Only one third of farmers have sufficient fodder stocks for winter

Almost two thirds of farmers need to save more silage and hay for next winter, according to a Teagasc fodder census survey.

The Teagasc survey of 975 farmers found that just one third say they would have adequate fodder stocks for the coming winter. There is an overall average deficit of 12% across the country.

This was more acute for the 64% of farmers who are facing a fodder deficit, where the shortage is estimated to be 23%, or 201 tonnes.

These figures take into account the percentage of silage made and what is predicted to be harvested.

Teagasc nutritionist, Siobhan Kavanagh, said: “Projected deficits have been identified by farmers across all geographical regions and across farm enterprises.

“The survey showed the most common actions planned by farmers to address the deficit is to purchase meals and purchase grass silage. Other planned actions include maize silage, fodder beet, whole crop cereals silage and straw or meal diets growing brassica crops, and reducing livestock numbers.”

The survey was carried out in the week commencing Jul 1, by Teagasc and other organisations participating in the Inter Agency Fodder Committee. Jul 1 was set as the first of two fodder census days, to encourage farmers to complete a fodder budget for their farm and to get a snapshot of the fodder stocks nationally.

Teagasc and its partners plan to conduct another fodder census day on Oct 1. Of those surveyed, 11% of farmers still had no silage made as they waited for meadows to bulk up due to the late spring.

The authors of the survey said it is important to note that just 46% of the silage required on the farms with a deficit has been conserved to date. This compares to 74% already conserved on the farms with no predicted deficit.

“There is a significant amount of work to be done over the coming weeks to rebuild fodder stocks,” said a Teagasc spokesman. “The message from Teagasc is to maximise grass growth and continue to conserve as much grass as second cut silage and as surplus bales from the grazing area over the coming weeks. Teagasc urges caution in buying expensive silage, wet feeds, etc, without first doing a fodder budget and, secondly, examining all options to fill the gap.”

While the survey didn’t assess the quality of the silage and hay made this year, the dry, sunny conditions in June and July will have ensured that the fodder stored this year is of higher quality, with higher feeding value than that made in 2012, said the Teagasc spokesman.

Meanwhile, the Teagasc Pasture Base Ireland database, which captures grass production across a range of farms, shows that on 50 commercial farms up to Jul 1, cumulative grass production for the year averaged 5.8 tonnes dry matter per hectare. This ranged from 8.5t DM/ha to 3.2t DM/ha on these farms. These figures included both dairy/ beef and sheep farms across 14 counties.

Teagasc Grassland researcher Michael O’Donovan said: “These farms are now close to 50% through the growing season. Indications from Pasture Base Ireland is that grass growth on heavier soils is now surpassing that of drier solids. This may facilitate these farms to conserve more silage in the next number of weeks’’.