Life after cows

[Wesley]

Do finances dictate you need to run 3 robots? Could you cut back to 2? Less cows means less slurry, fewer calves to deal with, less silage to make, less calls from the robot, the list goes on.
From what I’ve seen robots can be as difficult or as simple as you make it. Admittedly they’re only running one robot but I know of something that has a very easy life from a very simple system. Flying herd so a simple one out one in policy. No mixer wagon, just good quality round bale silage & really high spec cake through the robots. Cows are pumping out milk like crazy & has plenty of time. Which he fills with another job off the farm.

 

[jimmer]

Do finances dictate you need to run 3 robots? Could you cut back to 2? Less cows means less slurry, fewer calves to deal with, less silage to make, less calls from the robot, the list goes on.
From what I’ve seen robots can be as difficult or as simple as you make it. Admittedly they’re only running one robot but I know of something that has a very easy life from a very simple system. Flying herd so a simple one out one in policy. No mixer wagon, just good quality round bale silage & really high spec cake through the robots. Cows are pumping out milk like crazy & has plenty of time. Which he fills with another job off the farm.

 

[Tommcfoster]

So, another related question.If you had no succesion, and wanted / were able to leave the farm to an organsation that would guarantee to maintain it as a farm and use it like a tenant farm to give keen youngsters a chance to get on the ladder ... which organisation would you choose / trust? I''ve read of people who have left estates to the National Trust with conditions attached re hunting etc, who's wishes have then been ignored / overturned or the estate sold for the cash .. so who would you trust? some that spring to mind .. Addington Fund .. RABDF... Duchy of Cornwall .. RABI...

From what I hear about Addington Fund I just wouldn’t go there. They have some bloke work there that has a fixation on building houses. So any farm they get will most likely be flattened for houses.

 

[glow worm]

From what I hear about Addington Fund I just wouldn’t go there. They have some bloke work there that has a fixation on building houses. So any farm they get will most likely be flattened for houses.

I too have heard that their outlook has changed over recent years so my original question remains. I have yet to find an organisation that could be trusted to respect a person's wishes so all I can think is some sort of legal trust which I suspect would be pricy to set up.

 

[ColinV6]

Do finances dictate you need to run 3 robots? Could you cut back to 2? Less cows means less slurry, fewer calves to deal with, less silage to make, less calls from the robot, the list goes on.
From what I’ve seen robots can be as difficult or as simple as you make it. Admittedly they’re only running one robot but I know of something that has a very easy life from a very simple system. Flying herd so a simple one out one in policy. No mixer wagon, just good quality round bale silage & really high spec cake through the robots. Cows are pumping out milk like crazy & has plenty of time. Which he fills with another job off the farm.

So he fills his free time, doing more work elsewhere. Is that not defeating the point of having more free time? Or basically his small scale simple system isn’t providing enough to make a decent living.

 

[Wesley]

So he fills his free time, doing more work elsewhere. Is that not defeating the point of having more free time? Or basically his small scale simple system isn’t providing enough to make a decent living.

Its not a 9-5 type job. He choses when to work & isn’t really tied to either of it as far as I know. Seems to work well for him. There’s only so much free time some people want. Its more an example how someone has made their system simple & freed up plenty of time to do other things. He certainly seems very happy with it.