What's your slurry/fodder situation?

Some lads were stung before lads not paying them. Double cautious afterwards..

Took a few feet from the top of the tanks early in the week. Rain gun job unfortunately. Plenty of grass but you wouldn't walk it yourself. Buying bales with a month off a neighbour with no cattle but he's all out now except for a block of loose hay in the barn that is there as long as I can remember. Still a good few bales about the locality but lads are starting to get the prices up now. Was asked €45 a bale for stuff yesterday and he couldn't tell me if it was from 2022 or 2023. Took one to try it but think I'll be looking elsewhere as it was bang average.

Was talking to my contractor last night and they are worn from agitating and throwing out a few loads. A lot of the tanks that they are at now are on the 3rd or 4th round of the rain gun and it's getting harder and harder to agitate as the water is gone out of them after the first few rounds.

Started moving cattle on too while prices are good. Took bulls to the mart and they made good money but I advertised in-calf suckler heifers during the week and didn't get as much as 1 phone call about them. Lads will hold off from buying those kind of cattle until they can leave them out I suppose.

All cattle back in here. About a week of slurry space left. Fodder ok. I was out walking with the kids and the growth in ditches is about to take off.

We are in the middle of the borrowing days and hopefully the last sting of this winter

Eaten bread is soon forgotten is right. I remember in 2013 offering a neighbour 10 bales of silage if he needed them as I was ok. And if he didn’t need them I would put them up on dd to help someone out. He said he was ok. A few months later I had to ask him to look at a machine for me to bleed it as it broke down with dirty diesel mowing silage . I had to go somewhere with work so I couldn’t get to it. He charged me €150.

Disagree strongly with this post. Years ago when everyone made hay you might get a barn fire and all the neighbours would give some to that farmer. The difference is that then there would be a year or two worth of hay as a buffer in most yards in case of a bad year where fodder couldn't be made. Nowadays there are farmers making the bare minimum year to year ( how many fodder crisis have we had now? ). I have no problem with that but if you run short I don't agree with using some emotional blackmail to force someone to sell to you. I was in that position for years and got so fed up I only make small surplus now.

I'm not talking about the farmer making minimum feed every year....that's poor business sense or baling out the lad that's driving on numbers & no allowances made

I'm referring to the fact that where I am it's rained since the middle of June last year, if you get locked up with tb or heavy ground that's failed to get 2nd cuts out of you are snookered if you get a bad 3 months either side if the Xmas.

2013 was the last time the perfect storm came here & people got caught.

Far from emotional blackmail..…more like dying farming community spirit in certain areas

As an aside I got a call earlier with the offer of bales if I wanted,we gave him feed in 2009...no charge, wheel always turns

Did you not remind him? Would he been a cute hoor or just forgot about it.

Best drawing a line under each transaction at the time.

no I was too shocked. He is a mechanic but it was literally just a 5 min job so that my father could finish the mowing in the morning. He was passing the door.
oh we never fell out but wouldn’t be going offering him feed again.

The weather is bad when the cattle say fnck this and walk back into the shed!

Have cows out as they calved (calved all indoors except first one this year) and was worried would run out of grass on fields grazed first. ( had to move them around quicker than normal due to wet ground) but more optimistic this morning as can see bit of growth coming. Beef cattle still in because they go to outside blocks and while it's possible to bring them back they will stay out when put out! Had cows out for month of Feb on "saved grass" which saves a lot of silage, but wetter winters have me considering not doing this in future even though I find it great to get cows fit for calving compared to being couped up in shed

serious drying today. No rain and the sun is out . Much better than predicted. Some amount of bales on the move on. Roads this morning though.

Very wet day here again all cattle still in never as late getting stock out. Buying silage also, its a costly winter.

you should raise that with farmers journal or agri land . Show the absolute nonsense the dept are at. Saying they will support farmers and then act like that.

What part of the country are you? looking like it might be a bit drier in the south and east next week

There’s a good chance of high pressure for the second half of next week imo, hopefully it happens, badly needed now.

I have about a month of silage left and a foot or two left in the slurry tanks. Had to travel with the tank a few times in slippy conditions and did damage.

I had 200 bales of silage for sale earlier on the winter but there was no interest. I think it was @Mooooo on here that said to me, he never depends on spring arriving until May 1st anymore. (Or something not that effect).

Lesson learnt for me anyway is to sell nothing. I just thought I had way too much and wouldn't be able to use up my pit enough before I cut silage.

I don't know is it in conjuction with the support scheme or not buy I heard kerry supplying pit silage at 50p/tn

fecking serious rain again this afternoon and evening here again.

I asked the lad in my local Kerry store Wednesday if they were going to be be sourcing stuff and making it available locally. Said he would find out for me but it's tumbleweeds from him since. A neighbour has since got in contact and said he can see me out with what I'll need. Hopefully if there's an improvement in the weather a couple of weeks will get some of them out on the drier ground. One of the tanks is looking like it will need a few loads taken from it early next week again.

Need to find a lad with a quad and weed licker to give a run to a few meadows as the rushes are starting to creep up but they're hard got now too.

None of those things will be bad problems to have if they happen. All farmers would love those things to be happening on their farms today.

There will be demand for bales between fear of a repeat next year and low reserves on farms.

I've had a big surplus of grass last year and probably will again this year due to changing systems and selling the cows. Will scale up a bit more in calf rearing next year so will get back on top of it.

I've my own baler / wrapper and had no issues selling the surplus bales before the end of September. In the good weather early last year hay sold out of the field within hours of putting on DD, silage later was a bit slower from the yard. None of it traveled too far either.

If you're willing to come to west cork I've loads slurry free to take away..... Buying in bales 3 week's... On 4th round rain gunning yesterday. Just enough ti bring slurry few inches under slats.... Decided sheds being emptied tomorrow after tonight's rain passes. Its been too long.

Local coop selling bales 70 each and 20 rebate then... Word has it bales in from UK…