The general consensus among most farmers in the soil moisture deficit regions is that the rain which fell early last week has not been enough to dramatically improve grass growth.

As is the nature with thunderstorms, some farms just did not get enough rain at all, while some areas got washed out with massive thunderstorms, but even in these areas, a lot of that water ran off the land, rather than filtering through the soil.

According to Met Eireann, soil moisture deficits are ranging from 50mm to 80mm across the southeast, with the worst affected parts in Cork.

Burned up

Although many fields continue to look burned up, most farms are still growing grass, although at a much slower pace than the herd would ordinarily eat it.

This means that many farmers are putting in extra feed in order to keep cows fed, such as meal and silage.

Considering that there is no real rainfall event forecast until the end of the month and that Met Eireann has already predicted that September is going to be drier than normal, farmers should be expecting to be in this current predicament for the long haul.

This may put pressure on feed stocks. Best policy is to identify how much silage is required for the winter period and ring-fence this for that period.

Winter feed

Hay or straw could be purchased to be used instead of this silage if needs be, but it’s critical that enough winter feed should be on the farm.

The fact that most parts of the country are only at around 60% of normal rainfall now is worrying, because it means that if the annual rainfall is to be within 10% of normal by year end, it means that a lot of rain is due in October, November and December.

In terms of feeding cows now, meal is the first port of call and if four or five kilos of meal is insufficient to maintain a 25-day rotation length, then include some silage in the diet also.