Winter Feed 2024: What’s your Plan?

By Paul Mullins, Education Officer, Teagasc Galway/Clare

Grass growth in 2024 is down by somewhere in the region of 2 tonnes of grass per acre.  This has come about due to the lower than normal sunshine levels during May, June & July.  It just so happens that these are the months when most grass is grown. 

The net effect of this is that many farms didn’t grow as much grass as usual during these months and as a result less silage was made.  This in turn has led to shortages on winter feed on many farms as we head towards the winter months.  Winter feed shortages are nothing new on many farms and they might typically budget to purchase silage etc in the coming months to make up the difference.  However, we have also come through a prolonged wet spring.  This had the effect of using up any surpluses of winter feed that were in the country.  Looking at it, we are in many instances facing a perfect storm of low feed levels on farms and a scarcity in the market.

So what are we going to do?

Well first of all we are going to establish our own situation.  Figure 1 is a simple template that will allow you to calculate the winter feed required on your farm and the winter feed available. If you complete the table and find that you have surplus silage consider having an extra months feeding should weather conditions work against us.  If you are in a deficit situation, now is the time to act.

Can we source silage and if so we should try and do it sooner rather than later.  The main issue with buying silage is that you are never quite sure what you are going to get in terms of quality.  The big advantage is that you know how you are going to feed it.  You may consider buying straw to feed to animals.  Price and availability will be an issue here.  How about feeding some concentrates to reduce silage demand?  The issue here is that you must have sufficient feed space to feed the concentrate and you will also have to be adept at restricting the silage to the animals.  If you don’t restrict the silage properly to the cows, for example, you’ll just end up with over-conditioned cows and little or no silage saving.

Selling surplus stock is an option that very many farms would have. So, are there empty cows in the herd that might often be over-wintered before being sold in the spring?  Have you scanned your herd? If not do so immediately. The sooner you pregnancy scan your cows, the better the quality of information you have in relation to calving dates.  This will allow you to plan their nutrition where necessary. It allows you to identify potential culls.   Cull cows like these are easy to flesh up once dried off.  A lot can be done with them in five or six weeks with straight barley on grass.  That way they don’t consume any of your scarce silage.  Six cull cows would eat about 55 bales of silage over a 5 month winter. That saving in silage alone could make all the difference and it doesn’t mean that you have to sell animals that are not fit for sale.  The key to success here is starting on time.

So bearing all of the above in mind, might I suggest that you complete the fodder budget table over the weekend.  It won’t take long. Get a feel for where you are at. If you are going to be short of silage, make a few calls. 

• Talk with your advisor
• Get the cows scanned
• Check the market for fodder
• Talk to neighbours

A bad winter feed situation may exist today, but you can manage your way out of it if you act on time.  But don’t sit on your hands and hope it will go away.