Absolutely loved the video, please keep making them. I have the same experience of being told to keep achieving academically because it is “so much better” than farming, but this isn’t necessarily true. Great to hear from somebody in a similar situation.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Farming is a tough but very enjoyable job.

Great idea! Love the data… BUT…. Flip the screens next time. In other words, show the charts/ spreadsheet big and you small in the corner. It’s too hard to read the data and follow along as it is. That aside, it’s great to hear other farmer’s processes. And I think it’s important messaging that we don’t get things handed to us, that so much affects our profit or loss, etc.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Oh yeah!!! No idea why I never thought of that. 😆 Thanks!

Brilliant watch, I’m a young dairy farmer in the south and find you’re enthusiasm for farming refreshing compared to most of the doom and gloom we hear day in day out👍🏻

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed it.

My hats go off to you very professional video and enjoyed the video and the channel ❤

Very interesting one of my mates has recently done benchmarking and they told him his suckler doesn't make any money which makes you question benchmarking as i would say he's in the top 20% if not 10% and is investing in his farm without borrowing we're both quite open with our finances which leads to some good discussions. Keep up the good work we need more like you in tge industry.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I really really appreciate feedback, I do feel very unsure about what I'm trying to do with youtube. 😆

Fantastic video. Your switched on alright and thats what it takes to be good in business

Great video. Good numbers for anyone thinking of doing it. It is a very complex business when you take the milk price and the input cost volatility into account. So many moving parts of the equation.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

So many moving parts. Farming is really hard and a lot of people don't get that.

Well said, love the videos, from a full time dairy farmer/ full time teacher. Don’t need to do both but love both

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!!

Very well done It would have helped, but perhaps added another layer of complexity to cover land values and tax. Ie - that a lower trading business performance can be accepted if asset value is appreciating and tax advantages are used. There is a real separation between tenant farmers and owners. Also between family farms who perhaps have no intention of selling and those who have bought a farm for 20 years and farm it primarily for asset appreciation.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

So much I could have said, you could do a huge series on farm business.

I too thought you are wasted on dairy farming, until you said you don't use side sheets on the pits!! I'm now struggling to take you seriously 😂😂. Great videos keep it up.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I will have to do a video on side sheets this week and convince you they are a bad idea. 😆

@dekdek551

8 ай бұрын

Fabulous insight into the real numbers. Interesting that you had some batches of heifers that underperformed, but that is a reality of breeding, no matter how good the bulls are, you should only breed your best cows and maiden heifers to dairy. Vets and medical are another big variable as well as your resending program and grass variety. Loved the share, absolutely 💯.

I love the way your brain saw the opportunity. I can relate so well. Over the next 2 months my family and will sell our city home and take over an existing dairy farm. Thank you for this video. It was very informative. Brief and to the point.

@FarmTheoryNI

7 ай бұрын

Amazing! Hope it helped! Your going to have a very interesting few years ahead!

Love the videos very insightful and agree fully re how farmers are eunderappreciated by business community, when one consider how volatile revenue and indeed some Costa are farmers should be.massively applauded for their abilities, this coming from someone in another business.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Having a second business give me the perspective to appreciate how difficult farming is but also how simple it is having a guaranteed customer. 😅

Very interesting and honest video!

Fair play.ya.no farmer tell nothing all no say.no money in farming but still keep farming no alot work long hours

Great vid as usual, plenty of common sense..and encouraging to the young people..

Support for your channel Andrew 👍.

Soon as I seen your face I subscribed. I seen you on farm flix. Smart lad can wait to get a look over your channel 👍

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Thanks!!

Im new to your chanel north wales based, interesting content a sensible aproach to a farming buisness, so many call farming a way of life in some respect it is, but as you sensibly point out its the bottom line that pays the bills, get that right and you will be rewarded with a better lifestyle, i shall look forward to your next vlog, good luck.

Every young farmer should watch this

@FarmTheoryNI

2 ай бұрын

It would be helpful I think! 🤷

Great video. I’m a beef farmer and was told similar things when coming home from. ‘good’ job 😉 I am not up to date with my bench marking at the moment, but when I have done it in the past, I moved away from profit per cow, profit per ha or yield as my primary figure to simple percentage return (Annual Equivalent Rate like a bank account) on cash or other value (eg unpaid labor) as I felt this was ultimately the most important. When I mentioned this at a benchmarking meeting (in England) a few years ago that was yield / income / health KPI focused, I was practically asked to leave 😂

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I think I understand what you mean, basically how much of a "wage" you actually get?

