Declining milk yields: Substantial (>5%) reductions in week-on-week milk production are being observed in some heavily drought-affected co-op regions during the last two weeks.

Typical weekly reductions at this time of year are 2-3%, under normal conditions. Should you be concerned? The short answer is no.

Last year was a record-breaking year and current production levels are still ahead of 2024, while milk fat and protein contents are still ahead of 2025, on average. Growth rates are low in most places, so good-quality bale silage is the cheapest alternative and should replace the shortfall in grass.

Silage bales will be stable to feed back to the herd six to eight weeks after baling. Animals require 18-20kg DM/head/day and adequate access to drinking water. Offering 4-5kg of a 16% crude protein concentrate with silage and grass will be more than adequate to meet animal requirements, while keeping feed costs down. If you are short on silage, use some forage stretcher straights instead.

Managing reseeds: There were a number of questions this week relating to managing struggling reseeds during the drought. If you are still considering reseeding this autumn, it’s better to wait for decent rainfall before spraying off paddocks.

You will get a better kill on swards that are actively growing. Drier soils can be reseeded up to the middle of September and there will still be time for post-emergence spray and a grazing before winter. If the farm is still badly drought stricken right now, as many are, this is probably the year to avoid doing further reseeding.

For reseeds sown during the last month, which have only partially germinated or those likely to be pulled by grazing, the advice is to wait for rain before grazing. We have seen in previous years that more seed will germinate once rain arrives and these can still become perfectly good swards. There will also be compensatory regrowth this autumn when normal conditions resume.

Post-emerge spray can be very severe on drought-stressed reseeds and more weeds will germinate when it rains. It’s better to delay post-emergence spraying until after rainfall. If annual weeds are taking over, topping these will help the new grass.

Milk prices and costs: The outlook for any real recovery in milk prices for the second half of 2026 seems to be diminishing based on market outlook and record milk supplies in the US and New Zealand. Most milk statements are back between 11c/l and 14c/l on this time last year. When taken together with increased feed costs due to drought, the net result is that cashflows will be well below farmers’ expectations from now to year-end. There are also significant tax bills from last year and higher preliminary tax for this year to consider. Given the situation, there is a strong case for re-evaluating expenditure plans for the rest of 2026.

Feeding high rates of meal rather than silage, reseeding paddocks this autumn and undertaking new capital work all need to be questioned. Some expenditure would be better postponed until 2027, rather than putting cashflows under pressure in what is proving to be a low-margin season.