Grass supplies scarce or very scarce, Teagasc surveys reveal

Nearly two out of three dairy and drystock discussion group members surveyed by Teagasc last week said that grass supplies on their farms are either scarce or very scarce.

Their winter silage deficits ranged from 10% to 40%, with 38% of dairy farmers and 15% of drystock farmers saying they are short of silage for the winter. The average deficit was 23%, and to compound the situation over half of the farmers were feeding silage last week, further eating into stocks.

Carried out from Jul 17 to Jul 27, the Teagasc survey showed that 87% of dairy farmers and 79% of drystock farmers had completed harvesting of their first cut silage. Nine out of ten dairy farmers were providing supplementary meal to cows.