- Location
- Fife
There are plenty born in such circumstances who make a success of their lives.
Hard work on it's own is not enough. It needs to be accompanied by imagination and the intelligence to make managed risks.
Dairy the way forward?
- Thread starter kfpben
- Start date
There are plenty born in such circumstances who make a success of their lives.
Hard work on it's own is not enough. It needs to be accompanied by imagination and the intelligence to make managed risks.
- Location
- M6 Hard shoulder
Good luck @jimmer push the pedal and get on, no better feeling than ploughing your own furrow.
- Location
- M6 Hard shoulder
Ginsters I hope not
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Yes why people don't milk sheep and goats instead I have no idea.
I did ask earlier in the thread but I don't think anyone looked twice - that would be the only dairy venture I'd be moving into.
That's farmers for you - the only real problem facing agriculture is farmers.
It's a fair point. A stable upbringing and a good education will put you at a massive advantage over more gifted people. Having said that the op has 400 acres and is wondering if dairy is a sensible option. I think in these circumstances it probably is.
Clay52
Member
- Location
- Outer Space
Thats simply not true. If circumstances go bad enough at the beginning there is nothing you can do about it.
Sure it may feel good to think you can out work any problem but in reality that’s not the case. Same with any business really.
Clay52
Member
- Location
- Outer Space
Not even the experts can predict the markets.
If you can predict the dairy markets with any accuracy at all why don’t you make an absolute fortune trading dairy futures and don’t bother milking cows. Or if you want to milk cows still, trade futures on the side and make a fortune.
Family farm yes but I was employed by parents first. I was made a partner last year and now majority partner. But we're tenants and I have my meeting with the Landlord about succeeding the tenancy before Christmas. So I have a rent and 2 mortgages to pay for before anything else so don't think I'm sitting pretty. Neither am complaining about it. I'm getting on with it.
I looked at milking other things than cows. The main issue was no one else was - you couldn't sell the milk locally to any dairies and I'm not keen on processing myself (seasonality of sales is a problem) and the only way to sell it would be to fill a lorry EOD. The vets, nutritionists etc didn't have any experience with them and neither did I. The equipment was also much more expensive (since it was all imported and there was little competition locally) and backup was poor. I worked it out that even if I did get a contract the costs of setting up and the risk involved made it less profitable the milking cows.
In the end there was no contract for the produce and the costs to start up made it completely unviable. If you were processing yourself then it may well be a different story.
Same here. The market for billy goats is worse than bobby calves so there's that problem to deal with.
- Location
- Fife
I'll take every Billy goat you produce.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
That's quite interesting, surprisingly interesting!
Couple of sheepmilk processors down here I think.
Definitely one, it was based just up the road but then moved to invercargill... sheep cheese is the goods, I can vouch for that
Always thought a mobile sheep milking trailer would be the ticket
Next year Rodney...
Couple of sheepmilk processors down here I think.
Definitely one, it was based just up the road but then moved to invercargill... sheep cheese is the goods, I can vouch for that
Always thought a mobile sheep milking trailer would be the ticket
Next year Rodney...
If I had any, you could have them.
But it was another reason why I didn't move into goat dairying.
Cows 'n grass
Member
- Location
- Modbury, South Devon
Sheep cheese is still a pretty tiny market in the UK and I suspect most of what we do eat is imported.
I think you Cornish boys would find a home for goat milk at Trevarrian. I believe they make quite a bit of goat cheese down there.
I think you Cornish boys would find a home for goat milk at Trevarrian. I believe they make quite a bit of goat cheese down there.
- Location
- Fife
I recently visited a sheep dairy. The owners added value by making their own cheese. The business was extremely successful.
Friesianfan
Member
- Location
- Cornwall
- Location
- Fife
That's quite interesting, surprisingly interesting!
Couple of sheepmilk processors down here I think.
Definitely one, it was based just up the road but then moved to invercargill... sheep cheese is the goods, I can vouch for that
Always thought a mobile sheep milking trailer would be the ticket
Next year Rodney...
http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/116776128/portable-goatsheep-milking-parlour.html
I very nearly bought the above with a view to establishing a Sept lambing milking flock to take advantage of all the dairy grass I have available.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Great minds.
A lot more flexible than a normal cow dairy..
Worked out my yearly margin would be around $600 per ewe
similar to one of my steers, which one eats more
- Location
- M6 Hard shoulder
Same as Billy kids, chuffin waste of time to a dairy man.But now you're going to have jersey bull calves
But now you're going to have jersey bull calves
Jersey X to be precise
Looking back through previous CFPs dairy bull calves make tiny part of the income. The extra milk sales will more than make up for it.