Fodder Crisis

whelan2

Most of those badly affected in 2018 didn't go through the torture of 2012/13. Lessons were learnt that year here anyway. 2 most important things now are enough feed and a contingency fund

Keepgrowing

cute geoge wrote: »

yer memories are fairly short .not too long ago feed mills could not cope with orders and feed imports were getting scarcer by the day .I did not hear any farmers complain about price of bales or ration then .

I’m not complaining about the price, just pointing out a fact as I see it. I don’t know of any case where feed wasn’t delivered if ordered in time. I’m wondering are we contributing to the situation by overstating it?

ganmo

Keepgrowing wrote: »

I’m not complaining about the price, just pointing out a fact as I see it. I don’t know of any case where feed wasn’t delivered if ordered in time. I’m wondering are we contributing to the situation by overstating it?

The problem is that the difference between all out crisis and being ok is thin. From what I've been told a well timed boat lifted supplies from Miller's having to stretch supplies

ellewood

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Was there a fodder crisis?
Is there a fodder crisis?

This spring it was that the fodder was available but not in the areas it was needed. Lots of alternative feeds available that are much better value than silage. I understand that forage is necessary but it doesn’t need to be 100%, 40% would be adequate.

I’d venture that what’s really happening is an income/cash crisis??

Well not around here this year anyway we have loads of cash but no fodder😆

Bales just werent to be got whatever price u wanted to pay
Bought 100 bales at the end of May and I taught I was over compensating
Turned out I needed another 160 bales just to make up for the non existent grass growth from june to sept
We got rain in August and grass jumped out of the ground for a few weeks but that was the onky rain we got we were still feeding bales by the end of september got grazed in October and after heavy rain are in since early November
We have probably grown more grass since November as we did all summer

Those 160 bales were non existing anywhere around here - it definitely was not a matter of cash - they just werent available
At 1 stage it got so bad that I passed a lad wit a shed of hay and i went in and knocked on his door asking if he was selling some😆

The point being all that silage came from kildare, wicklow, even 2 loads from louth and there were many like me around here
The lorry man commented that usually it would be artics of silage/hay/straw out of this parish but this year it was artick comming in

The amount of ads I phoned on DD and when I said where I was from and they would answer oh Ive had several phone calls from ur area already was unreal


I travel a good bit wit work and I know there was plenty of fodder made in places up the country but around here there definetky was a fodder crisis all during the summer/autum ( not even including the spring in that)

Theres definitely a fair share of lads around here cant wait to see the back of 2018 anywaysðŸ‘

jaymla627

ellewood wrote: »

Well not around here this year anyway we have loads of cash but no fodder😆

Bales just werent to be got whatever price u wanted to pay
Bought 100 bales at the end of May and I taught I was over compensating
Turned out I needed another 160 bales just to make up for the non existent grass growth from june to sept
We got rain in August and grass jumped out of the ground for a few weeks but that was the onky rain we got we were still feeding bales by the end of september got grazed in October and after heavy rain are in since early November
We have probably grown more grass since November as we did all summer

Those 160 bales were non existing anywhere around here - it definitely was not a matter of cash - they just werent available
At 1 stage it got so bad that I passed a lad wit a shed of hay and i went in and knocked on his door asking if he was selling some😆

The point being all that silage came from kildare, wicklow, even 2 loads from louth and there were many like me around here
The lorry man commented that usually it would be artics of silage/hay/straw out of this parish but this year it was artick comming in

The amount of ads I phoned on DD and when I said where I was from and they would answer oh Ive had several phone calls from ur area already was unreal


I travel a good bit wit work and I know there was plenty of fodder made in places up the country but around here there definetky was a fodder crisis all during the summer/autum ( not even including the spring in that)

Theres definitely a fair share of lads around here cant wait to see the back of 2018 anywaysðŸ‘

What’s the general run of things in your area at the minute, have lads trucked in feed to get them through our are they banking on stock out early to reduce demand, transport will make it uneconomical to haul bales from up the country to the worst affected drought areas, easily over 10 euro a bale to get a lot of this silage to where it will be needed if the spring dosent play out to plan

ellewood

jaymla627 wrote: »

What’s the general run of things in your area at the minute, have lads trucked in feed to get them through our are they banking on stock out early to reduce demand, transport will make it uneconomical to haul bales from up the country to the worst affected drought areas, easily over 10 euro a bale to get a lot of this silage to where it will be needed if the spring dosent play out to plan

Yer fairly on the ball with transport
400+ vat for 38 bales on an artic backload from Greenore - so E12/ bale transport -
550+ without back load !

Tbh I dont know what situation is locally I sourced a pit of 1st cut locally from a lad who got fed up of beef price and sold them all before the winter so he sold pit

I dont see too much for sale locally on DD lately

Walked fields earlier and some if neighbours and theres covers of 1500 to 2500 on a kot of ground

I thikk if we get a spring like last year we will be fecked

What do u do - buy more feed u might/mightnt need of hope for a normal spring?

Reggie.

ellewood wrote: »

Yer fairly on the ball with transport
400+ vat for 38 bales on an artic backload from Greenore - so E12/ bale transport -
550+ without back load !

