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Unsurprisingly, we have been inundated with queries about how farmers can take measures within their own walls to build up winter fodder reserves for next year. Before delving into the options it is first worth acknowledging that for many farmers the fodder crisis is not over. While the good spell over the weekend did a lot for ground conditions and grass growth, marginal land has become untrafficable again in places after wet spells on Tuesday and Wednesday.
With many farmers looking to reseed this year after poaching areas of their farms in the wet weather, there is a renewed interest in the establishment of brassicas for grazing (kale, rape, stubble turnip, etc). While a lot of these alternatives to grass silage come in cheaper per tonne of utilisable dry matter (DM), we often forget to take into account the fact that grass silage either produced on the farm or delivered will require less labour to feed out and little or no additional supplementation, depending on the class of animal we’re feeding.
In terms of bulk, kale is going to provide us with the most utilisable DM per hectare (6t). The window for sowing this is from April through to August and Teagasc estimates that the cost of establishing a crop of kale is around €700/ha. Cost/t utilisable DM works out at €116, versus €125 for first and €140 for second-cut grass silage.
Fodder beet, wholecrop cereal silage and maize are three other good options for boosting fodder and we can either grow these on our own farms or look to make deals in advance with tillage neighbours – there is a synergy to such arrangements too. Obviously these options are location-dependent given variation in growing conditions. In terms of bulk, 1ha of beet, wholecrop or maize will provide us with 13, 12.5 or 15t of utilisable DM respectively – all coming in cheaper than second-cut grass silage. However, as with grazing brassicas, we will need to include additional supplement feeds to achieve a balanced diet when offering these. Also, consider your ability to successfully store feeds. Tillage specialist Stephen Robb completed a comprehensive analysis of what’s involved in growing these alternative fodder crops recently – find it online at farmersjournal.ie.
Co Cork
System suckler/calf to beef
Soil type relatively dry
Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 432
Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 36
Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 36
I am now on my second rotation, with all grazing stock put to grass; the last group of yearlings went out to grass last Thursday. The only stock left housed are the finishing bulls.
I spread all the grazing ground with one bag/acre of urea last Friday and Saturday hoping to drive on growth further and keep up with demand. The majority of the farm has received 2,500 gals/acre of slurry, with the last few fields to be spread as they are grazed. This year I plan to buy in the majority of my silage, only taking bales off the grazing platform as fields get too strong for stock to graze. The first of the under-16 month bulls are to be slaughtered in early May, followed by the next group in early June.
The last group of bulls will be housed after this for finishing before the winter. Bulls are on a finishing ration for about 90 days prior to slaughter here. Breeding started on the farm on 17 March when the Limousin bull went with the cows.
Co Carlow
System suckler to beef
Soil type free draining
Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 609
Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 38
Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 56
Finally, after a very slow spring, growth started to kick on the farm last week. The majority of the farm has received two rounds of urea at this stage and the last few days I went with a bag of CAN on the grazing ground to try and build covers as I turn out stock.
Calving is finished for this year. There were a few issues at times during it but thankfully things have settled down now. Breeding is just under way on the farm. This year I am using AI for the first six weeks and my Charolais stock bull for the remainder.
Silage ground is closed around two weeks at this stage and it has got 2,000 gallons of slurry and 90 units of Sul-CAN per acre and I hope to get it cut around 20 May. I have 7ac I hope to burn off for reseeding this week.
This year, I reared a group of dairy-bred calves and they are doing very well. I have over half of them weaned and eating meal at this stage.
Co Mayo
System suckler to bull beef
Soil type variable
Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 1,629
Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 25
Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 77
Grass has started to move thankfully but the biggest worry now is it might get too soft underfoot. Cows are out by day and I’m not forcing them to clean out paddocks as much as I usually would. I find it’s easy to get them in as they are used to going in and out and it limits the amount of damage. I have 20 bulls on an out-block of ground and they will be joined by 20 more as soon as I’m happy the weather has settled.
It has been an extremely tough winter on farmers here and we might not be out of it yet. Silage ground is pushing on and if a bit of heat came grass would jump out of the ground.
It’s the first time in years I didn’t get slurry out around the home block of land and tanks are full to the brim. I hope to scan all cows in the next week or so and empties will be fattened and sold. Calves have come on well recently and having access to paddocks earlier in the year has stood to them well.
Tullamore farm
System suckler to beef
Soil type variable
Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 613
Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 31
Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 48
Grass has continued its strong growth over the past week on Tullamore Farm. The farm grew 48kg DM/ha up to 23 April, down from 64kg the week before. Demand is 31kg DM/ha, with 67 cows and calves out grazing along with 45 heifers and 160 ewes and lambs. More silage paddocks were closed up this week and there are now 51 acres closed up for silage, with a further 10 acres to close up next week.
Cows are still being fed 1kg/head meal. This is helping prevent tetany, and also will aid getting cows in for AI. Breeding in heifers started this week, with breeding in cows starting on Monday 1 May. Three vasectomised bulls have been purchased to aid heat detection.
Lambing went well with all ewes and lambs now out grazing. We are currently getting ready for our first maiden replacement heifer sale with 50 high replacement index, 2017-born heifers from Tullamore Farm going to be sold on Monday 7 May in Tullamore Mart at 3.30pm.
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