Thinking of getting out of dairying

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
One family plus a dependant family needs about 800,000 litres or so sold these days in my opinion. The OP is on a hiding to nothing milking 50 cows on all those acres with outdated and labour intensive buildings and parlour. It sounds like significant investment is needed, or a change of enterprise. The scale of the business does need to go with the times.
Just as important is to make sure that the younger generation actually owns the farm before thinking of investing a penny of their own money or the bank's money with them having the ultimate responsibility. Nothing worse than slaving away for pocket money and ending up with nothing but worry and more commitment work for years.
 

supercow

Member
Location
Dumfriesshire
If you follow that logic then shouldn't you be sitting on a stool with bucket, and have them all tied up in a byre.
Nah we invested in a 28/28 parlour 100 cows an hour, 190 cows 1 hour 50 loving life, keep on top of mastitis, feet keep a close eye on them twice daily, loving life. If I was 55-60 year old I'd seriously consider putting robots in. But I'm pre 40 and have good men in the team. @pappuller u would be able to afford Nescafé cappacino if u didn't have those robots to pay for!!!
 

pappuller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
M6 Hard shoulder
Nah we invested in a 28/28 parlour 100 cows an hour, 190 cows 1 hour 50 loving life, keep on top of mastitis, feet keep a close eye on them twice daily, loving life. If I was 55-60 year old I'd seriously consider putting robots in. But I'm pre 40 and have good men in the team. @pappuller u would be able to afford Nescafé cappacino if u didn't have those robots to pay for!!!
Always been my way ask the wife treat her mean to keep her keen.
 

pappuller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
M6 Hard shoulder
Nah we invested in a 28/28 parlour 100 cows an hour, 190 cows 1 hour 50 loving life, keep on top of mastitis, feet keep a close eye on them twice daily, loving life. If I was 55-60 year old I'd seriously consider putting robots in. But I'm pre 40 and have good men in the team. @pappuller u would be able to afford Nescafé cappacino if u didn't have those robots to pay for!!!
Spose when your at my age 46 your parlour might be gettin tired so you'll consider robots. 20 years ago I had the drive and enthusiasm to milk milk milk but time does change your outlook on the job and life
 
love this kind of thread, borrow, get bigger, expand, rent. the OP is in his 50's with no borrowing is he going to put £250k+ mill around his neck? NO. does he need 800k liters to keep one family? NO. the milk price will pick up the summer will arrive and if he is sensible he will get a relief milker in for a couple milkings a week. OP remember a lot of people on here are younger and more forward thinking than the average farmer and its not a problem if you don't have the latest parlour, the most modern buildings, i still be you will be making more profit per liter than a lot of people that are handing out advice
 
If I was to start milking today there is two ways I would approach it, either stick a robot in and go high input or I would go low input and milk OAD. More to life than standing in a pit!!!
If is a big word, tomorrow is another day, and your not supposed to stand in the pit, your supposed to milk the cows, do you think you'll ever bite the bullet and have a go?
 
If is a big word, tomorrow is another day, and your not supposed to stand in the pit, your supposed to milk the cows, do you think you'll ever bite the bullet and have a go?

No don't think so, as I have got older I think I would be more swayed to do beef part time alongside a job. If I seen a good unit offered to rent I may have a go but they are like hen's teeth.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
love this kind of thread, borrow, get bigger, expand, rent. the OP is in his 50's with no borrowing is he going to put £250k+ mill around his neck? NO. does he need 800k liters to keep one family? NO. the milk price will pick up the summer will arrive and if he is sensible he will get a relief milker in for a couple milkings a week. OP remember a lot of people on here are younger and more forward thinking than the average farmer and its not a problem if you don't have the latest parlour, the most modern buildings, i still be you will be making more profit per liter than a lot of people that are handing out advice

Its a problem if he's tied to a cow's tail seven days a week with antiquated facilities that are labour intensive and cow-unfriendly. He's got a family to think of. They need a life.
 
Its a problem if he's tied to a cow's tail seven days a week with antiquated facilities that are labour intensive and cow-unfriendly. He's got a family to think of. They need a life.
This was the point of my post, a lot of family farms that have made it through the price dip feel beaten and demoralised, they could easily borrow the money to upgrade but why. I'm in not too much as a different situation both mother and father Ill and not doing any work and I'm too stubborn to get help.
I've just sold a few cows get up an hour earlier but finish 2 hours earlier I get to see the family a lot more and everything is so much easier, BUT there is no chance I'd invest a great fortune in dairying in the current climate
 

The Agrarian

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
No don't think so, as I have got older I think I would be more swayed to do beef part time alongside a job. If I seen a good unit offered to rent I may have a go but they are like hen's teeth.

