Deficit in silage stocks on farms for winter ranges from 10% to 40%

Farmers say they are short of silage for next winter with 38% of dairy farmers and 15% of drystock farmers saying they don’t have enough feed harvested to keep their animals over the winter.

A fodder survey carried out by Teagasc advisers of farmers in discussion groups shows that the deficit in silage stocks on farms for next winter ranges from 10% to 40%.

The average deficit is 23%. To compound the situation, over half of farmers are feeding silage to livestock at present, further eating into stocks. On farms where there are adequate silage stocks, the quality of the silage will have major implications for supplementary feed costs and animal performance next winter.