Northern Ireland Milk Price Tracker

Whitewalker

Member
Forecast says 4 dry days starting tomorrow! Will the cows be sneaking on Monday!

Weather has changed less frost in winter less dry in summer.....

In the 1800s ice houses were filled off lakes etc and could be more than a foot thick . Now a winter can pass with no frost . Suppose the question is if this is the normal how do we adapt to it ?
 

The Agrarian

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
I've heard dad talk about waiting for the ground to thaw enough to let him start ploughing with the 35. Two coats, two pair of breeks, hat gloves etc. Sounds pretty awful.

There's a small lake near here that froze when my mum was young, enough to walk on. She remembers people going through the ice and drowning. In the last extreme winter when we had down to minus 16, that lake was beginning to get a skin on it. But only a skin. And dad remembers the Bann frozen. Apparently it was skated on at coleraine. I saw a skin starting on it at the edges where there was no movement.
 
I've heard dad talk about waiting for the ground to thaw enough to let him start ploughing with the 35. Two coats, two pair of breeks, hat gloves etc. Sounds pretty awful.

There's a small lake near here that froze when my mum was young, enough to walk on. She remembers people going through the ice and drowning. In the last extreme winter when we had down to minus 16, that lake was beginning to get a skin on it. But only a skin. And dad remembers the Bann frozen. Apparently it was skated on at coleraine. I saw a skin starting on it at the edges where there was no movement.

The Bann froze in 2010/11 not that long ago. I walked across our river that year on my Christmas Day stroll, my dad did the same in the 60s.
Lake in kilrea had a skin of ice on it this year start of March.
Remember my old Geography teacher saying on average we only have about 10 nights of frost per year. I thought nonsense but it’s never too far away.
This year has been awful and will be remembered but you never remember the average years always best and worse. Weather has changed but not as much as folk make out.
There will still be silage cut before balmoral show, usually close to May before cows are turned out in a normal year just seems worse because they were in so early.
 

Wee Willy

Member
Location
Tyrone
It's too short a season here to be a spring calver.
It is with the greatest of regret that I have to agree with that statement.
I read the IFJ far too much. We are not on a level playing field with the weather and soil type compared to the boys down south. No point trying to do something that is impossible...grazing cows spring and autumn.
 

Bogeyman

Member
Location
North Antrim
It’s a carousel that many find hard to get off,don’t want to judge anyone, but keeping ahead of the neighbours or being in deep with the bank can be factors as over the years some crazy money has been spent on land over here as it is in such short supply.
 

Cowmangav

Member
Location
Ayrshire
Hasn't Northern Ireland's milk production doubled since quota's were introduced, Scotland's is about the same , and there is a big chunk missing from England's pre-quota level , which would make you think milk prices on mainland UK would be robust - but no?
 

Whitewalker

Member
It’s a carousel that many find hard to get off,don’t want to judge anyone, but keeping ahead of the neighbours or being in deep with the bank can be factors as over the years some crazy money has been spent on land over here as it is in such short supply.
It’s not hard to jump on the gerbil wheel . Then however everyone one has different ambitions. Simplicity suits me best being simple myself:confused:
 

mixed farm

Member
It is with the greatest of regret that I have to agree with that statement.
I read the IFJ far too much. We are not on a level playing field with the weather and soil type compared to the boys down south. No point trying to do something that is impossible...grazing cows spring and autumn.
It's certainly not all fun and games down south either. Cows out with a week but conditions are difficult. Put out calves, they broke wire and went apeshit but eventually settled. Had to bring them back in yesterday :banghead: No one should take any notice of the IFJ. It's fantasy farming.
 

The Agrarian

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
It's certainly not all fun and games down south either. Cows out with a week but conditions are difficult. Put out calves, they broke wire and went apeshit but eventually settled. Had to bring them back in yesterday :banghead: No one should take any notice of the IFJ. It's fantasy farming.

Your honesty is appreciated. It's no bed of roses at times, and there's no shame in admitting to that. The one thing that comes through over and over is that there is no one-size-fits-all system for everyone out there, and that each one of us is here doing this thing today, partly because we have each engineered a unique collection of compromises that has allowed us to keep going. I think we should take heart in that. Summer's on the way.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 80 42.3%
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    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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