Long-term cooperation between tillage farmers and livestock farmers is being encouraged to help meet animal feed demand. Speaking at the Teagasc national crops forum, dairy specialist Joe Patton said dairy cow feed demand was unlikely to be met from inside the farm gate alone on many farms.

While 2018 is an exceptional year where each cow will require one tonne of dry matter, Patton said that demand would be 600kg to 800kg DM/cow in the long-term.

However, to meet this demand and build a fodder reserve he said many farms would need to explore alternative options.

He said this could come in the form of long-term contracts between neighbouring tillage and dairy farmers which should be mutually beneficial.

He made the example of a dairy farmer having a specialist grow a portion of the feed along with receiving straw while tillage farmers would have access to slurry of a known origin.

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‘Dairy cows will require 600kg to 800kg DM a year’

At the Teagasc national crops forum, tillage and dairy farmers were encouraged to form long-term relationships that would be mutually beneficial to both in order to meet feed demand.