Next year's silage, health issues and talking early about cash shortages

While many will want to finish feeding silage this year before thinking about next year, now is the right time to do a silage budget for winter 2018/2019. Completing a budget next November when nothing can be done about it is of little use. Doing it now means you can take action over the coming months to boost supply. With silage stocks at all-time lows, the 2018 silage cut will be more important than ever to replenish stocks and try to avoid the same thing happening again in future years. Use a few quick guidelines:

First-cut will generally yield 7-10t/acre and second-cut will yield 5-7t/acre. Have you got enough area closed up for first-cut silage? If you are stocked at 2.3LU/ha it’s recommended that you should close 50% of the farm for first-cut and 20% for second-cut. While many farms won’t be stocked that high, make sure you close up enough silage area in the coming weeks. With soil temperatures improving, expect a burst in grass growth and make sure you capitalise on this by having the grazing area stocked high enough to manage grass correctly and make sufficient silage.

Animal Health: Reports from some vets have seen a further escalation in calf scour and pneumonia outbreaks. One vet said he is advising farmers to get out with cows and calves, grass or no grass. This is due to severe shortages of straw. Having a sacrifice paddock that has shelter can work well. Cows can be supplemented with silage/meal and calves will be healthier outdoors. Allowing cows to roam freely across the farm is false economy, as grass won’t get a chance to bulk up and you will be chasing your tail for much of spring.

Increased Costs: Spring 2018 has taken a huge financial toll on farms around the country. It’s costing in excess of €3,000/week extra on Tullamore farm at the moment. This will have repercussions for later in the year and cash will be extremely tight. Talk to your financial institution early and discuss what extra funds will be needed to run the business for 2018. Sticking your head in the sand and trying to run things out of cashflow will only exacerbate things and bills will go unpaid. Most banks have already come out and said they recognise the current issues on farms and are open for discussions on how they can help. Contact your bank early if you need to.

This week’s Tullamore farm checklist: