Fodder rocketing as silage wilts

Growth has stalled. The real worry is that whether rain comes tomorrow or next week, cows will still need silage for at least a month, as fields are bare. It will be mid-August before they can revert to grass alone.

From speaking to Co Cork farmers, the position is worrisome. Virtually all hay, silage and straw was depleted in the spring, and the triple whammy of suppressed growth, feeding silage reserved for next year, and an expected spring barley straw shortfall makes the possibility of winter fodder shortage increasingly ominous.

Whether or not you have been contacted by Teagasc for their fodder survey, you should nonetheless prepare your own fodder budget.

Per month, you need the equivalent of 1.5-2 round bales of silage for dairy cows, one bale for yearlings, and 1-1.5 bales for 1-2-year-olds.

Use the Teagasc fodder budget templated available online or from Teagasc offices.

According to contractors and merchants, there was a scramble in the past week to buy silage bales, and for growing maize, wholecrop, or any other fodder, as farmers realised second cut silage will be severely reduced, if available at all.

With much the same number of cattle in the country from year to year, and the supply of fodder limited, it’s not surprising fodder prices are rocketing.

Well made silage bales are already over €30 collected, with some dealers demanding €40 delivered.

Trades have concluded for maize north of €1,100 per acre. Some tillage farmers want over €800 per acre for wholecrop.

Each farmer must do their own calculation as to what they can afford, and the relative values of other feedstuffs.

Rolled and crimped barley, and basic compound rations, will be options to supplement low silage stocks on a budget.

But cattle need roughage to prevent acidosis and stomach upsets, and cannot be moved onto high feeding rates overnight. In that transition period, farmers need adequate roughage.

Farmers who don’t see themselves in a position to afford feed are better off getting rid of stock rather than underfeeding them. Hoping for a break in the weather, a fine autumn, short winter, and early spring. does not constitute a plan and is bordering on reckless.

Options include:

n supplementation right through to next spring to stretch existing fodder;

n increasing fertiliser and top dressing grazing ground with granulated lime to maximise grass growth;

n doing a deal with tillage farmers for kale, fodder rape, stubble turnips or hybrid brassicas to outwinter lighter stock (with the advantage that demand for straw for bedding is eliminated, and silage demand is reduced).

n Farmers with rocky outcrops and lighter soils may consider a sacrifice paddock to winter some stock, to reduce straw usage.

n A land swaps option where a beef farmer offers ley to a tillage farmer for a year, usually for spring or for late winter wheat set in late November or December, and the tillage farmer in turn offers the beef farmer some tillage ground reseeded with grass seeds that allow for much earlier grazing of stock, potentially in October and in the spring, while the beef farmer retains the ley until the end of the growing period. Fast growing grass seeds such as Westerwolds would suit. The tillage farmer gets access to fresh ground with a rotation benefit. But it would be important to check out the tax consequences. A break in farming owned land can affect certain tax reliefs.

n Another beef farm option is ad-lib feeding earlier than normal to finish cattle early at lighter carcase weights, to reduce winter cattle numbers.

On our own farm, we hope the situation can be arrested thanks to our reduced barley acreage, and more land planted to maize and new grass seeds (in which growth is stalled).

When rain returns, it will be a case of pulling out all the stops to grow as much as we can before the winter.

The first step is to make a fodder budget and work out if you are short, consider options, and take action.

www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2018/Fodder-Plan-18.pdf