Dairy management: nobody is happy with grass or weather

Grass

I don’t think I’ve met one farmer that has been happy about the grass situation all year, but especially over the last few days. Rain is the problem, and they’ve either got too much or too little. The north and west coasts have had too much rain, leading to some herds having to be housed.

In contrast, parts of Munster and south Leinster are crying out for rain, and while most people have gotten some, the feeling is that the 8mm to 12mm that fell in the worst affected parts won’t be enough to change the dial on grass growth. With a dry period and warm temperatures ahead, the fear is that the subdued grass growth will continue, and this is proving very costly as scarce silage and expensive meal have to be fed.

All any farmer can do is try to make the best decisions for their farm on any given day. Whether that’s to keep cows in for a few days because fields are too wet, or to keep cows in for a few hours to feed silage because there isn’t enough grass. The key thing is to keep walking paddocks, keep measuring growth and keep trying to get as much grass back in the diet. Twelve hour grazing allocations are essential in both situations.

Cow problems

A Munster farmer has been in touch to say that many of his cows have tested positive for Schmallenberg, a virus spread by midges. While the most common symptom of the disease is deformed calves, which is something many farmers experienced in the early part of the last decade, the virus presented as a bad fever in his cows.

A high temperature and milk drop was noticed, and it was only when the cows were tested for Schmallenberg that the diagnosis was made. Farmers experiencing similar symptoms in their cows should test for Schmallenberg to rule that out. There are no vaccines or preventative measures.

Meanwhile, I was talking to an expert in a different field last week who said that mycotoxin poisoning is becoming a bigger problem. The main symptom is milk drop, and it is more likely to happen when cows are being fed very high-quality silage. The silage may appear very good, but the mycotoxins are invisible to the eye – not like mould.

They say that while it is more common in Northern Ireland where silage quality tends to be better, it’s becoming an increasingly common issue further south. There are feed additive solutions.

Dairy Day

Dairy Day returns to P airc Uí Chaoimh in Cork city on Thursday 21 November. Last year was a big success, and this year’s event will be bigger and better. After a challenging 12 months on farms, we are calling on discussion groups or groups of farming friends to take a break in Cork.

Exact details are to be worked out, but it will be along the lines of organised industry visits on Wednesday, social night out in Cork on Wednesday night and a group competition at Dairy Day on Thursday where the Dairy Day Discussion Group of the Year will be crowned. It’ll be an ideal trip away for discussion groups. If interested, please register your interest by emailing abrennan@farmersjournal.ie