I grew up on a farm with my grandmother in Brittany and she taught me never to get attached to the animals, cows, chickens etc. I totally understand culling the herd.
Hey Eric, your father is pretty awesome, I’m sure you agree. He is the older generation of the family dairy, and won’t be at the job forever, and yet he has so much to share and contribute. I hope you understand just how blessed you are, and that God has provided for your family in many incredible ways. God bless you guys.
Hello Eric, you and your dad have taught this city boy an amazing ing amount, and I appreciate watching and learning. I’m an electrical engineer and a master electrician, and so I think a lot about your cleaning robots. I think they are darn near worth their weight in gold. So I suggest this strategy, strongly: YOU be the guy who buys them NEW and YOU be the guy who sells them used to the next farmer. Give yourselves a break and enjoy “that new car smell”, and trade in for the new model every year or two. I’m sure the cost is MUCH higher for brand new, but you will love the advantages. Cheers, Mike
I’m so glad that the ag community on UA-cam understands. I guarantee if this was any other UA-camr that doesn’t usually make ag content, they’d receive MAJOR backlash for doing an integral task in maintaining the farm.
Another tremendous educational Video Eric. Your father & son team are had working, dedicated, & ethical Dairy Farmers. Great to see. Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving with your family
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. One year ago today my dad went to heaven. Your videos always make me feel better if I happen to have a down day. Thanks.
As you point out many factors go into the decision to cull. On our beef operation, a big factor for me was disposition! I didn’t want a dangerous animal around, one that might hurt someone. Nor did I want her genetics passed on.
Thanks for the Thanksgiving wishes, it went pretty good, I hope yours went good! You could really see the difference in the lower milk producer when you was walking them to the trailer. Have a good night, hope your Sunday is great!
Some other YT farm channels I follow emphasize that their duty as farmers and ranchers is to ensure their animals only have one bad day on the farm. From the emphasis I see you put on animal health, wellness and comfort, I suspect you're operations is the same - only one bad day for the cows. There is no life without death.
Those 2 inches of rain were sure a blessing down here in Virginia as well. They helped put out an 11,000 acre wild fire down here in the National Forest. We had been very dry up until that rain - they actually got about 3 inches in the mountains where the fire was.
Kind of off topic, but could you do a video “tour” of the old bank barn? I build model farm buildings for farm layout displays and need some new barn ideas! Thanks Eric!
Hi Eric, thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes. I hope you & yours had a blessed Thanksgiving as well. You sure packed an interesting variety of content in this video. I enjoyed hearing your rationale for managing your herd population. It is good for folks with a non dairy background to hear the practical side of animal husbandry. You and your family do an amazing job of keeping your operation neat and tidy. I know how much extra time and effort that requires. Regarding your potential project to add additional storage. Since vertical storage seems to be more costly to build and operate. You might want to consider just adding additional bunker storage capacity. Maybe upgrade or add a designated loader with large capacity for faster loading of the mixer wagon. Hey was that a new doggie I saw in the parlor? Thanks and have a blessed weekend!
Just before you said it, I was thinking, they should build another bunk. We used bags for a few years. I always figure they’re a short term solution. Our custom bagger got expensive. There’s always waste and mud in some cases. We built more bunks last year. Nice to be on solid ground, less plastic. Don’t be scared of haylage, rye, triticale in a bunk. Been great for us. There’s upfront expense, but you’ll pay a bunk off easy.
Thanks for a great video. Always learn something about your work in your videos. I cannot imagine what you plastic bill is per year. Hope you and your family had a very Happy Thanksgiving.
You know once you go with bunker silos it’s hard to go and use an ag bag after being used to a nice bunker. Your 7130 if it was not a feeding tractor would be a great loader tractor
Another consideration in the culling decision is payback. Each cow has 2 years of feeding, housing, veterinary bills, and management. Depending on milk production, she may not have paid back that investment for another 2 years. If the culling rate is too high, that investment doesn’t get paid back. Long term it is financially disastrous, unless her production is too low to pay back her feed cost while milking.
This is the best farm 🚜 that I have ever watched beautiful beautiful barns they take awesome care of the animals all modern, beautiful working equipment, barns have plenty of space you name it, all dairy farms should be like this farm 🚜 if not get out of it
There you go. Teaching the world it more to running a dairy other than yanking teats and shoveling manure. Keep coming with geeky stuff Eric. I find the management part fascinating.
