Fodder Crisis

paddysdream · 12-12-2017 12:19pm

monseiur wrote: »

He's my neighbour, no the sellers, and at €3 for a tiny bale that's €4.50 for a big square bale I very much doubt that the seller was out of pocket, no one expects something for nothing but being blindly ripped off by your fellow farmer is something else and the sad thing is you see nothing wrong with it.
M.

When do you think people should look for more for their produce then?
Not much point looking for a price rise in a year that there is no demand.Load a good few lorries for people throughout the year and hay/silage is no dearer than any other year.
Straw on the other hand has increased 75/100% in price this year due to demand and scarcity.
Regular customers are paying a bit more than other years but then thats understandable.The once off buyer who may never darken your door again can hardly expect to buy at last years prices.
No one is being ripped off if both the seller and buyer are adults.If the hay was available elsewhere at a lower price then why not buy there.If not then maybe its the going rate.
Wrapped silage bales are costing 20/30 euro to produce so anyone selling them at any less is giving them away.
Hay at 10 bales/acre is 240 euro or so.Twenty to mow,say 3 turnings and row up at 10 euro a pop is 40 euro plus 3.50 to bale and minimum of euro a bale to shed gives a cost of 10.50 a a bale before fert./slurry and land cost.
Allow say 10 euro a bale to cover fertiliser and land cost means a round bale of hay is costing the farmer over 20 euro to produce.
No big profit in selling at 24 a bale.
Straw is different in that it is there regardless but yields are variable plus in a bad year like this one it can be costly and difficult to get it all.Margins in tillage are rather small at the moment so it would be a very foolish farmer who sold his straw for much less than it was worth esp. when the opportunity arises to make a few bob.

Gawddawggonnit · 12-12-2017 1:01pm

Ah feck lads, two fodder crises in five years...what’ll it be like after Harvest 2050???

I’ll get my coat...

Green&Red · 12-12-2017 1:39pm

Dakota Dan wrote: »

How many selling bales demand payment before they are loaded?

I sold silage to the fella that does our AI, I could hardly ask him for payment when I pay him once a year. I wont be chasing him

I was thinking about buying a load of straw in the new year, I'll need about a third of it myself and will probably sell the rest off. I'll be asking for payment for those before they leave the yard

Speaking of which if anyone up the country has any bales for sale drop me a PM

Dakota Dan · 12-12-2017 3:02pm

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Ah feck lads, two fodder crises in five years...what’ll it be like after Harvest 2050???

I’ll get my coat...

Their 10 year prediction didn't work out too well yet people carry on believing their predictions for 2050. Fact of the matter is nobody can predict the future no matter how hard they try to convince people.

tanko · 12-12-2017 3:52pm

Green&Red wrote: »

I sold silage to the fella that does our AI, I could hardly ask him for payment when I pay him once a year. I wont be chasing him

I was thinking about buying a load of straw in the new year, I'll need about a third of it myself and will probably sell the rest off. I'll be asking for payment for those before they leave the yard

Speaking of which if anyone up the country has any bales for sale drop me a PM

Plenty of bales for sale in Stamullen on donedeal!!!!!

Base price · 12-12-2017 7:38pm

bogman_bass wrote: »

There was never more fodder saved in Meath than this year. Quality might be a different question but there is no shortage of it. This isn't like 2012

Straw wasn't plentiful in Meath as the weather delayed harvesting Spring grown crops. I saw a lot of Spring barley and wheaten straw getting soaked in fields in late October especially around Slane, Wilkinstown, Carlanstown which are normally good straw producing areas.

