It was hard to imaging in mid-August that six weeks later we would see surplus grass being taken out by some farmers that had been worst-affected by the drought.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround, with a more sustained growth into the back end of the year than we witnessed in 2018 – which has been a godsend for many farmers that had been on a full winter diet for many weeks in the summer.

There are still some deficits, though not as drastic as we imagined earlier in the year.

It’s important to know how much feed is in the yard, so if you haven’t completed one yet, get a handle on the volume of feed you have and complete a fodder survey.

Daire Cregg looks at what options are available to farmers looking at a lack of silage in pits. From buying in silage to selling cows, to purchasing straw and straights, Daire crunches the numbers to see what may be the best option for farms.

I then take a look at winter forage crops and their management. With an early harvest this year, there was a good opportunity for tillage farmers to get forage crops into the ground, albeit they took some time to germinate due to a lack of rainfall.

Forage crop grazing is something that happens much more in the UK, and while we do have a wetter climate here in Ireland, I still believe that strategic use of forage crops and a mutually beneficial relationship between tillage and livestock farmers should be forged more often.

Finally, silage quality is excellent this year and on Daire takes a look at what exactly happens in a silage testing laboratory, while on I look at some of the information relayed to farmers at last week’s suckler beef talk in Mid-Tipp Mart by beef specialist Niall Kerins, surrounding silage quality and targeted concentrate supplementation.

With silage testing part of the Beef Welfare Scheme actions, it’s a no brainer for farmers in the scheme to partake and assess where their silage sits quality-wise.