Great vids Eric. A wee heads up, you should pick up the tail trimmings the macerator on the dribble bar hates tail trimmings. Bad for choking up. Keep up the good work
Hope you and your family had a blessed Thanksgiving. Have you ever gotten any of the beef back for yourself> and how long do healthy cows live without being used for milk or beef cattle?
Hey nice video, have you thougt about a new poured upright silo maybe? Seems pretty common for the area you live in to built an upright. ?God bless you, your family and your cows. Wish you all best from southcentral Europe.
12:08 It would be interesting to hear some options on the structure for triticale you mention. For reference I'm not a farmer, I just enjoy learning about different industries, equipment and systems.
wold it be a solution to concret ore asfphalt the plays wear youre ag bags were stored and continu doing ag bags there and maybe built bunker walls later if neccesery ?
No expert here but seems to two better options are build a bunk or just build a pad for ag bags. Possible that pad could be designed to be a bunk down the road. Interested to he what your plans will be.
We milk test once a month. A company attaches a unit to each milker and we get a milk yield and sample from every cow. Some parlors have the ability to recognize each cow and get a milk yield every milking but ours doesn't.
I'm considering becoming a dairy farmer when I grow up so I have some questions. How many cows would ypu say ypu need to br productive? How much land do you need to house and feed all of those cows?
Great video! With beef cattle, 3rd calf is usually the break even point, but the Dairy ladies are measured by their production. Jw, are you getting added value from the AngusX calves? Do you use sexed semen on the best cows, and Angus on the others? Do you flame the udders around this time of year? Yeah, alot of ?s, but I was in the biz myself.
Has your bacteria count changed since youve starting using the auto washing device pre and post milking? Good explanation on the process of cycling cows out of your herd.
this might be a dumb question, but why dont you "suck" the remains of the feed from ag bag.. you know, like use one of those feed/crop blower things that you use to fill the silos?
Those cows had to poo on the floor one last time before they left. 😂
I grew up on a farm with my grandmother in Brittany and she taught me never to get attached to the animals, cows, chickens etc. I totally understand culling the herd.
Hey Eric, your father is pretty awesome, I’m sure you agree. He is the older generation of the family dairy, and won’t be at the job forever, and yet he has so much to share and contribute. I hope you understand just how blessed you are, and that God has provided for your family in many incredible ways. God bless you guys.
Hello Eric, you and your dad have taught this city boy an amazing ing amount, and I appreciate watching and learning. I’m an electrical engineer and a master electrician, and so I think a lot about your cleaning robots. I think they are darn near worth their weight in gold. So I suggest this strategy, strongly: YOU be the guy who buys them NEW and YOU be the guy who sells them used to the next farmer. Give yourselves a break and enjoy “that new car smell”, and trade in for the new model every year or two. I’m sure the cost is MUCH higher for brand new, but you will love the advantages. Cheers, Mike
I’m so glad that the ag community on UA-cam understands. I guarantee if this was any other UA-camr that doesn’t usually make ag content, they’d receive MAJOR backlash for doing an integral task in maintaining the farm.
For the ag bags you could put a few jersy barriers at the eld or the concrete weights you use for packing so you have something stable to push against
Another tremendous educational Video Eric. Your father & son team are had working, dedicated, & ethical Dairy Farmers. Great to see. Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving with your family
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. One year ago today my dad went to heaven. Your videos always make me feel better if I happen to have a down day. Thanks.
As you point out many factors go into the decision to cull. On our beef operation, a big factor for me was disposition! I didn’t want a dangerous animal around, one that might hurt someone. Nor did I want her genetics passed on.
Angus calves very valuable here in Ontario. $ 700 for 2 week old.
Thanks for the Thanksgiving wishes, it went pretty good, I hope yours went good! You could really see the difference in the lower milk producer when you was walking them to the trailer. Have a good night, hope your Sunday is great!
Some other YT farm channels I follow emphasize that their duty as farmers and ranchers is to ensure their animals only have one bad day on the farm. From the emphasis I see you put on animal health, wellness and comfort, I suspect you're operations is the same - only one bad day for the cows. There is no life without death.
