Drought: The mentality around coping with a drought situation seems to be changing. Thinking back to previous long dry spells such as 2018 and 2022, there was more anxiety and worry among farmers than there seems to be now.

I think the lesson farmers took from those events is that there is nothing they can do to change the weather and rather than worry about it, they’re better off enjoying being able to work in the sunshine. At this stage I’d be saying to farmers to turn off the weather apps and just accept that it’s not going to rain for a while.

Another possible reason why farmers are a bit more relaxed now compared to other years is that there is a lot of fodder available, unlike in 2018 when the dry spell started much earlier.

Clean outs: On dry farms, a decision will have to be made in the coming days and weeks around supplementation. More farmers are willing to let average farm cover run down very low before putting in a lot of feed. How low is very low depends on perspective, but for me it’s probably around 300kg to 400kg of grass dry matter per hectare before I’d start feeding heavy. Even fields that are yellow have a lot more grass in them than you would think based on appearance.

Some farmers are saying that they are getting an extra grazing out of paddocks, even through there looks to be less grass in it. Cleaning out this thatch-like material at the base of sward now not only buys time and feed, but it’ll serve a very important purpose after the rain comes. If not grazed out well now, this material will start to decompose after the rain comes and becomes very unpalatable.

Cows are very content to graze out tight now, but won’t be happy to graze out after the rain comes. In many ways, this period in a drought situation is the best time, after the rain comes is the worst time because you will still have to feed heavily until grass recovers and that might take a few weeks. But by having the farm primed for growth, it will make that period easier.

Feeds: In relation to feeds, I note both the IFA and Teagasc were out this week promoting the use of native grains in rations. Without question, feed merchants should be using oats and other native grains instead of imported grains. If every dairy cow in the country was fed 1kg of oats per day as part of their concentrate ration, the unwanted oats in Ireland would be used up within one month.

There is a backlash in some quarters to the use of palm kernel expeller (PKE) by dairy farmers. It’s a bit simplistic to say feed native grains instead of PKE, because PKE can be fed ad lib whereas cereals require more careful feed management. PKE is included in most dairy and beef rations at an inclusion rate of 20% to 40% as it is.

There’s no denying though that PKE has a high carbon footprint and dodgy environmental credentials as it’s a by-product of the palm oil industry. Palm oil is widely used in food such as chocolate and other snacks and in cosmetics. There’s more than just dairy farmers purchasing products that contain palm oil.