Dairy farmers help me!!

[Bossfarmer]

im trying to work out what the net profit per cow would be at 30ppl, people tell me dairy cows are making over £1000/cow gross margin so what will the net profit per cow be thanks? im trying to compare 200 dairy cows to 200 cow suckler herd

 

[Coo man]

30p for 2 months then 20p for 10 months more than likely nowadays

 

[Bossfarmer]

30p for 2 months then 20p for 10 months more than likely nowadays

surely not with a contract?what would you say 5 year av contract price is 24ppl?

 

[worker]

30p for 2 months then 20p for 10 months more than likely nowadays

less a dry period of 56 day? or more when we cock up the drying off date...

 

[Beef farmer]

20 milkers would leave a bigger margin than 200 suckers.

 

[Will Blackburn]

Unless you know your contract options (potential purchasers) it's quite frankly meaningless.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Depends if you want to 'scale it up' to suit the post you made on the subsidy scrapping thread, IMHO.
200 cows can be a very profitable size herd due to low outside labour requirements, down here the golden size herd is 240 cows as it can be run day in, day out by a couple - with help only required during spring calving or for a break.
420 is the next golden spot = 1 staffer
600 ish the next labour unit and 800 the next, and so on up, but the smaller one is nearly always the consistently more profitable unit.

As for P/E ratio hard to comment due to different farm systems, iron disease, debt loadings etc, but I'd imagine it to be anywhere between a negative number and 25% profit margin.

No doubt the local dairy farmers will be along shortly

 

[Bossfarmer]

20 milkers would leave a bigger margin than 200 suckers.

are u serious?

 

[Bald Rick]

im trying to work out what the net profit per cow would be at 30ppl, people tell me dairy cows are making over £1000/cow gross margin so what will the net profit per cow be thanks? im trying to compare 200 dairy cows to 200 cow suckler herd

Don't use that figure as your starting point would, er, be a good starting point.

10 year average price is around 25ppl but even that may be a bit tasty with the great unknown around the corner.

 

[Bossfarmer]

Depends if you want to 'scale it up' to suit the post you made on the subsidy scrapping thread, IMHO.
200 cows can be a very profitable size herd due to low outside labour requirements, down here the golden size herd is 240 cows as it can be run day in, day out by a couple - with help only required during spring calving or for a break.
420 is the next golden spot = 1 staffer
600 ish the next labour unit and 800 the next, and so on up, but the smaller one is nearly always the consistently more profitable unit.

As for P/E ratio hard to comment due to different farm systems, iron disease, debt loadings etc, but I'd imagine it to be anywhere between a negative number and 25% profit margin.

No doubt the local dairy farmers will be along shortly

200 cows would still require me to have outside labour i am stretched at the moment with 200 sucklers 200 ewes 550 cereals but can get by without labour id still have the arable side to do

 

[Bossfarmer]

Don't use that figure as your starting point would, er, be a good starting point.

10 year average price is around 25ppl but even that may be a bit tasty with the great unknown around the corner.

am i right in saying though that that 25ppl will include a value for rent and bank borrowing repayments? i would hopefully not need to pay either, mabye a loan for an extra shed

 

[O'Reilly]

It depends if you're going to be any good at it. There's at least 10p difference in cop between the best and worst farmers.
However, for a milk price, if you budget for 20ppl, you are less likely to be disappointed.

 

[Bald Rick]

am i right in saying though that that 25ppl will include a value for rent and bank borrowing repayments? i would hopefully not need to pay either, mabye a loan for an extra shed

No, 25ppl would be an average price you would receive for every litre of milk produced before ANY costs or deductions at source (for example dirty milk & the perennial AHDB levy) for which you have to make a living. You will be doing well to take home 1ppl as "profit" from which to live on/reinvest unless you are blessed with a Cost Tracker contract - which you won't be

 

[Bossfarmer]

No, 25ppl would be an average price you would receive for every litre of milk produced before ANY costs or deductions at source (for example dirty milk & the perennial AHDB levy) for which you have to make a living. You will be doing well to take home 1ppl as "profit" from which to live on/reinvest unless you are blessed with a Cost Tracker contract - which you won't be

Right so at 1ppl profit if sell 1,900000litres at 200 cows x 9500l so 19k profit before sfp? Thats no better than sucklers?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

200 cows would still require me to have outside labour i am stretched at the moment with 200 sucklers 200 ewes 550 cereals but can get by without labour id still have the arable side to do

Would you employ a manager to run the dairy part as a whole, plus an assistant (unsure as to what job titles they are, just using the local lingo) as two paid staff would likely not see that as a profitable herd here.
That would be $100k off the top, at our current salary rates, split by 200 cows it wouldn't fly for long.
I ran 350 cows sole charge as a youngster and wouldn't put it on my list of things to do again!
AYR calving would have been better in that scenario to spread the load.

 

[Bald Rick]

Right so at 1ppl profit if sell 1,900000litres at 200 cows x 9500l so 19k profit before sfp? Thats no better than sucklers?

That's about the sum of it ...... no one said dairy farming was/is a panacea for all farming ills

Of course, a decent milk price, good calf price etc etc and meeting all quality standards and so on and the profit figure jumps markedly.
However it is always better to be master of one than a jack of all.

 

[Rossymons]

Right so at 1ppl profit if sell 1,900000litres at 200 cows x 9500l so 19k profit before sfp? Thats no better than sucklers?

Stick with your sucklers then. Don't want you coming in to spoil the fun for the rest of us!

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

200 cows would still require me to have outside labour i am stretched at the moment with 200 sucklers 200 ewes 550 cereals but can get by without labour id still have the arable side to do

sell 170 of the sucklers, keep the rest,
buy 120 good cows, fit 2 robots, block valve them begin of October this gives more time at harvest for you, rear calves from beef bull over winter sell store in spring when plenty of grass about,
make good silage for cows, and good hay for Young stock, any bad hay/silage, feed to sucklers,
don't go down feeder wagon route as the costs will eat any money gained,
no extra staff needed

 

[Bossfarmer]

sell 170 of the sucklers, keep the rest,
buy 120 good cows, fit 2 robots, block valve them begin of October this gives more time at harvest for you, rear calves from beef bull over winter sell store in spring when plenty of grass about,
make good silage for cows, and good hay for Young stock, any bad hay/silage, feed to sucklers,
don't go down feeder wagon route as the costs will eat any money gained,
no extra staff needed

Could be an option although milking 120 cows twice a day would require labour at sowing/harvest/silage time?

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Right so at 1ppl profit if sell 1,900000litres at 200 cows x 9500l so 19k profit before sfp? Thats no better than sucklers?

Is there any milk buyers with you?
Inverness is right near the top isn't it?