Odelay · 12-12-2017 9:40pm

paddysdream wrote: »

When do you think people should look for more for their produce then?
Not much point looking for a price rise in a year that there is no demand.Load a good few lorries for people throughout the year and hay/silage is no dearer than any other year.
Straw on the other hand has increased 75/100% in price this year due to demand and scarcity.
Regular customers are paying a bit more than other years but then thats understandable.The once off buyer who may never darken your door again can hardly expect to buy at last years prices.
No one is being ripped off if both the seller and buyer are adults.If the hay was available elsewhere at a lower price then why not buy there.If not then maybe its the going rate.
Wrapped silage bales are costing 20/30 euro to produce so anyone selling them at any less is giving them away.
Hay at 10 bales/acre is 240 euro or so.Twenty to mow,say 3 turnings and row up at 10 euro a pop is 40 euro plus 3.50 to bale and minimum of euro a bale to shed gives a cost of 10.50 a a bale before fert./slurry and land cost.
Allow say 10 euro a bale to cover fertiliser and land cost means a round bale of hay is costing the farmer over 20 euro to produce.
No big profit in selling at 24 a bale.
Straw is different in that it is there regardless but yields are variable plus in a bad year like this one it can be costly and difficult to get it all.Margins in tillage are rather small at the moment so it would be a very foolish farmer who sold his straw for much less than it was worth esp. when the opportunity arises to make a few bob.

In all fairness, a lad jumping the price from one load to the next from €3 to €4 should have let the lad know before travelling.
If he thought he had it priced fairly and at market value he would have done so. Not letting him know of a jump in price before travelling was was very cheeky to say the least.

Muckit · 09-01-2018 7:42pm

George Lee on 6one.

How is everyone fixed?

lab man · 09-01-2018 7:45pm

A lot of ppl in west Clare under pressure

whelan2 · 09-01-2018 7:56pm

Was no mention in the report of slurry situation

Mooooo · 09-01-2018 7:59pm

Id say weather of the next month 6 weeks will have a big bearing, if not too bad there may well be stuff to be bought from the south and east, if it's very wet lads will be reluctant to part with fodder till in the clear themselves

Muckit · 09-01-2018 8:06pm

whelan2 wrote: »

Was no mention in the report of slurry situation

Plenty being fired over hedges around here at the moment.

GrasstoMilk · 09-01-2018 9:09pm

We made heaps of fodder here last year and I thought we would have stuff left over.
Will have just about enough by the look of how things are ATM

sea12 · 09-01-2018 9:13pm

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

We made heaps of fodder here last year and I thought we would have stuff left over.
Will have just about enough by the look of how things are ATM

I had a good 100 bales to sell and it all sold on the week. Probably could have got more for it if I waited another few weeks but it could be an early spring too.

Grueller · 09-01-2018 10:00pm

sea12 wrote: »

I had a good 100 bales to sell and it all sold on the week. Probably could have got more for it if I waited another few weeks but it could be an early spring too.

How much a bale were you getting sea12? I am in Wexford and have about 100-120 bales to sell.

sea12 · 09-01-2018 10:54pm

Grueller wrote: »

How much a bale were you getting sea12? I am in Wexford and have about 100-120 bales to sell.

€25. Reasonable good silage. Wouldn't be for the dairy lads but is fine for cattle. Not tested but my own animals were eating it so it could be seen.

Grueller · 09-01-2018 11:12pm

sea12 wrote: »

€25. Reasonable good silage. Wouldn't be for the dairy lads but is fine for cattle. Not tested but my own animals were eating it so it could be seen.

Ya mine is same as that. Tested 71 dmd and 14.4% protein iirc.

Never wrestle with pigs · 10-01-2018 11:45am

Think I sleep walked into being short on silage. They are going trough more than i thought they would. Feeding early June haylage.its nice stuff but no 80dmd stuff. Think I'm short about 70 bales roughly.

Silage available locally for €25 bale. I'd have to pay transport too as iv no way of moving them. Looking into other options now too.

It will be for suckler cows that will be freshly calved. What's the best alternative with meal or barley or roasted barley ? Looking for a cheap alternative. I have space to blow in meal or whatever.

No real way of working beet here.

Dakota Dan · 10-01-2018 1:15pm

Never wrestle with pigs wrote: »

Think I sleep walked into being short on silage. They are going trough more than i thought they would. Feeding early June haylage.its nice stuff but no 80dmd stuff. Think I'm short about 70 bales roughly.

Silage available locally for €25 bale. I'd have to pay transport too as iv no way of moving them. Looking into other options now too.

It will be for suckler cows that will be freshly calved. What's the best alternative with meal or barley or roasted barley ? Looking for a cheap alternative. I have space to blow in meal or whatever.

