What to do when the cows are gone

[JP1]

How? I have no money

I just don't think I can go back to working with cows when mine are gone, they'd just be a constant reminder of mine and how I failed and then lost them

Who says you've failed? I don't see that and by the way you're writing you have achieved so much

I don't have all your answers you want to hear right now but a few things to bear in mind

1. You've already achieved so much and that counts. It counts to you, it counts to any future landlord or share agreement partner and, importantly, it counts a lot towards a prospective employer or bank for a world outside farming

2. What you know now you won't lose in the medium term

3. If the cows are going you have temporarily lost a big tie freeing you up to travel / try working in a different sector

4. You're only 23 ? You are at the start of your life not the end . I say this in a kind way as there will be many dips in your life you'll have to power through ; I'm 61, been through two divorces and have a child with a life changing condition. You can and will get to where you want to be

5. For me coming from a non farming background and with no capital, at your very age I gave up being a self employed hero begging FiL farm machinery, keeping some sows out doors and running livestock wagons. I got a job in operations for a Nationwide tent contractor and ended up in senior sales and project management roles for international event temporary overlay companies. I got to see the World (not the rural bits sadly) and it gave me a capital base. I now choose to work full time in a sales role (less pressured) and keep pedigree suckler cows. It's not all roses and there are many time pressures but I've got a perfect work / life balance

I know I haven't answered your question as such but I want to help point out it's not a lost cause

Please do stay on here and let us know how you're getting on

NEVER feel you've not succeeded - you already have and done much more than the majority

 

[JPB]

Would it be an option to say reduce the herd by 2/3, pay off debt and it will ease the pressure with everything. You could then improve the buildings a bit but not need as many so it will take pressure off. You could maybe get a job off the farm then during the day or just part time?

 

[jackrussell101]

I did rubbish at school and left at 16.

Did an Open University degree when I was 25 in Economics and International Relations, took 6 years and graduated at 31 with 1st class honours.

Did it part time alongside working, was brilliant.

 

[Cowski]

It’s been a really tough winter ever for established farmers. Best of luck @Jdunn55 with whatever you decide to do. In the short term you’ll certainly find plenty of opportunities with cows in the south west either milking or AI etc and this will be your best bet in terms of earning the most money. Traveling while you’re young would be invaluable but maybe not possible for you. If you do decide on a dairy career you ought to speak to Paul Harris at Real Success. By the sounds of it you need to find the right farm or business to work for in terms of personality fit and who share your values. Good luck.

 

[Rossymons]

It’s been a really tough winter ever for established farmers. Best of luck @Jdunn55 with whatever you decide to do. In the short term you’ll certainly find plenty of opportunities with cows in the south west either milking or AI etc and this will be your best bet in terms of earning the most money. Traveling while you’re young would be invaluable but maybe not possible for you. If you do decide on a dairy career you ought to speak to Paul Harris at Real Success. By the sounds of it you need to find the right farm or business to work for in terms of personality fit and who share your values. Good luck.

Paul Harris is a great shout.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I can't see anyone wanting me tbh. I hardly have a set of credentials that set me out as a half decent herdsman

All I'd have on my cv is that I milked my own cows for 3 years and was forced to sell them because I failed. I wouldn't hire me. All I could think is what if I failed their cows as well as mine.

Hardly a failure, mate. Failing is keeping flogging the dead horse when other horses are nipping at your collar, wanting a rider

Really couldn't have said it better than @JP1 and several other posts above, I really don't know what's next for JDunn but I'm as interested as anyone else is... wish I hadn't waited til 43 for a big change.

I often say that how opportunities show up, very seldom looks like opportunity in the moment
Usually scary, threatening, or imminent danger is how they occur at the time

 

[Farmer_1994]

@Jdunn55 have you set on selling out yet?Doesnt seem like you have by admitting that your system needs to change and probably other things as well. If you want to keep milking and it seems you do, I would really take a hard look at the numbers if you could make a go of it running as a flying herd. Really you need to focus all your efforts on what puts money in the pocket and do it as cheap as you can. We didn’t have great facilities for the extra heifer rearing enterprise which made it take up a lot of time and money to do the job. With no youngstock and only angus calves off to the sale every other week it’s freed us up to do a much better job with the cows. Now on the acres that were for heifer feed we are growing our grain lowering our feed costs further. Without youngstock you may be able to pick up a few more cows to milk which wouldn’t take much more time to get through the parlour.

 

[Nearly]

Your cattle breed society of choice will be able to put you in contact with like minded members that are looking for dedicated staff and have space for another group of animals to join the herd and be share milked.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Sorry to hear it has come to this. We all know that your cows and interest in pedigrees is what has kept you going, working crazy hours at times. I can understand your feeling that when so much is against you in terms of infrastructure and finances that you have no choice but to quit. As someone else commented, the last thing you want if you decide to soldier on, is EA visits and hassle.