Dingle balls in cow's tails can be dangerous....😂
Another example of a family raised individual, good job son
Those 2 inches of rain were sure a blessing down here in Virginia as well. They helped put out an 11,000 acre wild fire down here in the National Forest. We had been very dry up until that rain - they actually got about 3 inches in the mountains where the fire was.
We had rain in Texas also. Much needed. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Good stuff Eric and happy thanks giving to you and family
Thanks so much young man!!
I enjoy your show bruh, also sas dutch kid.
Hope you and your family had a happy Thanksgiving!! Thank you for the videos
It's a bad day when you have to sell an old favorite cow, but keeping old cow herd is the easy way to fail as a dairy farmer.
Thank you for sharing this with us
Happy belated Thanksgiving to you and your family Eric
Awesome video Eric. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Great job guys
Totally understand your balanced view of life and economics. If we want milk, this is in the background.
Kind of off topic, but could you do a video “tour” of the old bank barn? I build model farm buildings for farm layout displays and need some new barn ideas! Thanks Eric!
I’m not sure where I heard it, but as to the life of a dairy cow, “It’s a great life, with just one bad day.”
Can't get enough of your videos hope u had a good Thanksgiving
You have great videos, beautiful farm and animals , great work ethic
Hi Eric, thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes. I hope you & yours had a blessed Thanksgiving as well. You sure packed an interesting variety of content in this video. I enjoyed hearing your rationale for managing your herd population. It is good for folks with a non dairy background to hear the practical side of animal husbandry. You and your family do an amazing job of keeping your operation neat and tidy. I know how much extra time and effort that requires. Regarding your potential project to add additional storage. Since vertical storage seems to be more costly to build and operate. You might want to consider just adding additional bunker storage capacity. Maybe upgrade or add a designated loader with large capacity for faster loading of the mixer wagon. Hey was that a new doggie I saw in the parlor?
Thanks and have a blessed weekend!
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving in your new home.
Always enjoy your videos Eric!
Concrete is not getting any cheaper my friend. I would decide sooner rather than later
Yes but we want to make the best long term decision. Need to consider all the options.
Just before you said it, I was thinking, they should build another bunk. We used bags for a few years. I always figure they’re a short term solution. Our custom bagger got expensive. There’s always waste and mud in some cases. We built more bunks last year. Nice to be on solid ground, less plastic. Don’t be scared of haylage, rye, triticale in a bunk. Been great for us. There’s upfront expense, but you’ll pay a bunk off easy.
Thanks for a great video. Always learn something about your work in your videos. I cannot imagine what you plastic bill is per year. Hope you and your family had a very Happy Thanksgiving.
You know once you go with bunker silos it’s hard to go and use an ag bag after being used to a nice bunker. Your 7130 if it was not a feeding tractor would be a great loader tractor
ALWAYS FUN HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR
Happy Holidays to your family! First Christmas in the new house I think?
Another great video. First time I’d a tail trimmer. Hope you guys had a great thanksgiving
Never thought you were a barbor too ! Good job
Another consideration in the culling decision is payback. Each cow has 2 years of feeding, housing, veterinary bills, and management. Depending on milk production, she may not have paid back that investment for another 2 years. If the culling rate is too high, that investment doesn’t get paid back. Long term it is financially disastrous, unless her production is too low to pay back her feed cost while milking.
Yes finally a video please upload a bit more
This is the best farm 🚜 that I have ever watched beautiful beautiful barns they take awesome care of the animals all modern, beautiful working equipment, barns have plenty of space you name it, all dairy farms should be like this farm 🚜 if not get out of it
There you go. Teaching the world it more to running a dairy other than yanking teats and shoveling manure. Keep coming with geeky stuff Eric. I find the management part fascinating.
My word .... what a superb set of mammaries ... absolutely stunningly spot on perfect... need l say more !!!
I HOPE YOU THE FAMILY HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S MY THANKSGIVING WAS AWESOME
Great vids Eric. A wee heads up, you should pick up the tail trimmings the macerator on the dribble bar hates tail trimmings. Bad for choking up. Keep up the good work
i got your hat and beannie and sticker love the hat when it gets warmer i will put the sticker on
After you milk them and they return to the barn do they always got o the same stall to lay down or do they go to any stall ?
Another Great Video 👍 Great content, keep up the great work!
