Feed
At this point and time, for there to be enough winter feed in the country, farmers who are short of silage have to do a combination of things:
1. Reduce stock numbers by selling surplus stock and cull cows early. Cows that are chronically lame, have a history of mastitis, are not in calf, are poor yielders, have low solids or are old should be selected for sale in the next month. The cost of keeping surplus stock outweighs the value of their milk.2. Talk to neighbouring livestock farmers who might have spare capacity to grow winter feed for you. If this means renting a field off them between now and the end of September for silage, then so be it. 3. Talk to tillage farmers in your locality about growing a fodder crop for you. The cheapest option is fodder rape as this will yield higher than grass but it can only be grazed or zero grazed – it doesn’t ensile well. Westerwolds grass is the next best option. This can be ensiled, grazed or zero grazed twice – in late winter and again in early spring. 4. Order straights off your merchant now. In a 100-cow herd, a 30t load of straights such as soya hulls or palm kernel will provide the herd 2.6kg DM/day for 100 days. Up to 6kg/day of meal can be fed to dry cows if necessary. The important thing is to order meal requirements well in advance. Palm kernel comes from Malaysia and it takes three months for a shipment. Soya hulls come from Argentina and a shipment takes two months so give the merchant notice of what you want. 5. Slow the cows down as much as possible when the rain does come. You must do this to give grass a chance to recover. Cows should be on little or no grass for one or two weeks after the rain comes to allow it to recover and then drive on for the autumn.Farmers that have taken action to buy feed all say that they feel a lot better after it. It’s one less thing to worry about.
Cashflow
Feed and tax bills are going to swallow up most of the surplus cash this year. Doing a budget is like pulling off a plaster. It’s not pleasant, but you’re better off to do it fast and get it over and done with.
In most cases, there will be facilities in place to pay for the extra feed this autumn. But the thing is, these facilities – whether they be cash in the current account or an overdraft – are usually needed for the spring. If they are used in the autumn, what’s going to pay for feed and fertiliser next spring?
Milking on cows for longer over the winter will bring in some cash, but it’ll be small enough. I see Glanbia suppliers have an option of free credit on feed and fertiliser bought up to mid-September to be paid back interest-free in 2019 and 2020.
Farmers should do a budget and talk to their bank about getting extra facilities, whether that is a bigger overdraft or retrospectively financing building work done through cashflow. Remember the lessons from New Zealand: don’t let the problems from one year upset performance in the next. This is a hard year; start 2019 with a clean slate.
Feed
At this point and time, for there to be enough winter feed in the country, farmers who are short of silage have to do a combination of things:
1. Reduce stock numbers by selling surplus stock and cull cows early. Cows that are chronically lame, have a history of mastitis, are not in calf, are poor yielders, have low solids or are old should be selected for sale in the next month. The cost of keeping surplus stock outweighs the value of their milk.2. Talk to neighbouring livestock farmers who might have spare capacity to grow winter feed for you. If this means renting a field off them between now and the end of September for silage, then so be it. 3. Talk to tillage farmers in your locality about growing a fodder crop for you. The cheapest option is fodder rape as this will yield higher than grass but it can only be grazed or zero grazed – it doesn’t ensile well. Westerwolds grass is the next best option. This can be ensiled, grazed or zero grazed twice – in late winter and again in early spring. 4. Order straights off your merchant now. In a 100-cow herd, a 30t load of straights such as soya hulls or palm kernel will provide the herd 2.6kg DM/day for 100 days. Up to 6kg/day of meal can be fed to dry cows if necessary. The important thing is to order meal requirements well in advance. Palm kernel comes from Malaysia and it takes three months for a shipment. Soya hulls come from Argentina and a shipment takes two months so give the merchant notice of what you want. 5. Slow the cows down as much as possible when the rain does come. You must do this to give grass a chance to recover. Cows should be on little or no grass for one or two weeks after the rain comes to allow it to recover and then drive on for the autumn.Farmers that have taken action to buy feed all say that they feel a lot better after it. It’s one less thing to worry about.
Cashflow
Feed and tax bills are going to swallow up most of the surplus cash this year. Doing a budget is like pulling off a plaster. It’s not pleasant, but you’re better off to do it fast and get it over and done with.
In most cases, there will be facilities in place to pay for the extra feed this autumn. But the thing is, these facilities – whether they be cash in the current account or an overdraft – are usually needed for the spring. If they are used in the autumn, what’s going to pay for feed and fertiliser next spring?
Milking on cows for longer over the winter will bring in some cash, but it’ll be small enough. I see Glanbia suppliers have an option of free credit on feed and fertiliser bought up to mid-September to be paid back interest-free in 2019 and 2020.
Farmers should do a budget and talk to their bank about getting extra facilities, whether that is a bigger overdraft or retrospectively financing building work done through cashflow. Remember the lessons from New Zealand: don’t let the problems from one year upset performance in the next. This is a hard year; start 2019 with a clean slate.
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