Hiding from the sun in the coolest room in the house, I turn on the news to hear George Lee uttering the words: “When the rain comes, if it ever does, the ground will take several weeks to recover.”
I answer back: “We live in Ireland, George: the rain will definitely come.” Sometimes you just want to scream: “Stop the hysteria!”
The most important thing about this heat wave is that it is beautiful and brilliant weather. No matter how hard farmers find it to manage livestock, people will not hear us. They too have endured a tough winter and spring of bad weather. There was hardship in getting to and from work, ensuring children were dry going to school and that the toddler or baby was delivered dry to the crèche. Washing and drying the household’s clothes was a nightmare. The list is limitless.
So now, this fine weather is most welcome, and we farmers are absolute killjoys if we dare mention rain. I made the slightest suggestion of needing rain for the cows in the staff room at school last week. In short, there was no sympathy.
We also need to be very careful in how we manage the media. I’ve heard various reports on different shows that are immediately followed with barrages from unsympathetic groups. In reality, unless you’re from a farming background, you couldn’t possibly understand the full impact of a fodder shortage created by the incessant rain – and now created by the magnificent sunshine.
MUST-DO LIST
Nevertheless, there is a must-do list in this heat:
1. Protect ourselves from the sun. 2. Look out for young children and sick or older people. 3. Feed silage or put other feed stuffs in place for animals. 4. Ensure adequate water supply for all animals. 5. Do not waste water – either in the garden or by washing vehicles.All week I’ve heard radio shows talking about protecting ourselves from the sun. Yet, I was driving across the north side of the city through Gurranabraher last Tuesday. The temperature gauge in the car was reading 28°C. There were roadworks. Three council workers in high-vis jackets were managing the Stop and Go signs.
The sun was strong and direct, bouncing on their hatless heads as well as their exposed and already-red necks and arms. One has to wonder what it takes to get people to protect themselves.
Meanwhile, the factor-50 sunscreen is on our unit in the kitchen and, thankfully, it has become a habit for all to avail of it. Maybe it’s because I had a suspicious dark patch removed from my ear in 2016 or that their grandad Denis died of skin cancer. Whatever the reason; it is good practice. Don’t forget to put on the hat.
GRASS HAS STOPPED GROWING
From a farming perspective, it is important to manage through this drought to the best of our abilities. The number one priority is the supply of adequate clean drinking water to all the animals. Cows will drink 120 litres a day. When the cows came in this morning for milking, they consumed the 5,000 litres of water that was immediately available in the troughs and, yes, they have water in the field.
This prompted Colm and I to have a chat about how we are managing the drought. The grass has more or less stopped growing. Grass growth has stalled where silage has been cut. That has left a major hole in the supply of grass to our milking herd.
We operate a low-cost, grass-based system, so our emphasis is on protecting the grass. Colm believes, that once the rain comes, we will have grass back in a week if we manage it properly. Managing it properly means putting other feed in place quickly.
The cows are getting 4kg concentrate in the milking parlour. They are getting silage in the head feed and they are being fed palm kernel in big troughs out in the field. These troughs are kept away from the water troughs, so that the cows won’t eat too much of it. As it is just shy of 90% dry matter, they need to go to drink afterwards. The silage, at 35%+ dry matter, along with the meal, makes for a very dry feed regime. It is expensive to feed animals through this drought. The protein level in the milk has also dropped by 0.1%. Colm quantified the extra time involved in this extra feeding at about two and a half extra hours work every day. Coincidentally, it is about the same amount of time that Tim quantified the extra work of back fencing and standing off cows to protect the grass in the spring.
Extreme weather conditions always mean more work for the farmer. We don’t get this too often, so we have to manage through it. Just don’t expect sympathy from other quarters. CL
Hiding from the sun in the coolest room in the house, I turn on the news to hear George Lee uttering the words: “When the rain comes, if it ever does, the ground will take several weeks to recover.”
I answer back: “We live in Ireland, George: the rain will definitely come.” Sometimes you just want to scream: “Stop the hysteria!”
The most important thing about this heat wave is that it is beautiful and brilliant weather. No matter how hard farmers find it to manage livestock, people will not hear us. They too have endured a tough winter and spring of bad weather. There was hardship in getting to and from work, ensuring children were dry going to school and that the toddler or baby was delivered dry to the crèche. Washing and drying the household’s clothes was a nightmare. The list is limitless.
So now, this fine weather is most welcome, and we farmers are absolute killjoys if we dare mention rain. I made the slightest suggestion of needing rain for the cows in the staff room at school last week. In short, there was no sympathy.
We also need to be very careful in how we manage the media. I’ve heard various reports on different shows that are immediately followed with barrages from unsympathetic groups. In reality, unless you’re from a farming background, you couldn’t possibly understand the full impact of a fodder shortage created by the incessant rain – and now created by the magnificent sunshine.
MUST-DO LIST
Nevertheless, there is a must-do list in this heat:
1. Protect ourselves from the sun. 2. Look out for young children and sick or older people. 3. Feed silage or put other feed stuffs in place for animals. 4. Ensure adequate water supply for all animals. 5. Do not waste water – either in the garden or by washing vehicles.All week I’ve heard radio shows talking about protecting ourselves from the sun. Yet, I was driving across the north side of the city through Gurranabraher last Tuesday. The temperature gauge in the car was reading 28°C. There were roadworks. Three council workers in high-vis jackets were managing the Stop and Go signs.
The sun was strong and direct, bouncing on their hatless heads as well as their exposed and already-red necks and arms. One has to wonder what it takes to get people to protect themselves.
Meanwhile, the factor-50 sunscreen is on our unit in the kitchen and, thankfully, it has become a habit for all to avail of it. Maybe it’s because I had a suspicious dark patch removed from my ear in 2016 or that their grandad Denis died of skin cancer. Whatever the reason; it is good practice. Don’t forget to put on the hat.
GRASS HAS STOPPED GROWING
From a farming perspective, it is important to manage through this drought to the best of our abilities. The number one priority is the supply of adequate clean drinking water to all the animals. Cows will drink 120 litres a day. When the cows came in this morning for milking, they consumed the 5,000 litres of water that was immediately available in the troughs and, yes, they have water in the field.
This prompted Colm and I to have a chat about how we are managing the drought. The grass has more or less stopped growing. Grass growth has stalled where silage has been cut. That has left a major hole in the supply of grass to our milking herd.
We operate a low-cost, grass-based system, so our emphasis is on protecting the grass. Colm believes, that once the rain comes, we will have grass back in a week if we manage it properly. Managing it properly means putting other feed in place quickly.
The cows are getting 4kg concentrate in the milking parlour. They are getting silage in the head feed and they are being fed palm kernel in big troughs out in the field. These troughs are kept away from the water troughs, so that the cows won’t eat too much of it. As it is just shy of 90% dry matter, they need to go to drink afterwards. The silage, at 35%+ dry matter, along with the meal, makes for a very dry feed regime. It is expensive to feed animals through this drought. The protein level in the milk has also dropped by 0.1%. Colm quantified the extra time involved in this extra feeding at about two and a half extra hours work every day. Coincidentally, it is about the same amount of time that Tim quantified the extra work of back fencing and standing off cows to protect the grass in the spring.
Extreme weather conditions always mean more work for the farmer. We don’t get this too often, so we have to manage through it. Just don’t expect sympathy from other quarters. CL
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