How do farmers make any money?

[LHF2019]

You didn't milk 80 cows with that thing did you? Did your cows go from tiestall to freestall? That's a tough transition.
A saying for dairy farmers: Beef guys might wear the nice hat but dairy farmers are the real cowboys.

Correct. Tiestall to freestall. lol no we had a pipe line. 4 milkers, dad up it to 6 then after he passed I got 2 more at an auction. But guess what, the milker pump was not upgraded. The ramification was really noticed when toward the end I did all the milking by myself so 5 milkers max. The last month I got premium. Always floated the premium line and no major issues SCC or bacteria counts on inspection but the smaller vaccum just couldn't quite handle 8 milkers. 3 main reasons I left milking. Health, Money, and labor. A 60 cow dairy is on that fine line of needing no labor to needing just a couple people to make it manageable. Health. The last year I milked I had decided that winter I was going to milk the high producers 3x daily for additional income. Later that summer I got off the tractor and when I went to get back on had to pull myself up. Could not put pressure on my knees. I was already down to using one leg to climb ladders, no longer could run and as you can imagine milking was starting to get a little rough. This at 23 years old. To this day if I push myself I can feel my knees start to go. Especially if stairs are involved.

For those of you who take a loss: are you incorporated or an LLC, so that you are collecting a paycheck before the overhead?

Sole proprietor. Looked in to different headings with the accountant and lawyer but none would be advantageous for us.

 

[Dryland Farmer]

Correct. Tiestall to freestall. lol no we had a pipe line. 4 milkers, dad up it to 6 then after he passed I got 2 more at an auction. But guess what, the milker pump was not upgraded. The ramification was really noticed when toward the end I did all the milking by myself so 5 milkers max. The last month I got premium. Always floated the premium line and no major issues SCC or bacteria counts on inspection but the smaller vaccum just couldn't quite handle 8 milkers. 3 main reasons I left milking. Health, Money, and labor. A 60 cow dairy is on that fine line of needing no labor to needing just a couple people to make it manageable. Health. The last year I milked I had decided that winter I was going to milk the high producers 3x daily for additional income. Later that summer I got off the tractor and when I went to get back on had to pull myself up. Could not put pressure on my knees. I was already down to using one leg to climb ladders, no longer could run and as you can imagine milking was starting to get a little rough. This at 23 years old. To this day if I push myself I can feel my knees start to go. Especially if stairs are involved.

Where did scc and bacteria count have to be to get the premium and how many years ago di you quit? I have experience as a herd manager but never a owner and I am still interested in dairy.

 

[ultrarunner]

Grandparents had 40 milk cows tiestall plus calves, hens and pigs.

All winter in the barn and spring and summer living the good life in pasture coming in only for milking.

The first time out was always exciting… happy cows.

Just a single hot wire strand did the job…

Brings back memories.

 

[Jstpssng]

Sole proprietor. Looked in to different headings with the accountant and lawyer but none would be advantageous for us

The reason I asked was because of somebody is incorporated they are drawing a paycheck. So while the business shows a loss, they still have money to live on.

 

[LHF2019]

Where did scc and bacteria count have to be to get the premium and how many years ago di you quit? I have experience as a herd manager but never a owner and I am still interested in dairy.

Want to say 150,000 on the SCC and I would run 200-220 can't remember on the others. 22 years ago this fall on being done milking. Did relief milking for a few years with the custom work. It was neat to see other barns and while I thought our was very labor intensive it was a walk in the park compared to most I milked for. Worked in one that had tunnel ventilation. I really liked that. And I did have the conversation with the vet about that system while I milking. The big down fall of it the fans would have been blowing right towards Grandma's house. That would have been unacceptable. I still get dairy magazines to try and keep up with some of it.

How big of a herd did you manage? The farm that put robots in runs about 360. I did the night shift the first couple weeks after install. The regular day person did not treat those cows good and did talk to the owner about. It really pissed me off. I could walk in the pen with them and they would jump up, run, act nervous. Every night it was that way. It was bad enough they were learning a new routine then treat them like that. By the morning they were relaxed and I could walk among them without them being nervous and get the ones needed to run through the robots. The next night repeat the process. I did talk to the owner about a potential job just because of the way the cows were treated.

 

[Dryland Farmer]

The herd I managed was just under 200 cows. Here in Canada animal welfare is a big deal, partly brought on by animal rights groups sneaking around on farms and looking for bad situations they can put exploit. It was a naturally ventilated barn with no fans. It worked good down to 10 degrees F, anything colder it just stank.
I'm glad you chose not to exhaust your barn into grandma's house.

 

[5030]

It appears as though people milking cows and Farriers have a lot in common far as the old frame giving out. When we had cattle (steers) no milking involved, just to market weight and off they went to get turned into consumable meat.

 

[garry1p]

While I never farmed my grandparents did and I lived on their dairy farm growing up, my wife's family still farms.

The thing most people don't realize is to be a farmer also requires you to be a GOOD mechanic, understand finance, project manager, meteorologist, very self sufficient and the list goes on.
Farming is full time job as most on this site well know.

I find it amazing how little non farmers know or understand what farming is all about, I can see a time when only huge farming operations will be able to survive.

 

[chim]

....................I find it amazing how little non farmers know or understand what farming is all about, I can see a time when only huge farming operations will be able to survive.

Until marrying into a poultry farming family, I thought I knew everything - put feed in one end of a chicken and they poop eggs out of the other. It's a bit more involved

 

[Hay Dude]

The reason I asked was because of somebody is incorporated they are drawing a paycheck. So while the business shows a loss, they still have money to live on.

Yep