You are bang on.

You'll make a steady wage in a job, and you get to play at a wee bit of farming without being at its beck and call. And the money you earn is all yours. In farming, you are always holding some back for reinvestment/future opportunities/contingency etc.
 

tanker

Member
a lot of family farms that have made it through the price dip feel beaten and demoralised, they could easily borrow the money to upgrade but why.
It's a difficult one for sure,we nursed our old worn out set up along for years after it was past it's sell by date, but then we didn't own much land,rented plenty but a new parlour etc was not justifiable.. Then the farm we rented up the road came on the market suddenly and there's a now or never feel to it,so we bought it and put in the new parlour and cubicles just in time to see the price fall off a cliff. I can't say I've done anything wrong,had we not done it I'm pretty sure the cows would be gone...If the price recovers strongly and my set up is already in situ then I'm a happy man, but at the moment, beaten and demoralised is about it..
 

vulcan

Member
Location
carlisle
Thanks for all the replies possitive and negative bit more about me I'm only 37so plenty of life in me yet farm has no borrowings and there is a bit of money in the bank that could invest in the business but the old man likes lookin at it in the bank to much and the way the mlik price is I keep thinking investing it in dairying would be a bad idea.always like milking the cows in the summer months when there outside find it easier so should this be something I should look at always though if there was some system of milking once a day and suckling them the other you would get the best of both worlds as for my working hours normally 6 till 6 in the winter so not bad that way but when I was on my own in the summer when dad had a hip done added a hour each end off the day maybe I should look at speeding the milking up anyone any ideas how to speed milking in a abreast parlour up?Now looks like we will be in a nvz next year so looks like will have to invest in more slurry storage.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
Thanks for all the replies possitive and negative bit more about me I'm only 37so plenty of life in me yet farm has no borrowings and there is a bit of money in the bank that could invest in the business but the old man likes lookin at it in the bank to much and the way the mlik price is I keep thinking investing it in dairying would be a bad idea.always like milking the cows in the summer months when there outside find it easier so should this be something I should look at always though if there was some system of milking once a day and suckling them the other you would get the best of both worlds as for my working hours normally 6 till 6 in the winter so not bad that way but when I was on my own in the summer when dad had a hip done added a hour each end off the day maybe I should look at speeding the milking up anyone any ideas how to speed milking in a abreast parlour up?Now looks like we will be in a nvz next year so looks like will have to invest in more slurry storage.
The time is coming when your parents should be considering the unthinkable, that they might just need to go into a nursing home or supervised home at some point. To this end they should realise that any money they have saved and property they own will be assessed as assets and may have to be used to pay for their care. I'm not going to suggest how you or they manage this, but it should be taken account of while they are mentally and physically well. Too late when the crunch comes and one or both have to pay the best part of a Grand a week each for care/support. Not that I know the exact figure but I bet it is nearer a Grand than a Monkey.
 

The Agrarian

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
The time is coming when your parents should be considering the unthinkable, that they might just need to go into a nursing home or supervised home at some point. To this end they should realise that any money they have saved and property they own will be assessed as assets and may have to be used to pay for their care. I'm not going to suggest how you or they manage this, but it should be taken account of while they are mentally and physically well. Too late when the crunch comes and one or both have to pay the best part of a Grand a week each for care/support. Not that I know the exact figure but I bet it is nearer a Grand than a Monkey.

+1

Difficult topic to address. But better earlier. Small farms of land have known to be sold here to fund this sort of thing. Really puts a spanner in for the current farming generation. Bear in mind that as parents get older, they become less capable and less interested in working out tricky stuff like this.
 

Jamesni

Member
+1

Difficult topic to address. But better earlier. Small farms of land have known to be sold here to fund this sort of thing. Really puts a spanner in for the current farming generation. Bear in mind that as parents get older, they become less capable and less interested in working out tricky stuff like this.

Don't forget they can also get more stubborn and a lot more likely to tell you they aren't dead yet etc.

also, transfer of property, money etc can be gone after for 7 years, maybe more , after transfer by government.
 

Einstien

Member
Have any of you lot actually done a real job? Try a 50hr week in a factory to pay rent on a flat.... Or find an office job, leave at 7 drive through rush hour traffic back at 7 in the evening then rush round on the weekend trying to catch up on jobs or end up working at home.....

Your children will love that much better
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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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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