Would your finances allow you to keep a few cows and can you find a local farmer who can milk them in his herd? This is what one chap local to me did, admittedly, he was semi-retiring. His farm and parlour in particular were not worth investing in (also a tenant) so his cows went into a local herd but were still 'his' cows to decide on breeding, culling etc. Costs were worked out so he had revenue from milk sales but paid the 'host farmer' for costs of keep. He was able to use his home farm for heifer rearing for the other farmer (not sure what the TB arrangements were, this is always a danger).

I appreciate you will probably need to sell most of them to pay your debts, but if you can afford to keep a few then it would enable you to at least keep your toe in the water, although it might be hard to accept someone else looking after them.

Could you use the farm for rearing beef calves, as you don't have the worry of them calving if TB is an issue ; you can either finish them or sell them through a TB market if you have a breakdown. FA would not be an issue for you if you are selling as stores as whole of life assurance is not needed for beef. On the right system you might be able to combine this with an off-farm job especially if self employed to give you some flexibility for those days when things go wrong.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

 

[Rossymons]

Rearing beef calves, as you don't have the worry of them calving if TB is an issue ; you can either finish them or sell them through a TB market if you have a breakdown. FA would not be an issue for you if you are selling as stores as whole of life assurance is not needed for beef. On the right system you might be able to combine this with an off-farm job especially if self employed to give you some flexibility for those days when things go wrong.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

That's where I've ended up. Really enjoy it. Not massive scale but I'm proud of what I do which wasnt the case a few years ago.Feel confident to grow it now - one step back and all that.

 

[Oliveau]

NO, YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE!
All that has happened is that life has given you a great big clout around the head, So now, congratulations - You have graduated from the University of Life. You are ONLY 23, so still very young.
I doubt that you can travel as others have suggested due to the situation with your partner.
Back along, many moons ago, I was contracting and running 60 or so suckler cows. We were in partnership on the cattle side with a property developer who went for one big deal too far, and lost the lot, so overnight we lost our farm land.
I was very fortunate as all our pedigree South Devons went to a multi-millionaire whose wife wanted 'Brown Cows' to range over the estate that they had just bought, and the crossbreeds went to a wealthy farming politician.
Because of my agricultural background, at the age of 45, I was welcomed into the world of pipelines, and by the time I finally retired I was a consultant land agent with a water co. On reflection, at the now ripe old age of 76, I'm very glad I'm not farming today So young man, there is light at the end of the tunnel, except in your case as you enter the tunnel, it seems that some bugger keeps turning the light off - But persevere!
So, you may not know it, but you probably have transferable skills that other young twenties do not have.

 

[ollie989898]

'Can't go to University as 23'. *Laughs in mature student*

If you're of sane mind and have a pair of functional arms and legs, there is literally nothing you can't do.- the job market is crying out for people who simply have the ability to get out of bed on time. Apparently not all Britons can.

I quite like the idea of being involved in construction at some level. Never done it before at all but I can use a shovel, a tape measure and a spirit level?

 

[Jdunn55]

Any ideas

Having heard from Cogent that Newbarton ready for it RC has passed his final quarantine checks and has therefore been moved to a production pen in the main stud ready to make some straws

And the sun is shining

It's almost tragic to give up now when things are finally going the right way

Has anyone got any ideas on how to keep some of my cows (40-70 plus pedigree youngstock)

I'm not interested in swapping cows around, I'm really proud of the cows I have, and want to keep them

I've got a couple of ideas but I'm interested to know if anyone comes up with similar to me or something I haven't thought about before I post a couple of my ideas.

Relocating isn't out of scope, I'll move to the Shetland Islands if it's viable.

The only 2 real criteria is:
- to keep a third-half of my current cows and youngstock
- make it so I'm less stressed and have a life with some time off (part of that needs to be I can withdraw a sensible amount of money for myself)

Go gentle with the replies please I'm a little fragile at the moment admittedly

 

[Rich_ard]

Any ideas

Having heard from Cogent that Newbarton ready for it RC has passed his final quarantine checks and has therefore been moved to a production pen in the main stud ready to make some straws

And the sun is shining

It's almost tragic to give up now when things are finally going the right way

Has anyone got any ideas on how to keep some of my cows (40-70 plus pedigree youngstock)

I'm not interested in swapping cows around, I'm really proud of the cows I have, and want to keep them

I've got a couple of ideas but I'm interested to know if anyone comes up with similar to me or something I haven't thought about before I post a couple of my ideas.

Relocating isn't out of scope, I'll move to the Shetland Islands if it's viable.

The only 2 real criteria is:
- to keep a third-half of my current cows and youngstock
- make it so I'm less stressed and have a life with some time off (part of that needs to be I can withdraw a sensible amount of money for myself)

Go gentle with the replies please I'm a little fragile at the moment admittedly

I'd have though if you have a secure tenancy then I'd be staying. Hard to get one again. It's going to be difficult to get time to yourself if everyone around you wants out unless you can reduce nos or workload. Sound to me like you need to go solo and suss out how to do it.

