Dairygold is running a series of fodder clinics throughout the month of August. Initial indications from the first half of the clinics show that farmers have more than what they might think.

“It is too early to have a definite trend determined but what we are finding is there are a lot of individuals coming in thinking they had a substantial deficit only to find out it’s not as bad as they first thought,” said Liam Stack of Dairygold.

While most farmers are finding they are in a better position than what they thought, Liam does acknowledge there is a cohort who have substantial deficits.

“We do have farmers coming in with deficits of 35% and upwards, but the important thing is that people know what they have so they can act on it.”

The important thing is that people know what they have so they can act on it

Drier conditions led to first-cut silage having high dry matter content.

“We are also finding that first-cut silage has high DM content this year. We are seeing DM of 28-29%, meaning that there is higher DM in the same volume as a normal year, which is positive.”

All farmers across the country are encouraged to complete a fodder budget for the winter. You can do so using the Irish Farmers Journal Fodder calculator here.

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