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The fine spell of weather that has persisted right into October may well turn out to be the perfect antidote to the problems caused by this summer’s drought.
While straw is a scarce commodity, and is likely to remain so until next spring, grass growth (since the rain arrived in late July) was spectacular and compensatory in equal measure. However, there was a fear that, despite fields showing considerable bulk and offering the potential to be made into silage, soft, rank grass made during showery weather would lead to some poorly fermented material.
As things have turned out, the dreams of most farmers in this part of Co Down have come to fruition, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of the autumn silage has a very high feeding value.
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The image in my head that late September silage conjures up is a pile of bales in the corner of a field that are, at best, slightly drunk, but more often completely misshapen heaps of very dodgy fodder.
By contrast, a lot of this year’s late grass was not only wilted successfully, I even heard the word “haylage” being used on several occasions to describe the grass disappearing into the baler.
I saw numerous fields kicked out over two or three days, and then baling in fantastic condition. The only downside may be the financial implications of that exercise, since bulky rows of fresh grass soon reduced in volume with each pass of the tedders, and plenty of hitherto impressive swards baled into about three 4x4 rounds per acre.
Perhaps it’s best not to do too much counting, or the euphoria of having high-quality silage could dissolve in a cloud of despair. As farmers, does it do any good to know that those light crops of intensively produced grass might be costing us more than £25 per bale?
Personally, I think it’s far wiser to give ourselves a huge pat on the back, and pretend the whole exercise was fantastically cost-effective.
Mid-July
Like a lot of sheep farmers, I do not normally make late silage. All grass grown after the middle of July is gratefully wolfed down by weaned lambs, and rapidly growing cattle.
But this year was unique, and I had little choice but to shut off seven acres for another cut.
One field had been dusted with poultry litter during the dry weather, and the other received 40 units of N in early August.
We then mowed at the end of August because this seemed to offer the best balance between grass yield, and subsequent aftergrass. With the benefit of hindsight, I could have left it for another week or so and still had adequate regrowth.
Uncharted
Since this venture saw me sailing through uncharted waters, I sought a bit of advice, and was told to wilt as much as possible to concentrate the low sugar levels and help to achieve a decent fermentation.
This was the best possible news for a committed wuffle-aholic like myself, and I spent hours cruising up and down fields with the wuffler churning out steadily diminishing rows of lovely grass. We finished up with 5.5 bales per acre of good-looking bales, although I find myself glancing anxiously at them each time I ride past on the quad, searching for the tell-tale signs of excessive leaning.
By early October all designated silage fields in this area seemed to be cleared and the firm ground conditions are proving to be an extra bonus, with livestock able to fully utilise available grass covers.
If this decent weather persists for another few weeks, it is entirely reasonable to assume that the potential fodder disasters that were predicted (especially by me) might just disappear into the annals of farming history.
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