Northern Ireland Milk Price Tracker

[daveydiesel1]

Its a very unforgiving crop all right with no room for error !!!
But as you already are involved in cereal growing it shouldnt be beyond you
Its always good to try things and see how the work for you and 4 acres wont break you if it all goes south .
On the the plus side all going well you would have around 100ton of roots anyway off 4 acres .
Liam Robb over at Manorcunnigham in Donegal grows beet so he would probably drill and possibly harvest for you ..
First things first start with a soil test and take it from there

Im a fair bit from donegal. But theres a man up the road had a field in and think he has some wee tractor pulled harvester so that bit wouldnt be a problem. What type of price per acre would it be

 

[Wee Willy]

Have grown beet for years but stopped a couple of years ago in favour of maize also the old Armer puller was on its last legs .
I presume its fodder beet youre thinking about
You need a good deep soil with a ph heading for 7 . Lime if needed should ideally be applied the year before Costs?? Well a half ton of beet compound to start whatever that costs this year is anyones guess !!! Two weed sprays should suffice . Spraying is best done by yourself because beet is very easily killed by residues from cereal herbicides . A day washing the sprayer with all clear extra is essential .
You will need to change the nozzles to apply approx 10 gallons fine mist acre ..
Be careful with overlaps as beet dont take kindly to double doses either
A fungicide with boron added should be applied in August to keep leaves green and proud . Very important if a top lifter is to be used to harvest .
A very good crop will yield 30 + tons of beet acre but some of the real pros down wexico way have hit 40 .. The later you harvest the higher the yield as beet keeps growing as long as its leaves are good .
Beet is excellent for lifting pr and cows go wild for it .
High protein meal is a must to balance the ration as well as beet maize minerals .Helps cows feet too
Cant think of anything else atm .

I've a lot of respect for @Cowcorn but I bought washed and chopped beet two years ago. My silage quality was crap that year and wanted to lift protein. Cows loved it but had absolutely no affect to protein and yield. Fed approx 20 kg per cow. Maybe not enough?
I'm going to keep trying to make good silage.
Might try whole crop this year,undersowed as a spring reseed.

 

[Conrod96]

Who's those gangsters on Farmflix today @Conrod96 ?

Few rough operators on it alright this morning now

 

[Cowcorn]

I've a lot of respect for @Cowcorn but I bought washed and chopped beet two years ago. My silage quality was crap that year and wanted to lift protein. Cows loved it but had absolutely no affect to protein and yield. Fed approx 20 kg per cow. Maybe not enough?
I'm going to keep trying to make good silage.
Might try whole crop this year,undersowed as a spring reseed.

Thank you @Wee Willy any idea what variety of beet you bought ?? The high DM varieties are best for Dairy cows but some low dm give higher yields so if youre selling .... Rough fag box calculation 4 kg of beet equals just over a kilo of rolled barley in dm terms .
20kg is a good amount per head but to get the yield it needs to be balanced with high protien meal 24 % nuts or soya in the parlour .
Of course youre right good silage is a given but after the first cut the economics of second and third cuts start to look a little shaky .
The plus of a forage crop like beet is the big pile of feed per acre .
If youre renting for silage then on a per ton basis it aint cheap .
Throw a few bags of peas into the mix with your reseed and it will make great high protein silage . Fix a bit of free N as well as an added bonus .
@daveydiesel1 expect to pay around a hundred acre to pull beet and 35 to drill or thereabouts .

 

[3rdgenerationdairyman]

I've a lot of respect for @Cowcorn but I bought washed and chopped beet two years ago. My silage quality was crap that year and wanted to lift protein. Cows loved it but had absolutely no affect to protein and yield. Fed approx 20 kg per cow. Maybe not enough?
I'm going to keep trying to make good silage.
Might try whole crop this year,undersowed as a spring reseed.

Same experience here

 

[it's not over]

@Conrod96 ,seen you video on farmflix,vg. If your first cross was a monty,what did you cross the half breed with

 

[Conrod96]

@Conrod96 ,seen you video on farmflix,vg. If your first cross was a monty,what did you cross the half breed with

Used a few Norwegian reds and they are fine but just chose not to use anymore again just cross them back and forward Holstein and monty try and keep it fairly simply if the cow is monty sired she’ll get a Holstein straw and if she’s Holstein sired she’ll get a monty straw

 

[it's not over]

Used a few Norwegian reds and they are fine but just chose not to use anymore again just cross them back and forward Holstein and monty try and keep it fairly simply if the cow is monty sired she’ll get a Holstein straw and if she’s Holstein sired she’ll get a monty straw

Yes,I like the keep it simple approach, we haven't advanced to ai yet, I'll hardly start now

 

[Conrod96]

Yes,I like the keep it simple approach, we haven't advanced to ai yet, I'll hardly start now

Sure if it ain’t broke don’t fix as they say

 

[lazy farmer]

Yes,I like the keep it simple approach, we haven't advanced to ai yet, I'll hardly start now

What you going to do when they stop paying for white water ?

 

[it's not over]

What you going to do when they stop paying for white water ?

I will retire,it's my hobby milking cows,don't need to,just enjoy it

 

[crabbitfarmer]

I will retire,it's my hobby milking cows,don't need to,just enjoy it

You just have to love the torture of it

 

[Wishful Thinker]

What you going to do when they stop paying for white water ?

Why does only using bulls mean he has white water?

 

[lazy farmer]

Why does only using bulls mean he has white water?

The milk quality figure that have been posted up before suggest litres rather than quality.

 

[it's not over]

Aurivo 32.25p plus 1p wb, less for white water but rem the cow with the copper tail(the tap) can fair milk
I see they've made some changes to the ballymena mart machinery auction Web site, let hope you can still bid on your own machinery

 

[Wee Willy]

We've all read on the "Milk price tracker" what milk prices are going to be over-the-water( not the mainland..Z!). Do you think our boys will give a big increase now most winter bonuses are over?

 

[Back Row Man]

We've all read on the "Milk price tracker" what milk prices are going to be over-the-water( not the mainland..Z!). Do you think our boys will give a big increase now most winter bonuses are over?

I think we all know the answer to that....

 

[Happy at it]

Has anyone been speaking to our friendly local merchants for fert prices since the turn of the year?

 

[Suckndiesel]

Has anyone been speaking to our friendly local merchants for fert prices since the turn of the year?

It’s going up £15/£20 in February apparently. Which is only about 2.5% in this day and age

 

[Davy]

585 CAN
800 urea
So I'm told