This year’s fodder deficit will cost dairy farmers €400/cow, according to the latest Teagasc estimates. Despite improved grass growth in the past two months, Michael O’Donovan of Teagasc Moorepark expects the average dairy farm to remain short of grass by 4tDM/ha compared with recent years. He based this latest figure on PastureBase data up to 24 October and said the deficit ranged from 3.5t to 7t nationwide.

“Spring growth was reduced by 0.5tDM/ha. This was followed by the summer’s soil moisture deficits,” O’Donovan said.

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Costs of 5c/l

Mid-year, he estimated that the impact of the wet spring and early summer drought would cost farmers an average of 5c/l of milk produced. Prolonged dry weather in many areas has since affected fodder reserves for the coming winter. Dairygold, for example, has reported a 25% deficit in winter reserves among its suppliers. It will cost another 3c/l on average to fill this gap, O’Donovan said, bringing the total annual cost to 8c/l.

Comparing 2017 and 2018 figures for a real, anonymous 200-cow farm with a 10% fodder deficit, he showed that its total costs had risen by €38,000 from 1 January to 1 September as a result of increased concentrates and fodder purchases, only marginally offset by lower contractor charges due to smaller silage volumes to cut.