Tbh I dont know what situation is locally I sourced a pit of 1st cut locally from a lad who got fed up of beef price and sold them all before the winter so he sold pit

I dont see too much for sale locally on DD lately

Walked fields earlier and some if neighbours and theres covers of 1500 to 2500 on a kot of ground

I thikk if we get a spring like last year we will be fecked

What do u do - buy more feed u might/mightnt need of hope for a normal spring?

Well I'm the middle of Westmeath and I'm noticing pits are getting small. I can see bother no later than mid Feb around here. Early turnout will be needed

kevthegaff

ellewood wrote: »

Yer fairly on the ball with transport
400+ vat for 38 bales on an artic backload from Greenore - so E12/ bale transport -
550+ without back load !

Tbh I dont know what situation is locally I sourced a pit of 1st cut locally from a lad who got fed up of beef price and sold them all before the winter so he sold pit

I dont see too much for sale locally on DD lately

Walked fields earlier and some if neighbours and theres covers of 1500 to 2500 on a kot of ground

I thikk if we get a spring like last year we will be fecked

What do u do - buy more feed u might/mightnt need of hope for a normal spring?

Where are u ell wood?

Keepgrowing

ellewood wrote: »

Yer fairly on the ball with transport
400+ vat for 38 bales on an artic backload from Greenore - so E12/ bale transport -
550+ without back load !

Tbh I dont know what situation is locally I sourced a pit of 1st cut locally from a lad who got fed up of beef price and sold them all before the winter so he sold pit

I dont see too much for sale locally on DD lately

Walked fields earlier and some if neighbours and theres covers of 1500 to 2500 on a kot of ground

I thikk if we get a spring like last year we will be fecked

What do u do - buy more feed u might/mightnt need of hope for a normal spring?

I’d be buying if I were you. Feb/Mar won’t be a great time to be in the market. Order hulls, pulp, pke or similar it will really stretch silage.

Winter milkers here on 12kgdm silage with 4kg nut in parlour and 4kg hull/pulp mix. Saving a lot of silage. Pke will go to drycows if need arises but judging by grass growth over winter I’d say we’ll be ok

Timmaay

Looking back on 2018 I can see exactly the few mistakes I made, 1st one was the gamble in burning off 22ac in late March to reseed, I didn't get to sow till may, and then the weather flipped so this ground was basically out of action until Oct! Next mistake, with fully empty pits (we have carry over at least half a pit every single year the last 15yrs+), my dad wanted me to buy in a standing crop of silage in early June, I decided not to, big mistake on hindsight on my behalf. Next mistake I made I was too quick to open the silage pit in mid June and start feeding out like 10kgdm/cow, this all should of been set aside as winter feed. The next opportunity that I should of jumped on was buying in 10ac of wholecrop, this is a vital get outa jail card for anyone near a tillage area. You don't need to commit to it until mid July and once you know you didn't get enough 1st cut and the drought has taken hold, unlike say maize/beet which has to be agreed on in April to grow. At 16c/kgdm wholecrop would of been alot cheaper than me having to pay 20/25c per kgdm for hulls/beet pulp. Still all turned out OK in the end, I just had to cull hard and early and cut my losses with the beef side.

Only option I didn't try was cover crops, many people got on well with them in the rest of the country, but the drought kept its grip too late here for any of them to make much economic sense, however I'll be definitely more interested in them in years that a more mild drought hits.

Reggie.

Timmaay wrote: »

Looking back on 2018 I can see exactly the few mistakes I made, 1st one was the gamble in burning off 22ac in late March to reseed, I didn't get to sow till may, and then the weather flipped so this ground was basically out of action until Oct! Next mistake, with fully empty pits (we have carry over at least half a pit every single year the last 15yrs+), my dad wanted me to buy in a standing crop of silage in early June, I decided not to, big mistake on hindsight on my behalf. Next mistake I made I was too quick to open the silage pit in mid June and start feeding out like 10kgdm/cow, this all should of been set aside as winter feed. The next opportunity that I should of jumped on was buying in 10ac of wholecrop, this is a vital get outa jail card for anyone near a tillage area. You don't need to commit to it until mid July and once you know you didn't get enough 1st cut and the drought has taken hold, unlike say maize/beet which has to be agreed on in April to grow. At 16c/kgdm wholecrop would of been alot cheaper than me having to pay 20/25c per kgdm for hulls/beet pulp. Still all turned out OK in the end, I just had to cull hard and early and cut my losses with the beef side.

Only option I didn't try was cover crops, many people got on well with them in the rest of the country, but the drought kept its grip too late here for any of them to make much economic sense, however I'll be definitely more interested in them in years that a more mild drought hits.

How is the whole crop working up your way any issues?

Mooooo

Fed 7kgs to milking cow's till 5 days pre dry off on the 22nd. . Going feedimg a transition diet from next week with grass silage maize silage and a kg or 2 of a three way mix. Tb knocked stocking rate down to 170kgs, finished bales last week opening pit now and should have enough feed to go into April. However fed approx 1800 kgs+ of ration per cow over the year, with young stock getting probably twice the normal rate also.

