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What's your slurry/fodder situation?

whelan2

Had to buy 30 silage bales last week, have enough in pit for 3 weeks. Just a few sucklers out atm. Loads of grass but can't graze it. Got some slurry out with the pipes on Friday to take some pressure off. It's been wet since last August . How's everyone else fixed?

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Hershall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058341697/whats-your-slurry-fodder-situation

Enough silage for two weeks lot's of grass but very wet. Let some out last Saturday and had to go back in on Tuesday. The rain is relentless around here. Looks like I will have to buy bales..........

green daries

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121904552#Comment_121904552

Ok for fodder for I'd say 6 weeks at least slurry is a disaster and a pain in the hole. Buts being done with pipes around here to relive lads a bit but they are still messing with then never mind tankers. Hopefully things will improve shortly

Grueller

Got 70% of tanks emptied in January in a dry(ish) week here, about the 15th or so I'd say. Got another 16 loads out in mid February. I have slurry capacity for about 3 to 4 weeks I'd say.

Fodder, I have enough in the pit til into May on full winter feeding so I am lucky enough on both counts.

mr.stonewall

Loads of fodder until June, but slurry is starting to become an issue. Have about 2 weeks left in the tanks, and only put a few loads out in Feb. Ground is the biggest issue. It was coming right a bit up to Monday last week, back to square one again

I the same as @Hershall put cattle out last Saturday only for them to come in Monday evening.

bogman_bass

Fodder is fine but tank is full as of today. Somebody bought a farm down the road and I caught him on the way to the parade and he said I can put 3 or 4 loads in the tank there so that give a little breathing space

blackdog1

Enough Silage till May hopefully. Slurry is fine for a month. Straw is a problem. Probably have to calve the last 5/10 cows outside in a few weeks and keep the remaining straw for calves.

morphy87

Fodder till the end of April, slurry is a problem, can’t get it out on fields that I want, raining here since the second week of June

older by the day

I have gone through a lot of silage. But had 60 bales and had a nice bit of a pit left from last year. Some of it 3 years old, grand stuff. So should be ok.

Emptied the tanks here in January. So have a couple of weeks left.

These types of years you just have to farm according to the weather. Whether cutting silage or spreading slurry or grazing ground in autumn. You have to farm when you get the chance.

GrasstoMilk

About 10 days feed here. Squeaky bum time

if it stops raining we’ll be fine. Been feeding something since august

cows are out when ever it’s dry enough which helps a lot

kevthegaff

7 days feed here, have to buy some bales. Reducing back 40 cows due to rent prices and nitrates. Hopefully cull some of the underperformers ( prob should have last year instead). Slurry 2 weeks and ok for straw.

Wildsurfer

Ten days left for about 300 mouths, oceans of grass, its in the hands of the Gods now. Plenty of bedding straw but no feeding straw left. My contractor has saved me re slurry, just seemed to come when it was just dry enough on a few occasions

Fine Day

Ok for feed here too. Got tanks emptied the end of Jan, should be ok but they are filling up nicely too again. I do see alot of bales moving in the last week or two. Seems to be plenty of fodder out there from what I see and I believe it's not gone mad in price yet. €35 would buy you a good bale.

K.G.

Finishing 2023 silage today.starting the reserve but it's probaly not fantastic stuff so I think I'll have to do some grazing every day no matter what.if we get weather I ve a heap of zero grazing.if its just dry cows i m feeding I've loads but if I have to feed milkers many days I ll get tight. Yearlings on grass today

Silverdream

Weather is improving for the next 10 days, still light showers but at leasts the apocliptic floads have stopped for now.

Plenty feeding, I usually have 2 months buffer from winter to winter. Slats are full and I dropped them down about 2 foot but had to throw the slurry into the feild off the road

Who2

I’ve about two weeks feeding left , three at a push. I’ve never seen cows here to go through as much silage as this year, I’ve usually a months feeding over in any given year but I will be buying very shortly if something doesn’t change with the weather. The driest of ground around seems to be saturated after last weeks rain.

