Thoughts please...

[blackbob]

If I were you I would carry on as you are just now, get used to life without your ex, just have one big change in your life at a time.
Unless you need the money?
Outwintering cows is not ideal and pretty demoralising in bad weather, but it sounds like you're happy having them
I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about BSE or whatever plague may happen next, the unpredictable future is part of farming!

 

[kneedeep]

I wish we could winter suckler cows for only 80p a day !

That's where I got it to last winter; veg, straw, minerals, and a sprinkling of urea,
cows improved from summer deluge once inside, even though I was too late getting em in as usual,
Was able to balance condition pretty well, have had the best calving ever, live calf out of every cow, one of the last ones had no use of its back legs, vet shrugged "touch of schmallenberg" or just one of those things,
Feel like I'm not far off,if I can get on top of this bloody Johnes,
It is really helpful to garner opinions from like minded people.
Back in the days of lurking on Bff, I wanted to ask similar stuff,
to draw such a complex reply from Walter is an honour in itself, I don't intend to move, and have no desire to flash the cash, but dream of reaping a reasonable reward for my toils, without killing myself in the process, we used to make a crust from 10 ac of veg on 70ac. farm way back when,
I'll never forget a long gone cattle farmer watching me cut cabbage and quoting
" IF YOUR ARSE IS HIGHER THAN YOUR HEAD TO MAKE A LIVING THEN YOU'RE IN'T WRONG JOB "
That stayed with me for some reason.

 

[lim x]

I would keep going with the sucklers. Sounds like you are doing a good job, calving rates are good, you have straw and veg waste available and your own corn. Been in a similar situation myself a few years ago, with similar numbers and acreage and it has certainly got better. My advice is not to alter things too drastically, you will need stability for yourself and two girls, and if you change too much now you could bring on more worries.
I have also gone down other routes (not horsey ones) but let out some sheds for storage, its less hassle and they are not in and out the yard as much and brings in extra revenue, you'd be surprised how short of space some people are.