Lighter than usual silage crops are generally being reported by contractors, as the harvest slowly stutters into gear.

Although the silage harvest has kicked off across much of the west and in south and west Cork, contractors have yet to get going in earnest across the east and southeast.

Crops across the west are back on normal; with grazed ground generally yielding five to seven bales to the acre where the silage paddocks were grazed.

In contrast, ungrazed and reseeded lands are yielding up to nine bales to the acre.

North Cork contractor Michael-John O’Sullivan said there was “no big volumes cut yet”.

“Fellows are looking for more bulk in crops,” he said.

While a lot of farmers are taking out individual paddocks, first-cuts have yet to get going, he said.

Robert O’Shea from Littleton, outside Thurles, has yet to cut “a blade of grass”.

However, he expects to get started by the end of this week.

“One or two lads are talking of knocking crops this week,” O’Shea said.

In Wexford, farmers maintained that contractors were only “nibbling” at the silage harvest as of yet.

In contrast, the silage season is up and running in south and west Cork. Raymond Quinn from outside Nohoval said crops were mixed, with older pastures not yielding as well as reseeded ground.

Lloyd Forbes described crops as “good enough for the time of the year”. He said the fine weather meant that harvesting conditions were among the easiest that the Carrigaline-based contractor had experienced.