I got my slurry out in February with a pipeline luckily. But I’ve one tank I’m pumping out of to keep it below the slats and it is filling the other tanks faster than I’d like.

there does seem to be a better feel of spring about which brings a bit of optimism to the whole thing.

Cionn80

About 7-10 days feed left, probably 2 weeks left in the tank. Got a good bit of slurry out the week it opened up in Jan. straw getting very tight also. Going to start letting out some of the smaller cattle tomorrow

Dunedin

Silage till 1 may and ok for slurry as got good a bit out earlier due the ‘dry’ periods.

really starting to worry about the weather as no real sign of a take up. Bits of rain even on the dry days 😡😡

land is swimming around here.

Base price

Our contractor got some watery slurry spread outta the lagoon with the umbilical pipes in Jan. We've been transferring slurry from the two slatted tanks into the lagoon over the past two weeks but it's filling up fast with all the rain. We swap round bales of silage with wbs from a dairy farmer friend and so far we are ok for feed. We have plenty of straw and hay for calves and the suckler springers.

grange mac

2 weeks silage bales left....biblical amounts rain yesterday. On second round of rain gun since last week.. Can't take out much more as will only be adding water later on. Tanks 6 inches from overflowing again.

Have to laugh when FJ said don't be putting out slurry in Jan as would be wasted.... If I hadn't I'd be in some mess now. Calendar farming does not work in Ireland.

IMG-20240316-WA0002.jpeg

visatorro

Tanks emptied last week. Would be in serious trouble if not done. Will probably sell bales. Have enough straw.

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121906668#Comment_121906668

I always have a good chuckle when we get the advice that it is waste to spread until March ,I spread what ground I could travel the week of the opening and have got a mighty growth response .Compare if I had to dump out now off roadways down on high covers of grass ,the mind boggles

minerleague

Neighbour keeps no cattle for winter - let me put 7 tankerfuls in open slurry pit ( keeping the slurry as he sells silage off the field and this will go out on that). Good deal of silage left BUT a lot contaminated with clay and dirt - normally cut my own but let contractor cut and rake outside place. Only having hay built up over a few years (all gone ) and bales of silage from last year would have been a disaster. Dumping some bales whole as you know as soon as plastic comes off what they're like, even good looking bales have to drop them away from cattle and fork it in bit by bit to pick out bad bits.

Aravo

Dropped tanks last Saturday. Was a torture with the agitation one tanker out one tanker water in. But great to get that done. Clamp silage will be gone in 2-3 weeks. Have silage bales left after that. OK for hay (2021 & 2022) & straw. Straw baled 1st week of Sept. Pure luck to have good straw.

ruwithme

Undoubtedly weather has been exceptionally bad for almost 9 months now. Leave aside last year, the first 2 & a half months of this year are not that unusual. We've been here before.

Never have much good weather of note till holy week.if we do, it's usually not a good omen for later on.not long to wait now anyway till then.

tractorporn

Have sold the cows so have enough silage to get me to the end of May. I emptied every tank in the place with the pipe on Jan 17th and it's a great job cos there only 18 inches left in any tank here and the place is swimming, I doubt that they would get out with the pipe at this stage and even if they did the place would be in pure muck after it.

50HX

10 days feeding left, ok on slurry storage

Letting out 8 of the heaviest on a dry section 2mor, good grass cover on & that'll stretch the silage that's left.

I knew I'd be tight but housing 3 weeks early last year caught me.....soya hulls either side of Xmas has gained me a good bit

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121906965#Comment_121906965

It would be much easier to give the full bale to the cattle and let them sort the good from the bad; they will have no trouble knowing one from the other.

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121906965#Comment_121906965

Keep a real good eye on the cattle that you are feeding that silage too. IMO Listeriosis raises it head in Spring.

https://www.farmersjournal.ie/news/news/treating-listeriosis-commonly-associated-with-cattle-eating-mouldy-silage-167384

whelan2

Weather looking ok for our area this week, hopefully the end of muck and all that goes with it is in sight

mr.stonewall

Get over Tuesday night and it's starting to pick up. Just got a few loads of water out of tanks this morning, should help greatly.