Timmaay

Reggie. wrote: »

How is the whole crop working up your way any issues?

Hit and miss I think, there was some poor quality spring drought struck stuff sold for too much money and it tested at a very low ulf, however the winter barley crops were very good, and worked out well.

Reggie.

Timmaay wrote: »

Hit and miss I think, there was some poor quality spring drought struck stuff sold for too much money and it tested at a very low ulf, however the winter barley crops were very good, and worked out well.

I know of a pit of whole crop that is unusable. Was fed to cows and killed 7 milkers. When tested it was found to have mould. Couldn't be used after that.

whelan2

Reggie. wrote: »

I know of a pit of whole crop that is unusable. Was fed to cows and killed 7 milkers. When tested it was found to have mould. Couldn't be used after that.

Now that would be a fodder crisis

Reggie.

whelan2 wrote: »

Now that would be a fodder crisis

Yeah just wondering what could have caused it and was it common occurrence

charolais0153

Reggie. wrote: »

Yeah just wondering what could have caused it and was it common occurrence

Soil contamination. I thought there was some sort of binder that bind the mould together and it passed through the cows system

Water John

May not have been treated correctly.

GrasstoMilk

Walked the farm today. Farm cover has increased by 250kgs since the 27th of November. Which is great as we closed at a lower cover than we usually do because of drought affecting our autumn covers and building work.
Still behind on where I would like to be but the soil is in fantastic condition and in alot better shape than this time last year.
40% of the grazing platform going go get slurry asap when the season opens and urea then if this lovely weather keeps up the soil temps.

Lots of lads getting ready to go ploughing around here now. Be mad no to with the conditions.

We'll be just okay silage wise. Cows are very content on the 8 kg silage 2 kg wheat straw and soya/oat mix. Not able to clear it some days

GrasstoMilk

Reggie. wrote: »

Yeah just wondering what could have caused it and was it common occurrence

The crop was probably past the cheesy stage for whole cropping and didn't consolidate in the pit enough. Air all around it then in the clamp and lots of mould growth

mahoney_j

Reggie. wrote: »

I know of a pit of whole crop that is unusable. Was fed to cows and killed 7 milkers. When tested it was found to have mould. Couldn't be used after that.

Most likely cut at wrong stage ,no preservative used and ****e job done on pit.costly error

freedominacup

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

We'll be just okay silage wise. Cows are very content on the 8 kg silage 2 kg wheat straw and soya/oat mix. Not able to clear it some days

Our girls are motoring through 12kgdm plus and clearing it in 10 hrs.☹

Timmaay

freedominacup wrote: »

Our girls are motoring through 12kgdm plus and clearing it in 10 hrs.☹

Hmm yeh I was thinking the teagasc fodder budget figure of 10kgdm/day for drys was abit short.

jaymla627

Timmaay wrote: »

Hmm yeh I was thinking the teagasc fodder budget figure of 10kgdm/day for drys was abit short.

Their probably working of a maintance figure of plus 20 euro a cow, your Holstein lady at -15 and lower is a totally different animal to maintain when dry

dar31

Timmaay wrote: »

Hmm yeh I was thinking the teagasc fodder budget figure of 10kgdm/day for drys was abit short.

Dry cows here a eating 14kgdm a day
Milkers all stale eating 21kg dm.
Flying through feed

GrasstoMilk

freedominacup wrote: »

Our girls are motoring through 12kgdm plus and clearing it in 10 hrs.☹

Are you offering them More or is that it? I'd say our cow size is probably the difference? They would usually polish 12kg here when dry of just silage but I can't give them that much this year. Only for that 200 odd tonne of silage we fed mid summer we'd be laughing

stretch film

dar31 wrote: »

Dry cows here a eating 14kgdm a day
Milkers all stale eating 21kg dm.
Flying through feed

Can't fit a full row at evening killing they're so stuffed .

ellewood

kevthegaff wrote: »

Where are u ell wood?

South Kilkenny

ellewood

Keepgrowing wrote: »

I’d be buying if I were you. Feb/Mar won’t be a great time to be in the market. Order hulls, pulp, pke or similar it will really stretch silage.

Winter milkers here on 12kgdm silage with 4kg nut in parlour and 4kg hull/pulp mix. Saving a lot of silage. Pke will go to drycows if need arises but judging by grass growth over winter I’d say we’ll be ok

Thanks
Havent the numbers here for hulls or pke but local glanbia have pulp in stock loose so may look at that
Silage is very good and there flying through the pit have some bales I bought just before I got the pit as well so between it and 2kgs meal I have till early march

Would it be a big no no to let out some to clean off high covers before slurry in 2/3 weeks??

White Clover

ellewood wrote: »

Thanks
Havent the numbers here for hulls or pke but local glanbia have pulp in stock loose so may look at that
Silage is very good and there flying through the pit have some bales I bought just before I got the pit as well so between it and 2kgs meal I have till early march

Would it be a big no no to let out some to clean off high covers before slurry in 2/3 weeks??

If your ground can take stock without damage I'd say yes yes.