Them caves ought to bring GOOD money 💰
You always have a great looking farm. Your dad and you do a great job.
I have said it before you have very clean cows.
lol dad drives the skidster like a mad man
When you sell your cows for beef do you ever harvest the beef to feed your families?
Hope you and your family had a blessed Thanksgiving. Have you ever gotten any of the beef back for yourself> and how long do healthy cows live without being used for milk or beef cattle?
Hey nice video, have you thougt about a new poured upright silo maybe? Seems pretty common for the area you live in to built an upright. ?God bless you, your family and your cows. Wish you all best from southcentral Europe.
What kind of protein do you get with your tricale and rye digestibility vales, would you be willing too share
Your videos never disappoint. Did you ever get the solar panels tied into electric?
how is the solar system working out?
happy thanksgiving god bless
Yea thanks for another informative video god bless
Hey dude
Hope the growing family is doing well
Hope y’all had a good thanksgiving.👍👏🐄🦃
12:08 It would be interesting to hear some options on the structure for triticale you mention. For reference I'm not a farmer, I just enjoy learning about different industries, equipment and systems.
hard worker…love the videos...
wold it be a solution to concret ore asfphalt the plays wear youre ag bags were stored and continu doing ag bags there and maybe built bunker walls later if neccesery ?
All good!
Do other farms sometimes buy the cows you send? Is that ever an option? I know in Ohio where Im at that happens sometimes!
Eric, what do you use for fly control?
No expert here but seems to two better options are build a bunk or just build a pad for ag bags. Possible that pad could be designed to be a bunk down the road. Interested to he what your plans will be.
How do you identify which cow is attached to which milker and how much milk they are producing?
We milk test once a month. A company attaches a unit to each milker and we get a milk yield and sample from every cow. Some parlors have the ability to recognize each cow and get a milk yield every milking but ours doesn't.
Some kinda grapple bucket would make end of bags easier? Good work ! I love ice cold chocolate milk! Thanks!!
How is milk quality with the new teet cleaning
In Germany, Bavaria we have half a meter of snow, which is a rarity.
I'm considering becoming a dairy farmer when I grow up so I have some questions. How many cows would ypu say ypu need to br productive? How much land do you need to house and feed all of those cows?
One thing for the triticale just having a concrete pad and make a pile then put walls up later if thats what you wanna do
how do you measure the cows milk production, and how do you keep the records for each cow
Hey Eric what are the best boots for milking my keep wearing down .
Great video! With beef cattle, 3rd calf is usually the break even point, but the Dairy ladies are measured by their production. Jw, are you getting added value from the AngusX calves? Do you use sexed semen on the best cows, and Angus on the others? Do you flame the udders around this time of year? Yeah, alot of ?s, but I was in the biz myself.
I don’t know eric. Got lots of useable silo space on the farm. Invest into the current silos you have and you won’t need to add another bunk.
Hello! Where did you get your calf stalls from?
Do you use DHIA to test your cows? I really like your site. I was around Brown Swiss for about 50 years. Actually was the hired hand for 5 years.
Has your bacteria count changed since youve starting using the auto washing device pre and post milking? Good explanation on the process of cycling cows out of your herd.
Whetrs that drill attachment from for the tails that’d help my neighbor farm out a lot
Greetings from malta
Thanks! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Did the calves bring more then the old milkers?
How much do the angus calves make.
this might be a dumb question, but why dont you "suck" the remains of the feed from ag bag.. you know, like use one of those feed/crop blower things that you use to fill the silos?
Z
Do cow bed at the same place everyday?
You would think the angus cross you would keep for your feed lot
Just wondering how come you don't tag ur calf before you sell them
How are you liking your new “Pre Dip” system ?
We like it a lot
stay warm and safe brother you and your family from the imperial county California 👍👍🇺🇲
How many cows you get rid of a year?
you need a feed vacuum to suck the feed out of the bags.
How do you keep track of individual cow production?
Tags and software
You once posted that Cow 482 was always first in line to be milked.....but I haven't her mentioned again. Did she....GULP.....Big Mac? 😕
Oh yea I forgot about 482
Your cull cows do they go to a feedlot or straight to slaughter
BRO JUST TELL US THOSE 2 COWS ARE GOING TO A RETIREMENT FARM. 😂