There has been a 1t reduction in grass growth this year which will cost a typical dairy farmer as much as €15,000 to replace, farmers heard at an Irish Farmers Association (IFA) meeting in Kilkenny on Monday.

Nigel Kennington, business and technology dairy advisor with Teagasc said that grass growth on dairy farms in the south east is tracking between 10% and 15% behind where they should be for the time of year.

He said the poor grass growth will cost farmers at least €240/ha, €120 to €130/cow, 2.4c/l to 2.8c/l, or €12,000 to €15,000 for a typical dairy farm.

Average farm covers are currently sitting at 680kg DM/ha, back from typical covers of 1,000kg DM/ha for the time of year.

Average

These figures are an average from 40 different farms in Kilkenny that have measured their grass in the last week – the farms have an average stocking rate of three cows/ha on their milking platforms.

“We’re well back on where we’d like to be for this time of year, it has been a lower rainfall time for a drier part of the country – which has been the majority of the reason for lower growth rates.

“At the moment farmers are holding cover – they’re not building,” he said.

“We always like to say that if you can build grass in autumn you’ll have it for the autumn and you’ll have it for the rest of the year.

“In a lot of scenarios, that hasn’t been achievable with the growth rates we’ve had,” he added.

Feeding silage a necessary evil

Feeding silage over the next fortnight will be a necessary evil in order to salvage some growth.

“If you can go in hard at a time of the year like this, you can add 200kg DM/ha to your farm cover within seven days,” said Teagasc adviser Nigel Kennington.

Planning for a poorer spring will put you in a good place in terms of feed security, he added.

“Having a little bit extra is never a bad thing – no one wants to be looking for feed come next spring when it can’t be got.”

And he attributed 2024’s reduced grass growth to a wet spring, dull summer and poorer mineralisation of soil nitrogen.