Last week, Tim and I attended the Teagasc grass and fodder walk on the farm of Sean, Laoise and Liam Hennessy. This one was a must for us as Laoise is Tim’s sister. Our two families are very close as we have adult children who have paralleled each other through the years. Liam was a year behind Colm doing his dairy business degree and Donagh has just embarked on a PhD on climate change.

Sean and Laoise are experienced and competent dairy farmers. They have regular family farm planning meetings and it became apparent to them in early July that grass was running out and remedial action was necessary.

Their strategies had obviously worked as we viewed the carpet of lush green grass that stretched out before us in Gurth. The grass wedge had been flat during the drought and stopped growing. Now the farm has an even grass cover throughout, meaning it will be challenging to manage.

John Maher of Teagasc and Grass10 manager was the leader for the farm walk flanked by Shane McCarthy, dairy advisor and Fergal O’Mahoney. He facilitated and directed discussion in a manner that was exemplary. He laid out the information in a succinct and accessible way. A large crowd attended and there were many new faces which is reflective of the difficult time that farmers have been through. They are coming out to seek help and direction and that is just what they should do. Nobody is infallible. The most experienced farmers make mistakes and new challenges present every day.

Stats and action

At the outset, John, aided by Sean and Liam, outlined the stats for the Hennessey farm and moreover the fodder situation. As soon as the family saw difficulties ahead, they did the feed budget calculating just how much feed they would have for the winter. Realizing they would be short of feed; they took action. Some cows were sold; hay was purchased to stretch the grass and some whole crop silage. The upshot of their actions means they are now in a good position. Yet a deficit remains. This will be made up from silage that they will harvest in a third cut. John indicated that many farmers will not have this option.

Cartoon by Clyde Delaney

Thirty-day rotation

There are farmers who measure grass. There are farmers who think they measure grass and there are those who don’t measure at all. The reality is that farmers run their businesses in different ways. That is why Teagasc has to be ready for all scenarios. John spelt out the key indicators that are required now. Grass is still the cheapest feed. The rotation must be 30 days. The farm must be divided into 30 sections for grazing. This might sound like a simplistic approach, yet it sticks in my head. This will allow the farm grassland management to hit the correct targets for the autumn and allow cover to build for next spring. John said: “There must be grass for the wet day. There must be grass for the dry day and there must be grass for take away.”

I had to check with him later what he meant by take away – it’s the grass you access whenever cows can’t access other areas. It’s the dry patch that you can go into, facilitated by loads of gaps and you do it quickly; typically on/off grazing to protect the grass for the next time around.

John encouraged farmers “to make an assessment of how much fodder you need, what it will cost and how you will feed it out”. The consensus was that the feeding out of various feeds on the farm will prove difficult during the winter ahead. There may be silage, straw, whole crop, soya hulls, beet pulp, nuts and more in the mix. Farmers were urged to think about exactly how they will feed out the various feeds. These are new challenges.

Grass growth is good in parts of Cork now and it is good on the Hennessy farm. Around the country, there are still some areas with severe shortages. John encouraged farmers to spread nitrogen both in September and early next year when regulations allow as this will grow more grass.

Donal Whelton of AIB urged farmers to come talk to them as soon as problems are apparent: “AIB will not be found wanting.”

John Coughlan, IFA regional chair, brought the group up to date on IFA’s actions. Anne Baker, IFA north Cork chair, stressed the need for farmers to mind their mental health, she encouraged farmers to talk to someone if they felt depressed. As we were leaving, I heard one farmer say to another as he walked away: “We’ll talk.” Through the difficulties ahead we must support and talk to each other. This was a cracking farm walk.