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With straw shortages reported across the country, some 250 farmers eagerly signed up to a Knowledge Transfer-approved (KT) event on bedding alternatives, that took place on 13 September at Pallaskenry Agricultural College.
The Teagasc-run event looked at the pros and cons of alternative bedding, such as sawdust and woodchip, and even pulled out a bale of rushes for farmers to assess for themselves what kind of bedding it would make.
“We had a good crowd and there was great engagement,” Michael Somers of Teagasc told the Irish Farmers Journal.There are a lot of considerations for farmers between price and how easily [bedding] can be spread on fields after use.”
Pat Blackwell, a business and technology adviser with Teagasc, recommended that with a tight straw supply, farmers could save straw for calving and the immediate few days after.
“We were advising farmers to conserve the straw as best they could, because some will be using straw and meal, given the silage deficit.
“Pre-calving farmers should think about using woodchip as a base and then putting something else on top.
“But you should try to get your hands on straw for calving cows and the immediate days after,” Blackwell said.
“The first 10 days of a calf’s life are crucial and while fine sawdust is quite good, the grading of woodchip would be variable and too rough for very young livestock.
“There’s been a lot of talk about using rushes as bedding and we even pulled out a bale and had some fierce debate over it. The absorbency wouldn’t really be great.”
Disposal
Another issue of concern was how easily alternative bedding types would be to spread after use.
“You can spread sawdust pretty quickly, but woodchip will take a while to break down,” Blackwell said.
“You might have to store it for 12 months for it to break down and there could be cross-compliance issues if you don’t have adequate storage and seepage occurs.
“Otherwise you’re taking about ploughing it in, and that wouldn’t be a viable option for everyone.”
Animal health
Local Limerick vet Edwin Murphy was also at the event and advised farmers on the animal health repercussions of inadequate bedding.
Murphy reported that youngstock were particularly prone to scour and other infections if housed incorrectly, and encouraged farmers to do their best to bed young animals as well as they could.
Farmers at the event said that they were finding it very hard to get straw, with prices as high as €40/bale being quoted.
Some farmers were also considering peat as an alternative bedding source.
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