Planning for Fodder Stocks Factsheet

Teagasc recently published a compendium of 20 factsheets providing the latest technical advice on soils, nutrients and fertiliser. The eleventh of these is about Planning for Fodder Stocks and can be read here. All 20 will be published here on Teagasc Daily
Farmers are urged to focus on Nutrient management planning, optimisation of soil fertility, using organic manures strategically and increasing clover in swards, all balanced with prudent fertiliser usage.
Plan for the coming winter when deciding fertiliser N strategy
There are three main points to consider in your farm silage plan:
- What is the likely demand for silage for next winter (including reserves for poor weather, drought, etc.)?
- What are the reserves of silage on hand?
- How will the difference be made up?
The tables below will help to calculate feed supply and demand on your farm. A feed budgeting program is also available in PastureBase Ireland which can be updated regularly after silage cuts, etc. Speak to your local Teagasc advisor about the different options
Table 1. What fodder is required on the farm?
Table 2. Calculate pit silage conserved and silage to be cut
Table 3. Calculate surplus or deficit
Key points to remember
Maximising silage yields:
- Aim to have approx. 70% of silage requirements made by June
- Soil test and ensure good soil fertility so that fertiliser N use-efficiency and silage yields are maximised
- Use slurry to improve P and K indexes
- Silage ground that is poorly performing/has low perennial ryegrass content should be reseeded at the earliest opportunity
Deirdre Hennessy, Seamus Kearney, Mark Plunkett, David Wall, Mark Moore (Editor), Pat Murphy, Stan Lalor, were the main contributors to this series of leaflets. Numerous colleagues from Teagasc AGRIP, CELUP, REDP, Signpost, PR dept. and advisory service also participated.
To access the entire compendium of 20 factsheets see Soils, Nutrients and Fertiliser Factsheets Find more information on this topic in Soil & Soil Fertility