Fendt Fahrer Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 As promised in a tread last winter I will post, now and then, about my Dairy Farm here in Canada. We have about 30 milking cows with 35 replacement heifers. We grow all of our own feed except the mineral and protein supplement. Our land base is 100 acres but we rent another 80 acres. Every year we also sell some hay and grain corn. The farm was bought in January 1989 from my father and on July 22nd of that same year I got married to my wife Kathleen, whose father hails from Ballygawley , Northern Ireland. As you can see by the farm name I am a lifelong LFC fanatic , but beside football I also like to watch F1. In 1991 our first child, Meaghan was born . this was followed by Kevin Keegan in 1993 and Kurt in 1999. The main products of our operation are Milk and Genetics. Brown Swiss is our chosen breed and we are very happy on how they have performed for us. Our herd averages currently just over 9100 kg of milk while the Bulk tank samples usually yield between 4.5 to 4.7 % fat and 3.7 to 3.9% protein. The cows are housed in an older tie-stall barn. We have 2 upright silos one is for haylage (16x60) the other for corn silage (20x70) . The forage consists mostly of Alfalfa and thimothy. Dry hay is done in large square bales. I will post pictures and updates whenever I have time under this tread. So hear we go with the first one: This was our very first top cow in the herd. She had records to 14244 kg with 4.0 Fat amd 3.44 protein she was also scored 94 points and was Reserve All-Canadian. She at one time was the canadian Production Champion and had a lifetime of 107000kg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 and here is our current tractor lineup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 first of all anfeild vario what a great team you support fella , youl never walk alone will take a keen interest in your topic hopefully coming to canada next year with a group of dairy farmers all to do with genus AI , willbe good to see how you farm out there i dont think there is many farms round my way earning a living of 30 cows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Your tractors look well cared for,nice thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERRY Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 look well mate had to look five or six times at the 2nd pic it honestly looks like two models :D :D the cow in the first looks super ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 What a stunning animal, how old is she? When cows are such high performers like this one do you still put them to calf or does having a calf effect their performance? Nice pair of tractors, are there many of either brand where you are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 What a stunning animal, how old is she? When cows are such high performers like this one do you still put them to calf or does having a calf effect their performance? Nice pair of tractors, are there many of either brand where you are? The cow has to calf each year otherwise the production goes down. A great cow with great performance. Do you embro transplantation with this cow? On the jersey dairy where i worked we did this with the best cows . Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 The cow has to calf each year otherwise the production goes down. A great cow with great performance. Do you embro transplantation with this cow? On the jersey dairy where i worked we did this with the best cows . Texas As I stated this was one of our early top cows . She lived to be 14 but has been dead for a while now. We did some embryo work with her. But unfortunatly she produced mostly bulls. 87 in total !! We got a few daughters though with two of them becoming canadian champions themselfs. One of them , Boom Boom , had 15774 kg with 4.70 % fat and 3.52 % protein and was classified Excellent as well .here she is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Boom Boom is looking great. Very nice "built" also great production figures. Sorry to hear that the other come had mostly bulls. My opinion is that the most off time the best cows getting bulls Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 This is what the Farm looked like in 1989. Looking to the south east. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 and this is 2008 looking the opposite way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 our mean guard dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 how do you earn a living with 30 cows ? how money per litre do you get for your milk ? all the rest i can understand well enough , but i think the most disturbing fact is that you called one of your kids kevin Keegan \ \ \ poor kid scarred for life :'( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke DeWitt Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Nice line up. I was wondering what you use to chop you hay and corn or if you hire a custom harvester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 how do you earn a living with 30 cows ? how money per litre do you get for your milk ? all the rest i can understand well enough , but i think the most disturbing fact is that you called one of your kids kevin Keegan \ \ \ poor kid scarred for life :'( Regarding the milk price: I get around 80 -84 cents/canadian per litre of milk. Depending on milk composits. This is probably roughly 10 cents more than most Holstein