Options to deal with fodder deficits
Have you completed a winter fodder budget? With the winter housing period fast approaching, the Teagasc DairyBeef 500 team has some key advice on dealing with fodder deficits if there’s the potential for one to arise on your farm.
Following a wet spring and prolonged winter housing period, silage and fodder reserves on many farms were completely exhausted at turnout. Reduced growth rates over the summer have further added to the challenge of replenishing silage stocks on many farms to ensure adequate fodder is available for the next winter housing period, and for any unplanned times of wet weather or drought conditions.
Complete a fodder budget
Completing a fodder budget is a worthwhile task and all farmers should complete one to access their own current situation. Completing a fodder budget is a two-part process. It involves working out how much feed you have on you farm and working out how much feed you need.
Varying weather patterns over the last number of years makes it very difficult to predict how many months fodder are now required. Therefore, no matter what region of the country your farm is located in, it is best to target fodder availability/reserve for at least 6 to 7 months.
An example of a fodder budget for a drystock enterprise is included in Table 1 below. Teagasc also offers an interactive grass silage stock checker, which is available here.
Table 1: Fodder budget – winter requirements 2024/2025
| A | B | C | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal type | Number of stock to be kept over winter |
Number of months (Include 4-6 week buffer) |
Number of bales required per month |
Total silage bales required (A x B x C) |
| Suckler cow | ||||
| 0-1 year old | ||||
| 1-2 year old | ||||
| >2 year old | ||||
| Ewes | ||||
| Total silage bales required | ||||
| Total tonnes pit silage required (total bales/1.25) | ||||
Notes/Assumptions: Dry Matter = DM silage bale at 25% DM has 200kg DM per bale pit silage is assumed 25% DM. If concentrate is also fed, it will reduce the total amount of silage required per head per day. A minimum of 4 – 6 weeks of a buffer should be included.
Extend the grazing season
Every opportunity should be made to utilise all available grass on the farm to extend the grazing season to reduce winter feed demand. You also need to remain mindful of closing paddock once grazed to ensure grass is available in spring for early turnout should conditions allow. Where slurry is available, targeting grazed paddocks or those low in phosphorous (P) or potassium (K) is advisable, where fertiliser allowances still remain on farm, spreading 20 units of nitrogen (N) on drier parts of the farm would be a worthwhile investment. Remember the final date for fertiliser N and P applications is September 14, as the closed period comes into effect from September 15.
Can some stock be finished off grass?
Notwithstanding the difficulties and safety of feeding finishing cattle at grass, with the right infrastructure is it an option to finish some animals from grass with/without concentrates this autumn? This has the potential to reduce the grazing demand in the back end of the year and more importantly it reduces the winter fodder requirement.
Also read: Autumn finishing – to feed at grass or not?
Selling stock
Where stock are yet not quite ready for finishing, would there be the option of selling more forward store animals live to reduce feed demand?
Buying silage bales
Can silage bales be sourced locally in order to enhance the silage stock on farm? Buying bales can be hit and miss at the best of times! Many bales can be excellent quality, but the range in quality can be very variable. Buying locally can be of great benefit if knowledge of the farm that the bales came from and the weather conditions at baling can be known. Generally bales made earlier in the summer will be of higher quality than bales made later in the autumn.
Feeding extra concentrate
While feeding extra concentrates to substitute silage is an expensive option to deal with fodder deficits, farmers are sure of the quality of feed they are getting and animal performance will be maintained.
Buy beet
Beet may be an option in some instances to fill the gap where fodder is in short supply, although many farms may not be in a position to feed beet. If thinking of buying beet, it is important to consider storage, washing, chopping and feed out of the beet. Have you the machinery to complete these tasks? Also bear in mind that depending on the type of animal being fed, the overall diet will need to be adequately balanced to meet their nutritional requirements. All options come with a cost, so ensure that provisions are made to pay for these and that they are viable.
This article first appeared in the farm walk booklet produced for Aidan Maguire’s DairyBeef 500 Farm Walk. For more insights on the DairyBeef 500 Campaign and Aidan’s system, access the publication (PDF) here.