It’s remarkable when you talk to farmers every week how different weather conditions suit different parts of the country.

In the northwest, it’s been a textbook year with a lot of first cuts in and a lot of hay saved over the last week. Fields are still green in a lot of cases and grass growth hasn’t stopped.

Further south and towards the east, it’s a different story with soil moisture deficits starting to have an effect and grass growth dropping below demand on some farms.

Unfortunately, we are entering into the driest few months of the year so getting a huge amount of rain at this stage is unlikely. It’s important to take action early and avoid running into a feed deficit now or, worse again, next winter.

If supplementary feed is introduced, it will mean you can stretch grass supplies and keep cattle moving into fresh grass every few days. Fly activity has also increased in recent days so keep a close eye on dry cows and heifers for any signs of mastitis.

A question that often gets asked is how quickly can you feed silage after ensiling? Silage needs to ferment before feeding so it’s best to leave it four weeks to allow the silage become stable. Feeding bales from two weeks can take place if there are no other options available. Hay is a good option to slow the rotation.

Water

Water is very important during a very dry spell. Teagasc guidelines recommend that suckler cows need up to 90l/day, weanlings need 20-25l/day, finishing cattle need 35-60l/day, and animals on ad-lib meal need up to 70l/day.

With regard to spreading fertiliser, the risk of losing nitrogen to the atmosphere in the current conditions is high so it is advised to stop spreading fertiliser until rain is forecast and normal weather conditions return.

Try not to top too much in the current conditions. With paddocks going to seed, the temptation is there to clean off paddocks after grazing, however you are better to delay until rain is forecast again.

If you need to feed meal, calves should be offered creep at the rate of 2kg/head/day.

Cattle close to finish should be drafted off and fed 5kg/head/day of a finishing ration.

Suckler cows will be fine being fed silage only.

In terms of weaning early, ideally calves should be left with cows for a minimum of 200 days. If not already weaned, autumn-calved cows could be weaned and fed silage/hay on bare paddocks and try and allocate fresh grass to weanlings.