When it comes to winter feed, there are two critical measures – feed quantity and feed quality. Next week we will take a look at feed quality – silage samples to be specific – on the Teagasc/Irish Farmers Journal BETTER farms, however, this week the focus is on the quantity of feed in stock.

Fodder budget

Over the last month, the BETTER Farm beef challenge participants – along with their local B&T Teagasc advisers and their respective BETTER Farm advisers Martina Harrington, Tommy Cox and John Greaney – have been completing fodder budgets. This time three months ago, a fodder budget was a task that sounded futile. An excellent spring and summer afforded farmers ample opportunities to make feeding.

Cattle have been housed four to six weeks earlier than planned

Most grabbed that opportunity with both hands and feed stocks looked very comfortable as a result. But the last two months have created a different set of circumstances. Cattle have been housed four to six weeks earlier than planned on farms right across the country. That’s bound to have an effect on feed stocks.

For most, housing cattle four weeks early still won’t leave them short on feeding

For a brief example, at last month’s Grass10 walk in Newford Farm, resident Teagasc technician Michael Fagan said silage reserves would be tight this winter as a result of housing three to four weeks early: “We need 1,100t of silage on this farm for the winter. That’s based off a five-month winter for the cows, four months for the weanlings and about two months for beef stock. Prior to housing, the farm had 1,200t in stock but we have pretty much lost our buffer to the early housing.”

Fair enough, Newford is a highly stocked farm. For most, housing cattle four weeks early still won’t leave them short on feeding. But we have to think of the far side of the winter too. Our memories shouldn’t be so short that we forget 2018, when turnout was delayed by four and even eight weeks in some cases.

I think circumstances like this should at least make everyone think twice about their feed stocks. Just try to not end up hitting the end of the silage pit or the stack of bales next February when you could have acted sooner.

How to complete a fodder budget

Completing a fodder budget is a two-part process – working out how much feed you need and working out how much feed you have. The quickest and easiest way to complete this task is through the Fodder Calculator in the Irish Farmers Journal’s online Knowledge Hub on ifj.ie/fodder. To accurately compare between feed requirements and feed reserves, it is best to work it out in tonnes of dry matter (DM) as opposed to fresh weight.

Calculating how much feed you need is a straightforward task involving how many of each type of animal you have to winter x how much they will eat x how long they will be wintered for. Multiply this by 25% for the dry matter requirement. Table 1 is the template.

Remember, if you are feeding concentrates to stock, take this off the monthly fodder demand for those animals.

To calculate how much feed you have in stock, work out each feed type in terms of fresh weight, and multiply by the respective dry matter (Table 2).

To calculate the fresh weight of silage in a pit, multiply length x breadth x height in metres and divide by 1.35. Alternatively, if measured in feet, divide by 45. Ideally, weigh a bale of silage. A standard weight of 0.8t (800kg) per bale can be used. A 4x4 bale of hay weighs approximately 0.25t (250kg) and a 4x4 bale of straw is about 0.15t (150kg).

The final step is to work out the difference between your DM requirement and your DM reserves.

Case study – John Dunne, Offaly

John Dunne runs an 85-cow, spring-calving suckler herd in Portarlington, Co Offaly. All progeny are brought to beef – males as 24-month steers, heifers at 20 months. Around 100 dairy calves are also reared each year to run alongside his own stock.

BETTER Farm adviser Tommy Cox completed a fodder budget with John in mid-October to get a handle of feed reserves. Since this budget was completed at the start of housing, it takes into consideration the slightly early housing dates on the farm.

The budget, as seen in Tables 3 and 4, was also completed with the inclusion of a four-week buffer – ie cows would usually have a four-month winter but this was factored in at 5.5 months. As we can see from Tables 3 and 4, John has a deficit of 57t DM to reach a four-week buffer.

This essentially means he has a two-week surplus of feeding come next spring.

Adviser comment

Tommy Cox – Teagasc

Since 2018, participating farms aim to make an adequate supply of fodder for their typical winter housing period plus an extra month’s reserve should a difficult spring arise.