 

[Holsteinfriesian90]

Any ideas

Having heard from Cogent that Newbarton ready for it RC has passed his final quarantine checks and has therefore been moved to a production pen in the main stud ready to make some straws

And the sun is shining

It's almost tragic to give up now when things are finally going the right way

Has anyone got any ideas on how to keep some of my cows (40-70 plus pedigree youngstock)

I'm not interested in swapping cows around, I'm really proud of the cows I have, and want to keep them

I've got a couple of ideas but I'm interested to know if anyone comes up with similar to me or something I haven't thought about before I post a couple of my ideas.

Relocating isn't out of scope, I'll move to the Shetland Islands if it's viable.

The only 2 real criteria is:
- to keep a third-half of my current cows and youngstock
- make it so I'm less stressed and have a life with some time off (part of that needs to be I can withdraw a sensible amount of money for myself)

Go gentle with the replies please I'm a little fragile at the moment admittedly

Personally I would ditch the Holsteins and stick with the British friesian. You already have well bred friesians build on from them. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[egbert]

Any ideas

Having heard from Cogent that Newbarton ready for it RC has passed his final quarantine checks and has therefore been moved to a production pen in the main stud ready to make some straws

And the sun is shining

It's almost tragic to give up now when things are finally going the right way

Has anyone got any ideas on how to keep some of my cows (40-70 plus pedigree youngstock)

I'm not interested in swapping cows around, I'm really proud of the cows I have, and want to keep them

I've got a couple of ideas but I'm interested to know if anyone comes up with similar to me or something I haven't thought about before I post a couple of my ideas.

Relocating isn't out of scope, I'll move to the Shetland Islands if it's viable.

The only 2 real criteria is:
- to keep a third-half of my current cows and youngstock
- make it so I'm less stressed and have a life with some time off (part of that needs to be I can withdraw a sensible amount of money for myself)

Go gentle with the replies please I'm a little fragile at the moment admittedly

from what I understand, maybe you should keep dry/youngstock, and clear out anything needing to go through parlour.
It'd give you time to regroup. You'd have spare grass, and breathing space.

A dear (beef) pal of mine in Oz was hit by severe drought, and in the end, simply weaned all the calves, and shipped everything else out.
It was tough, but he kept his genetics.

 

[Farmer_1994]

Any ideas

Having heard from Cogent that Newbarton ready for it RC has passed his final quarantine checks and has therefore been moved to a production pen in the main stud ready to make some straws

And the sun is shining

It's almost tragic to give up now when things are finally going the right way

Has anyone got any ideas on how to keep some of my cows (40-70 plus pedigree youngstock)

I'm not interested in swapping cows around, I'm really proud of the cows I have, and want to keep them

I've got a couple of ideas but I'm interested to know if anyone comes up with similar to me or something I haven't thought about before I post a couple of my ideas.

Relocating isn't out of scope, I'll move to the Shetland Islands if it's viable.

The only 2 real criteria is:
- to keep a third-half of my current cows and youngstock
- make it so I'm less stressed and have a life with some time off (part of that needs to be I can withdraw a sensible amount of money for myself)

Go gentle with the replies please I'm a little fragile at the moment admittedly

Can you afford the milk cheque to go down realistically? Cut costs not income. Sounds to me like you are trying to make a go of it with the pedigree cattle and having some success but I truthfully think the youngstock have to go (for now) can always get back in when your situation is more settled. This way you can keep all your cows, pay some debts off with the sale of youngstock and focus on keeping that milk cheque up there. Should lower your work load by near 30-40%. Should be able to do on your own as well so no worrying about hired labour and the accompanying pay cheque they need. If you disagree things can’t be as bad as you are making them seem so crack on. It’s hard to play the pedigree game on commercial milk prices which really is your main income.

Mental health wise for me when we dropped the heifer raising life got a lot less stressful and actually started to have time to do the things we’ve been missing out on for the last 10 years on the farm and in my personal life.

good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[O'Reilly]

A friend of mine took his first tenancy in his mid forties, so don't think this is your last chance. You can do a lot of regrouping in twenty years. I can't advise much without seeing your farm or your accounts, and I can't pretend to be an expert in anything, but I do know that when you are young, it appears that you have to rush to build a 'career' or business or whatever, but actually you have time to have a few experiences, whether that's traveling, jobs or education, and those experiences slowly help you to figure stuff out. All the best.

 

[som farmer]

what is RT saying, can you get everything 'done' to shut the barstewards up, in time.

if not, can you get them TB tested, and 'lease' some out on a temp basis, not ideal but.

y/s, keep the very best, out the rest.

but at least you sound positive !

good luck, and wish you all the best.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Share farming or leasing the cows out spring to mind.
Keep your existing holding for young stock.
You'll be done up by 6 most mornings, giving you the day for other work.

No idea how to achieve the above in your region sorry.
Also sorry to read your troubles.