farms. We have a good milk price because of our Quota system. But it is quite expensive to buy the quota. This system is also in danger because the EU, the US and New Zealand would all like to see us abolish it. I hope our goverment stays strong and puts for a rare ocasion farmers first. Regarding Kevins name: I wanted a Kenny (Dalglish) but I was overruled by my wife. But whats wrong with Kevin Keegan ? Probably wish your football club had a player like him .... ;) Nice line up. I was wondering what you use to chop you hay and corn or if you hire a custom harvester. I will post some pictures gegarding this subject soon. But for hay I chop my own and use our IH 720 forage harvester with 2 Gehl and 1 Dion forage wagons and a Dion blower. The corn is done by a contractor and he brings about 4 Miller Boxes and a tractor or two (usually NH's) as well as his JD 8 row self propelled 7400 harvester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Cutting hay: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Ooooh nice photo's, bet your 'little europe' gets some funny looks from the locals!! Looks like a nice bit of grass there, how long will it be down for before turning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 I was looking at some of my older posts and came across this one. Sorry Tris. I thought I answered this question a long time ago but I guess I did not. Well here is the answer: I did not turn the alfala because we put it in the silo for haylage. But if I were to do hay I would probably leave it for 2 days before turning, depending on wheater. Here is another picture of another of my cows. She is almost 21 years old now and is still milking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margerisons Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 great pics i like the fendt and mowers.she must be one hell of a cow hows the price of farm equipment with you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 Farm Equipment costs have gone up at an alarming rate. Most of the equipment I buy is used. The one exception is hay equipment. Yes the cow is one hell of a cow. She was Reserve Grand Champion at the 1996 World Dairy Expo and 1996 All-American aged cow. She has now a lifetime of around 140'000 kg with 4.7% fat and 4.1% protein. She is also one of only 5 Brown Swiss cows to have been Grand Champion at 4 or more national shows. I have 2 milking daughters along with some grandaughters of her in the barn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margerisons Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 really we got the complete opposite for machinery prices theres used tractors that are worth $10,000 less than last year.all the farmers by us are going nuts and buying up every tractor in sight except the deeres that is :D the JD yards are the same as last year.And lately I've found out theres a Landini dealer near me only because I saw 3 brand new ones going up the road last week.we're nearly at prices of machinery in europe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 I was more referring to the long term. Yes during the winter the prices droped a bit (due to the US $ decline) but they have recovered mostly. Used equipment is reasonable still. But when you compare the prices to 30 years ago it is alarming. Most of our products, except milk have had no real big price increase since the 70's. When we came to Canada a ton of corn by example was 170 $ while fertilizer was around 200 $ a ton. Until recently corn was not much more than that but fertilizer triple that. Farm Machinery is no different. But I suppose nowadays we have much bigger equipment with more technology. Still we bought a brand new IH 784 4WD with front end loader in 1979 for just over 20'000 $. What would you pay for a brand new 75 hp tractor with loader today? But I have to agree with you that farmers are going crazy and are buying lots of equipment, but I think that has got to do with the sudden boom in crop prices. Corn had almost doubled in the last year but has come down a bit in the last few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margerisons Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 well if you look at it long term but my long term is only 2 years.its quite hard to compare the price of a 1979 loader tractor to a 2008 loader tractor because the technology in the tractor has changed dramatically and I always thought Ih tractors were cheap tractors weren't they?there is alot of truth in what you say as the local dealer had a GT75 with loader and the price was $55,000 odd thousand but there would be alot of difference in them im thinking.its always the same when newer technologies come out the price is always more its the same with cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Thanks for getting back to me I understand now. That cow sounds like one in a lifetime. Can't be very often a cow like that comes up through the ranks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fendt Fahrer Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 Thanks for getting back to me I understand now. That cow sounds like one in a lifetime. Can't be very often a cow like that comes up through the ranks. Yes it's not often you get a cow like that but it does not mean you cant try to get a better one . That is one of the reasons I love this job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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