Teagasc predicts 50% shortage of next winter’s silage in wet areas

Teagasc is predicting a 50% shortage in silage made for next winter in wet land areas, based on consultations with advisers in each of its 51 advisory offices across the country.

Teagasc’s Fodder Update found that almost 40% of all livestock farmers were severely affected by the forage crisis. This varies from 10%-15% in the east to 20%-25% in the south and up to 80% in the west and north-west. Continuing heavy rain has seen the situation in the north-west deteriorate significantly.

“From mid-April supplies of forage from the south and west have dried up, and in recent times farmers have been getting supplies from the east of the country and from imports by co-ops, etc,” said Dermot McCarthy, head of Teagasc Advisory. “Teagasc identified the need for such imports at an early stage.