Plans to turn out the milking herd on Monday to graze off some of the excessive winter growth (must get the plate meter fixed prior to fertilising) are obviously on hold.

We now have the dilemma of protecting our closed herd status because of the risk of disease if we graze. The alternative is to cut these paddocks early into big bales and then fertilise the regrowth for grazing, but this will delay grazing by six weeks on these paddocks. But, as with all things in farming, one has to be patient and see what the weather brings.

We are anxious to turn out soon but, around here, most farmers seem to like to keep their cows in for a seven- or eight-month winter. They must enjoy scraping up and putting silage out. Maybe they do this to justify their existence.

Irish-made parlours

On the new parlour front, it is a happy coincidence that we are looking at two Irish-made parlours. Visiting two local farms to view parlours a 16/32 and a 20/20, I still plump for the 20/20. Cows per hour, or more accurately litres per hour, is an important benchmark for me. Both parlours achieved 50 cows per man hour but the 20/20 was an 8,000-litre herd and the 16/32 was a 10,000-litre herd – obviously more litres per man hour. But in the 16/32, output was hampered by fill time, with each batch having to be driven in. The alternative would be a backing gate, but when abused this can cause lameness with cows at the back pushing hard and tearing the wall of the hoof from the sole of the foot. I often wonder why farmers who don’t want to feed in parlour don’t just feed the first two cows because once the first cow is in, the rest will follow.

Coping with falling milk prices

A farming friend of mine recently went to the doctor for his annual check-up. When the doctor asked how he was coping with falling milk prices, he replied: “On a bad day I’m on three quarters of a bottle of red wine.”

The doctor, looking concerned, asked: “Do you need any help?”

“Oh no,” my friend answered, “I can manage it by myself, but if you want to call round, we could finish the bottle.”