Light Land Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Just wondering how many members are involved in the dairy sector and how many cows your milking. I'm 1/2 way through training to become a dairy farm manager with the goal of getting my own dairy farm down the track,I work on a low input dairy farm milking 1200 mixed breed cows. The farm milks through a old 54 bale herringbone shed for 40 weeks each year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I know tractorbob is Ol but he and any others may still be busy milking at this hour of the day...well in the UK anyway ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeere6910 Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I work as a tractor driver/cowman/S£$t shoveller on a weekend/holidays on the neighbours 200 cow, all year round milking farm really enjoy my job as well :D Stopped milking cows at home in 1998 when we were milking 160 cows, then put up 2 sheds for fat ducks instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 Good stuff Pat,can you make a good living off cows with an avg level of debt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manor Farm Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Manor farm is a dairy farm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractorbob Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 we are milking 160 at moment, but by next march we should be milking 600 going up to 800 ,palour orderd 40-80 swingover new sheds and silage pits going up .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeere6910 Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Good stuff Pat,can you make a good living off cows with an avg level of debt? Well over all we are just managing to turn a small profit, nothing amazing though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 we are milking 160 at moment, but by next march we should be milking 600 going up to 800 ,palour orderd 40-80 swingover new sheds and silage pits going up .. Is that a big milking shed by English standards? What are you feeding them? grass based system out side in summer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractorbob Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Is that a big milking shed by English standards? What are you feeding them? grass based system out side in summer? they are on grazed grass in the summer with tmr top up , in the winter everything is on tmr(total mixed ration) silage,maize,brewers grains,straw,20% protine blend,soya and minerals,we run 2 keenan feeder wagons for feeding ,silage is shear cut out....no feed in milking palour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordantaylor Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 im an ex dairy farmer i worked on a farm with dairy herd of 360 going up to 400 about this time they had 2 self feed silage clamps, no need for a wagon, both silage and maize were in the same clamp, silage bottom, maize put on top so it mixed together when they were eating it. they outwintered heffiers on kale and still do it. they had a 24-48 swingover parlour and a circular collecting yard capable of taking 600. they strip grazed all their paddocks to ensure all grass was eaten and always grazed before or on the 3rd leaf stage to maximize milk yield and get all of the grass nutrients. they used a wagon at silage as the grass they were feeding didnt need to be chopped up by a spfh as the cows were dry all year round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 Interesting stuff guys,thanks. they are on grazed grass in the summer with tmr top up , in the winter everything is on tmr(total mixed ration) silage,maize,brewers grains,straw,20% protine blend,soya and minerals,we run 2 keenan feeder wagons for feeding ,silage is shear cut out....no feed in milking palour Do you find the cows milk beter of 100% TMR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractorbob Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 its all about costings .. we are on the tesco contract,they do milk better on tmr but its hassle to get the rations right ,all our feeding is done by computer dongle ,the computer in the office knows what goes in and how many rotations the wagon does to mix , biggest cost to dairying is labour and feed costs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 True.There are guys in New Zealand doing the same production off almost all grass as the guys playing around with TMR and keeping the cows indoors.The level of skill it takes to ensure the cows are eating decent grass all year round is higher than useing a TMR I feel as the grass is always changing.Lower producing grass based farms under 500 cows make more money than the farms going down the TMR road as a fact here because like you say lower staff needs and lower input costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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