Grass

It’s the thing everyone is talking about. Looking at the forecast, there is not going to be any quick turnaround so we will be dealing with this drought for a few more weeks. It’s a matter of getting on with it, knowing that we can’t change the weather and understanding that everyone is in the same position. Don’t forget, we’ve had bad droughts before and the farmers and cows got through it.

Water is a more pressing issue than feed. Do all you can now to conserve supplies. Limit the amount of washing of yards, fix any leaks and put contingency plans in place in the event of a well going dry or mains supply being curtailed. All of these things are likely to happen over the next few weeks. If you were considering drilling a new well, now is a good time to do it. Animals are reasonably content when they have enough water, even if the quantity and quality of feed is below par. Grazed grass is very high in dry matter at over 25%, so a small quantity of grass actually goes a long way.

Supplements

Order supplements well in advance and find a way of feeding them that suits you and the farm. See our drought advice for real life examples of dealing with a forage shortage. For me, grazing or zero-grazing silage ground is the first option, then feed good quality silage before moving onto pit silage or whatever else is available. Buying any forage now is going to be tough. Hay is available but you’d want to know what you’re getting before committing. There are talks of winter wheat being available to buy for whole-cropping. Is this because the yield potential is back? If so the price needs to drop accordingly as the feed quality will be less.

Feed

I’m hearing reports of palm kernel (PKE) becoming more difficult to source. The only real advantage of PKE is that it can be fed adlib so you don’t need a big feed face and have all cows eat it at the one time, whereas you do for other straights such as soya hulls or pollard. If feeding 6kg of meal in the parlour, the most amount of these straights that should be considered is 4kg. At this feeding rate, PKE shouldn’t cause any problems with the processing of the milk.

Money: It’s turning into a very expensive year to farm. Feed costs alone are going to double or treble even where silage had to be bought. This will wipe the profit off many farms before we even consider the milk price drops. What can you do to stop the flow of money out the gate? Capital expenditure should be delayed for one thing. Tightening up expenditure on other areas is another option. Fertiliser usage this summer will be back a lot. But in the great scheme of things there’s not a lot else than can be done. There is a big surprise awaiting many farmers when they sit down with their accountant. Tax bills for 2017 are going to be big. Arrange a meeting with the accountant as soon as possible to get a sight of what you’ll be paying. Do up a cash flow budget until the end of the year to identify any weak points.

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Grass growth rates at crisis point