@simondennis262

7 ай бұрын

Not so much a wage. More like the interest you get on an investment. Or savings. i.e. the profit made on the value tied up in the business. Both cash / actual money and unpaid value (like my wages at times when cash flow is tight). The engineering firm I worked for did the same in quarterly profit share meetings. I look at profit overall and on an individual animal basis so I can see if specific ages, sexes, breeds etc seem more profitable (the biggest difference for me is the price paid per kg for stores, which makes me despair at markets that don’t sell on or show weights of stores). All fairly easy if individual animal performance is recorded. I account for wages separately as either wages / drawings actually taken from the business, or the amount I would have had to pay someone else (even if sometimes I haven’t, e.g. when I haven’t paid myself fully in the short term for cash flow reasons)

Great video. Ive watched it 3 times all ready.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Thanks! Im not sure that you gained the second or third time. 🤣

@paulfinnan1984

8 ай бұрын

Did u put in feed to yeild so or how did u reduce your feed bill

Great video More please on your breeding decisions good and bad

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Starting AI in 2 weeks, lots to come!

Top video & one that was missing in this space 👌 Would you consider moving away from profit per cow as main benchmark to profit per hectare/acre utilised? Just my personal view but the profit per hectare benchmark levels out the performance between high input, low input & all systems in between at the same time highlights the increased risk associated with increased inputs.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I often say the same thing to others as advice for between farms but when looking within my own business I still think per cow is the best metric.

excellent video

Brilliant and honest video. Is the milk price in NI only based on volume not solids is that way volume is more important in NI?

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Volume pays yes. That is slowly changing.

Thanks for the video. When benchmarking your figures is it against averages or from other particular farms that you share data with? Your co-op or discussion group? I’d like to learn more on benchmarking but unsure how to get started. I did it with a discussion group for a few years so understand the general idea but am not in said group now.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I found people don't want to share their data so I have only ever really compared within my own business.

Very big thanks for making this video, your vids are always interesting. What are your thoughts about buying a feeding wagon and how that could influence the milk yields? Kind regards of a vet student.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Hey Vet Student! We don't use a feeder wagon because we prioritise grazing, so the days to repay the investment are limited. It would definitely help milk yields.

@BJW-010

8 ай бұрын

@@FarmTheoryNI okay, sounds fair. Keep up the high quality of the videos, they are a pleasure to watch!

Excellent video. Perhaps a goal of profit per cow rather than yield per cow is better, a lot of profit is forgone chasing yield. Hard to read the rather small chart but did your fixed costs fluctuate in tandem with yield?

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I watch KZread on a 27" 4k screen, often forget everyone doesn't. 😅 Yield matters more than I appreciated tbh, it's a goal I will chase even at extra cost at this point.

Great video. Watching from Nigeria. Please can you share your graphs, kpi

really nice video very interesting

Good stuff

Great video

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Thanks, I was very unsure. 😅

I might be nit picking, but the graph at the start silages are just kpi’s not management accounts- they are more so used in correlation with management accounts/ financial statements. Profit also doesn’t equal cashflow with neither equaling what in your pocket. You can have all the information but it’s what practically happening and what you can do it with. You seem to be brilliant at using this information to make your decisions

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

All valid points. 😅 It's one of them topics which is never ending with caveats and context. I'm a big fan of not striving for perfection and just doing my best and moving on to the next thing.

I'm going to check the dinner then watch this again. I spent a lot of time thinking, hang on a minute.

@S_Eglington

8 ай бұрын

So what you're saying is that your total cost of production is not the total of all your costs of production?

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Not even close, we need another 6-8ppl to be cash neutral.

@finbarreburn5112

8 ай бұрын

He who hesitates is lost 🤔

Great video did you ever consider going down a lower output lower input more grass based system ? Easier on man cow and less machinery.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I don't think it delivers the turnover needed to make decent money tbh.

@philiptyndall4968

8 ай бұрын

@@FarmTheoryNIin my own group of discussion group /friends farming last year the range of profit /ha last year was 3200€ to 4300€/ha Spring calving systems are highly profitable

And that is the problem of family farms, they see it as a tradition but could be making losses as it is not valued as bussines

When you mention the cost per cow have you deduct your labour cost before you show the profit per cow? And are these cost allowing an hourly wage or just a weekly/monthly salary.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

There is a tiny cost under family labour value but the reality is you need to add +5ppl for me and my dad's labour.

Wen ur counting on profit on cows u need to count everything machinery sheds labour the lot that’s a totally different number. And people say u can’t count all that but if the cows put them costs Ther and it has to come out of the milk cheque it needs to b counted

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

It is included as depreciation, but the capital cost is incurred sooner, also replacements and drawings, as I tried to make clear, the figures are for comparison between years not real life figures that end in my bank account.

@davidporter9556

8 ай бұрын

@@FarmTheoryNII don’t want to no what’s in ur bank account 😂 but the money that’s in your account is what u made. I no the way u said is the proper way to do it but it’s not the real proper figures

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

@@davidporter9556 it's not, this is why cost of production is such a complex topic, 100 ways to work it out. 😅 I say the most accurate measure is the average price we are paid, we are always held at just about surviving! 🤔

Great video, what are your views on the use of slurry buts?

