Grass seed sales are running 50% ahead of last year’s levels as farmers take advantage of the excellent growing conditions to reseed paddocks.

Super sowing conditions have turbo-charged sales, with seed suppliers and merchants reporting an avalanche of orders over the last month.

“Sales of grass seed were up 50% on 2024 to the end of April,” said Dave Barry of Goldcrop.

“And we expect sales to hold at similar levels for May,” he added.

However, he pointed out that this spring’s lift in sales was from a low base last year.

Contractors were “flat out” sowing over the last month, Barry maintained, and he predicted that sowing would continue “well into the summer”.

Sowing conditions were described as “near perfect” by Barry. He contrasted the on-farm grass and fodder situation this spring, with those pertaining to the April to June period in 2024.

Empty

“Last year we had a late spring, bad weather and empty silage pits. This year couldn’t be as different,” Barry maintained.

Excellent grass growth and strong beef and milk prices, mean that farmers have the weather to reseed and the money to reseed at the moment, Barry said.

Mary McEvoy of Germinal said farmers were using the favourable recent reseeding conditions to make up for the missed opportunities of the last few years.

The seed company had seen a significant lift in demand for grass seed over the last two months, she said.

Germinal has recorded a 50% jump in sales to the first week of May this year when compared to the corresponding period for the last three years.

The good weather was giving farmers “a great opportunity” to make up for the reduced level of reseeding in 2023 and 2024, McEvoy explained.

Pat Ryan of Liffey Mills said seed sales for April and early May were running 30-40% ahead of 2024.

Although supplies of some of the more popular seed varieties have gotten tighter over the last few weeks, the seed companies insisted that there will be ample stocks to meet farmer demand.