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Teagasc dairy specialist Joe Patton has said that a 10% fodder deficit is the equivalent of two weeks worth of feeding.
On average farmers have estimated that the winter will be 145 days long - a 10% deficit over this time period would be the equivalent of being short of fodder for two weeks.
He told a meeting of the fodder inter-agency group, set up by Teagasc, on Monday in Tullamore that farmers who are short now should avoid being complacent and address any shortage.
"A 10% fodder shortage is equivalent to two weeks worth of feed. There is an assumption that the feed problem is solved on some farms.
"Farmers should avoid complacency, implement feed and stock plans early and continue to monitor feed stocks in early January," he said.
National deficit
Some 22% of farmers have a fodder deficit of 10% or more, the latest Teagasc national fodder survey shows.
Outlining the details at the inter-agency fodder meeting, Dr Siobhán Kavanagh of Teagasc said that the overall deficit stands at -1%.
Of the farmers surveyed, 33% said they had a fodder deficit, with the average deficit per farm standing at 15%, she said.
Some 42% of farmers have a deficit of between 1% and 10%, 33% of farmers said they are short between 10% and 20%, 15% of farmers said they are short between 20% and 30% and 10% of farmers said they were short of fodder by over 30%.
Of the farms that had a deficit, 40% were dairy farms and 60% were dry stock. On the farms with a deficit, the deficit was on average 15% on both drystock and dairy farms.
Selling stock
Teagasc also asked farmers if they had sold stock to alleviate fodder shortages.
Some 22% of farmers said they had sold stock already and 25% of farmers said they would sell stock to alleviate a fodder problem.
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