Farmers Advised to Conduct Winter Feed Audit

Issued 3 July, 2002

Farmers have been advised by Teagasc to look seriously at their silage and hay requirements for next winter.

Teagasc advisory specialist, Tom Egan, said the unprecedented bad weather will result in both poorer quality winter feed and lower quantities than needed on many farms.

''Because of the poor grass growth, many farmers have been forced to allocate the maximum area to stock for grazing and therefore cannot close-off a portion of the farm for a late season cut of silage''.

''For some farmers, the best option may be to make maximum use of the limited grass available and purchase winter feed supplies next autumn'', he said.

The drier weather last week enabled substantial progress to be made in silage making. Teagasc estimates that up to 75% of first cut silage is now harvested. A limited amount of hay was also saved last week. However, difficulties remain in wetter areas and some animals are still housed because of poor grass growth and wet ground conditions.

With warmer weather forecast for the early part of next week, Tom Egan has urged farmers to apply nitrogen in order to get the maximum benefits in grass growth.

The position in tillage farming has also improved somewhat with some barley crops which were under significant stress two weeks ago showing signs of recovery.

Derek O'Donoghue, Tillage Specialist with Teagasc, said that at this stage up to 15% of the spring barley crop has poor yield potential and it is now getting too late for these crops to recover.

He said overall yields of cereal crops are likely to be down due to high disease pressures and unfavourable weather for grain fill. Irish wheat and barley growers had the highest yields in Europe in 2000 and 2001.

The weather has had a particularly bad impact on maize, a crop which is gaining in popularity as a winter feed source. Around 50,000 acres of the crop is grown.

Derek O'Donoghue said that only maize crops which were grown under plastic or in very sheltered fields are showing any potential this year. A number of crops have been lost.

The disease, Blackleg, continues to be a major problem in potatoes, particularly crops of the early variety, British Queens.