many things I’m probably wrong.

You're not wrong just different ways of doing things I guess

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

Spring calving cows don t need much quality silage.

I have no idea what those letters and numbers mean.

No you wouldn't, because (a) your too young and (b) you appear to live in a perfect world. Oh and (c) your probably being a knob

 

[lazy farmer]

For those who know me to say whether im
A knob or not.
but firstly im not that young but I have zero interest in tractors so wouldn’t know one type /size from another.
As for living in a perfect world. Nah but I do my best to make it slightly less shxt.

 

[Jdunn55]

Spring calving cows don t need much quality silage.

This farm is a really difficult one to farm as @Friesianfan will tell you. From what I've seen Hes made it work by keeping it simple and being flexible. Being able to do my own silage allows me to do the same. I've only got half the farm, and have only got 35 acres of the 115 acres of silage ground so am having to rely on dads farm for silage which is an hour round trip. Bales mean I can pull them back as and when i get time, if I've got time when I'm baling them great, if not i can pull them to dads yard and pull them back as i need them or else if I'm really short of time i can stack them in the field. I cant do that with clamp. Baling contractors down here are nearly always busy and dont want to pee around with 15 acres of light 3rd cut in the middle of a drought!

As for spring cows not needing much quality silage, I would agree in the most part except this farm is difficult. I'm calving in february/March cows will be staying in during february and overnight in march. Grass doesnt really start growing until the end of April so need to have a longer rotation to begin with, if they arent having good quality silage during February and overnight in march they wont hit peak milk yield and will struggle for the rest of the lactation so I want really good quality silage for them during this time! Similarly if we get a dry summer then I want good quality silage available to keep their milk up when grass isnt available.

So far for machinery this is what I've bought:
£3000 scraper tractor (second hand)
£500 box scraper (second hand)
£5500 low loader (second hand) as dads bale trailer is falling apart and I need a way of being able to transport bought in silage/hay and move machinery around between farms as it's an easy hour round trip!
Plus this baler which would be on a 0% finance agreement

I dont think that's crazy for a new start-up? If I'd bought a fleet of brand new tractors, all the grass equipment, cultivation equipment etc I wouldnt blame you for calling me nuts but I dont think I've been that silly with what I've bought? I just want to have a baler I can rely on, dads mower, tedder, rake, wrapper, telehandler etc are all reliable it's just his baler that's being naughty all the time at the minute so would like soemthing that's not!

 

[Milkcow365]

Anyone got decent rubber matting in there parlour ? My cows all have to do a 180 turn when they come out to head back down the race, I get to much white line in the feet so I’m looking to improve this. Ideally I’d like to see some photos of aged rubber it all looks good when new but what about 5/10 years down the line.

 

[Jdunn55]

For those who know me to say whether im
A knob or not.
but firstly im not that young but I have zero interest in tractors so wouldn’t know one type /size from another.
As for living in a perfect world. Nah but I do my best to make it slightly less shxt.

I just want to add, I dont think you're a knob, I think you're trying to offer advice which is appreciated, also going to say that machinery also doesnt interest me massively as long as it's easy to look after and works when I want it to, the baler is failing on that which is why I want to replace it.
The tractor on the front was nice i wont lie but i couldn't ever justify spending that much money on it and am happy with dads 11 year old massey

 

[Jdunn55]

Anyone got decent rubber matting in there parlour ? My cows all have to do a 180 turn when they come out to head back down the race, I get to much white line in the feet so I’m looking to improve this. Ideally I’d like to see some photos of aged rubber it all looks good when new but what about 5/10 years down the line.

I'll take some photos of the parlour here, @Friesianfan you were having the same trouble before weren't you?

 

[lazy farmer]

Anyone got decent rubber matting in there parlour ? My cows all have to do a 180 turn when they come out to head back down the race, I get to much white line in the feet so I’m looking to improve this. Ideally I’d like to see some photos of aged rubber it all looks good when new but what about 5/10 years down the line.

From memory 8yrs old. Ours turn 180degrees too. We hardly get white line anymore. I am thinking of replacing a couple of sections due to cows beginning to slip as they turn now though. Easy fix.

 

[Slowcow]

View attachment 959291Get them to throw in a grease gun AND grease if you get another baler, that UJ does look very dry, very dairy farmerish!

I was going to say there's too much grease in the gun but thought I'd get shot down in the dairy farming section!
They should catch fire before they fail

 

[Rossymons]

That's the first 100 heifers done.

Have a good season everyone!

 

[Spudley]

Cheap.
There’s a farm on Savills locally for sale £10m, pretty sure Grassmen were there filming silage and maize planting a few days ago. Was very impressive with a Quadtrac subsoiling and prepping for maize post silage.

Did you see them chopping for the digester? It was like confetti! To be quite honest I have mixed feelings seeing good silage like that feeding the national grid. Did you know that the BGS now has a separate category in its silage competition for silage that won't be fed.

I must say I enjoyed the videos of Danrheol, they're a very impressive, hardworking yet fun loving family. I worked with Jane for a number of years, she's trying her best to beat the big C. Thus the pink silage trailer.

 

[som farmer]

The waste feeding bales is negligible.
The waste feeding clamp is a lot more.

it's the waste plastic that concerns me, that will be increasing expensive to get rid of, certainly not 'green'.
Not a fan of baled silage, and the reason we are putting effluent tank in, managed to work the price down from £12,000, down to £4,000. EA have approved the tank, and been served the 14 day notice, of installing it, hoping that will end that problem.

 

[Fools Gold]

View attachment 959294From memory 8yrs old. Ours turn 180degrees too. We hardly get white line anymore. I am thinking of replacing a couple of sections due to cows beginning to slip as they turn now though. Easy fix.

Have you got it in the parlour standings as well as the exit? No tight turns here but sometimes feel it might be beneficial to cows in the parlour

 

[som farmer]

You breed your own replacements but also seem to buy and sell 00s cows. Have you changed your entire herd? It always seems your getting a great deal too. Whats the secret?

keeping yours ears open, and offering what people want, and taking advantage of chances when offered. Best buys are bunches i/c, sort through them, bit of 'tidying up', and match in with others, pays very well too. The biggest danger is TB, that would seriously f### it up. But we are where we want to be size wise, and don't expect to do much more this year, barren price is to high.