@user-gq2cn5qg3h

8 ай бұрын

Sorry bugs

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Did you not watch my tiktok this week? 🤣

@user-gq2cn5qg3h

8 ай бұрын

No I'm not on tiktok

Good video! Do you not hire any full time labour I noticed your paid labour was only £19000?

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

A lot of my labour is in my "contracting" costs. Currently it's about £40k/yr

When british farmers pay contractors for many silo crops forage wheat and maize etc how can it make money renting land aswell as owning farms

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Renting would be even more difficult. Its possible but I don't imagine it would be easy.

Can you think about doing a video of the management changes you did on the farm since you run it?

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Sure, it was meant to be this video but it got to complex. I could do a series. One item at a time.

@BJW-010

8 ай бұрын

@@FarmTheoryNI hahah I understand, the most interesting topics are the most difficult as well. I”ll have some patience!

How many cows would you think is enough to make profit to support 2 people on the farm?

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I know of some very good farmers doing it with 120. However don't make the mistake of assuming you will be very good. 😅

'A very noble profession' My old schoolteacher once said 🤔

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Very accurate.

If you want to start dairy farming, watch Larry Tranel’s video, Economics of Dairy Grazing

Your the the "Harry's farm" for dairying. On paper farmers made money in 22 but with capital allowances write downs lower than repayments and abig tax and preliminary tax bill to pay in 23 and cash flow on the floor, any farms with big borrowings could struggle if milk price's don't rebound next year. The farm always owes you money, 10/15 pounds an hour for a 70 hour week. Is that a 3d model of yourself on the table beside you?

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

What a compliment! Thanks! YES, it's a bobble head my wife bought me, inspired by "the office us".

Would you go farming if you rented all the farm? I enjoy watching all your videos

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

No, for the work it's already a tough business and I own the farmyard and 200/350ac I farm.

@rescuecow90

8 ай бұрын

You either own 350ac or not,why the 150ac difference quoted? Good video,I farmed the same when I got 50p as when I got 18p,basically never let anything slip.

@barrett2288

8 ай бұрын

he means he owns 200 out of the 350 acres he farms@@rescuecow90

@samuelrobinson9012

8 ай бұрын

​@@rescuecow90 I'm assuming he owns 200 and rents the other 150. But then again, I'm only a gobshite, you'll be more intelligent than me.🙄

How many acres have milking many cows

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

350ac, 500 animals, 190 cows.

@dermotwoodland

8 ай бұрын

350 acres @ £15k an acre leaves the farm worth around £5.5 mil. If you invested that money @ 8% you would make £440k with no hard work. @@FarmTheoryNI

@ farm theory Could you do a bit of homework on the sustainability payment being offered by Lakeland, i feel like theres a lot there not saying on it and what it means going forward, Thanks Matty Oh i love the environmental videos

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

For once, no I can't. 🤣 It's a very long, rediculous story. Your spot on, there is a lot not being said, and it's going to bite us very quick. However I don't see any options for farmers, they will simply force it on us.

@mattynorris8587

8 ай бұрын

@@FarmTheoryNI I've a feeling it could be something to with you being a bad Dale Farm representative .

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

@@mattynorris8587 WELL DONE!! 🤣👏 Didn't think you would join them dots tbh.

Please fix the volume on the videos, I’ve tried to watch several and the volume is very low

@FarmTheoryNI

6 ай бұрын

Is it? I will increase the master volume for the next one.

@pachipachi503

6 ай бұрын

Thank u, love the videos btw very informative

Shame that you were considered too good for farming. Expert farmers like you are needed to lead and to advocate for farming.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Thanks! I understand why people say it, much easier life. 🤣 However farming also has its moments of greatness.

could you give us a video about your breeding strategy's, aims and failures you mentioned.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I will! Breeding starts again in 2 weeks.

Some man! Great insight for the general public💪🏼👍🏼. Dairy myself… two things.. 1: fair play for giving the time and effort and some private info 2:…. You would talk the hind legs off a f**king DONKEY! Mother of divine…. Relax… take it handy. Your video was great and this comes across in this message as abuse … I mean this in the least abusive way possible I sound like an awful bo** Feck me…..you’re some man to talk. You’re video has great info for the general pubic and farmers also… but hey… you could bend the ear off a donkey. Christ on a bike relax.. you are really passionate about the farm and that’s super. It’s so intense! Not in the top 10% myself either not far below it though..but hey… the cows work for you……. You don’t work for the cows!!!! 🤷🏼‍♂️

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

Thanks! I also absolutely get what your saying, my idea with KZread is very much to just try something different, this style of video is me trying to find the balance and see what works.

One disagreement Andrew. Once you farm for a while you couldn't work for anyone else. You'd get the sack after the first day for arguing with your boss.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I absolutely agree with that. 😅 Farmers are very independent individuals

Great insights. I sent you an email to farmtheoryni would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the numbers etc there. Thanks.

@FarmTheoryNI

8 ай бұрын

I will check it out