Teagasc Fodder Survey Results
Teagasc dairy and drystock advisors completed feed budgets with a selection of over 500 farmer clients on PastureBase Ireland in late June/early July. The Teagasc Fodder Survey Results were presented to the National Fodder & Food Security Committee on Wednesday, 13th July. Get a summary here
Teagasc dairy and drystock advisors completed feed budgets with a selection of over 500 farmer clients on PastureBase Ireland. These were completed in late June and early July and included projected second cut silage yields, as of 8th July.
The Fodder Position
Head of the Drystock Knowledge Transfer Department in Teagasc, Pearse Kelly said; “the overall position in relation to having adequate stocks of fodder on farms for next winter is positive. Feed stocks on drystock and dairy farms are positive overall, with an average of 119% of predicted demand, on average.”
However, he pointed out that there was some variation between regions, and between individual farms. One in eight farms have not saved sufficient quantities yet and these farmers need to take steps during the remainder of the summer and in early autumn, to ensure they have adequate stocks of fodder for the winter.
With very little rain forecast for the east of the country over coming weeks, farmers are advised to monitor grass growth, demand and days ahead closely. The advice to farmers in this situation is to reduce demand where possible, keep topping to a minimum, and introduce fodder until grass growth exceeds demand and grass covers recover.
Tillage Crops update
The National Fodder and Food Security Committee were also given an update on tillage crops this year. Teagasc Tillage specialist Shay Phelan said that the total tillage area has increased by 6% this season. A total cereal harvest of 2.3 million tonnes is predicted.
The area of protein crops increased slightly by 1,100 hectares, while the area of maize sown increased by 9%, or by 1,281 hectares. The area of fodder beet sown this year also increased by 3 %.
Pigs and Poultry
In the poultry sector, turkey feed prices are up 37% from July ’21, and all energy costs have increased.
Teagasc Poultry Specialist, Rebecca Tierney said that the price of turkeys have increased by 16%, so some of the additional production costs have been recovered from the market.
For broilers, feed price are up approximately 60% from Jan ’21 with transport and packaging costs up 25% to 30%.
In the pig sector, feed price increased by €76 per tonne in April-May, and the current price is up 40% year on year.
Teagasc Pigs Specialist, Michael McKeon said that the price of pigs has increased by 51 cent per kilogram since January 2022, but the price is still not at break even.
To view the presentations visit National fodder and food security committee