No real way of working beet here.

Yeah, they're ploughing through silage this year, I've cows getting 4kg of ration and that are eating almost 12 kg silage dm/day. I was hoping to buy extra cows but at the rate they are going through silage it will only last until early April with current numbers.

patsy_mccabe · 10-01-2018 1:23pm

Got a surprise yesterday when I opened a bale of silage. It was obvious it was less wilted than the bales I was using all along so came from a different field. Have a feeling bales from now on wont last as long. Might off load a weanling or two.

Lady Haywire · 10-01-2018 2:19pm

Ours are flying through the bales too, only have enough til mid-April and that's upping the feed to 2kg a head.

stanflt · 10-01-2018 5:19pm

I've 100 bales of 74 dmd plus silage for sale and also two pits of around 500ton available

Would be willing to barter for weanlings

mahoney_j · 10-01-2018 5:50pm

stanflt wrote: »

I've 100 bales of 74 dmd plus silage for sale and also two pits of around 500ton available

Would be willing to barter for weanlings

Ya made hoare !!

stanflt · 10-01-2018 5:56pm

mahoney_j wrote: »

Ya made hoare !!

I've already sold 250 bales

wrangler · 10-01-2018 6:00pm

stanflt wrote: »

I've already sold 250 bales

How come you're so understocked, it has to be a better system to set land than sell silage off it

stanflt · 10-01-2018 6:06pm

wrangler wrote: »

How come you're so understocked, it has to be a better system to set land than sell silage off it

Nitrates doesn't allow me to stock any higher

It's about growing high tonnes of dm per ha consistently

wrangler · 10-01-2018 6:21pm

stanflt wrote: »

Nitrates doesn't allow me to stock any higher

It's about growing high tonnes of dm per ha consistently

I doubt if it's all about growing grass if you're not utilising it.

stanflt · 10-01-2018 6:27pm

wrangler wrote: »

I doubt if it's all about growing grass if you're not utilising it.

Your missing the point- if I was allowed to keep more stock I would

I cut grass when it's young so I have a quality feed for my animals- this in turn allows you to grow more as it need less time to recover

wrangler · 10-01-2018 6:40pm

stanflt wrote: »

Your missing the point- if I was allowed to keep more stock I would

I cut grass when it's young so I have a quality feed for my animals- this in turn allows you to grow more as it need less time to recover

Starting to sound like teagasc now, most farmers could grow too much grass if they wanted to but manage not to.

stanflt · 10-01-2018 6:48pm

wrangler wrote: »

Starting to sound like teagasc now, most farmers could grow too much grass if they wanted to but manage not to.

Would you criticise someone for having 20-30k€ in a savings account?

wrangler · 10-01-2018 7:00pm

stanflt wrote: »

Would you criticise someone for having 20-30k€ in a savings account?

Yes, if it costs €30 -€40 K to put it there.

stanflt · 10-01-2018 7:04pm

wrangler wrote: »

Yes, if it costs €30 -€40 K to put it there.

How would it cost that-

So are you suggesting I use less Fertilizer lime and slurry-
Make poorer quality silage
Grow less grass resulting in having to buy in more feed
As a result of having bad silage need more meal to maintain body condition

Im a bit confused tbh

mickdw · 10-01-2018 7:13pm

stanflt wrote: »

How would it cost that-

So are you suggesting I use less Fertilizer lime and slurry-
Make poorer quality silage
Grow less grass resulting in having to buy in more feed
As a result of having bad silage need more meal to maintain body condition

Im a bit confused tbh

Its over my head but something not right if you have to cut 500 bales too many for no good reason.

wrangler · 10-01-2018 7:17pm

stanflt wrote: »

How would it cost that-

So are you suggesting I use less Fertilizer lime and slurry-
Make poorer quality silage
Grow less grass resulting in having to buy in more feed
As a result of having bad silage need more meal to maintain body condition

Im a bit confused tbh

How is everyone else matching their stocking rate to grass growth,
It's not a special talent.
When I was selling silage there was more profit in selling 65 DMD than 75 DMD,
Very hard to make money selling good silage, machinery costs are the same for 16 ton crop as 8 ton crop, as are fertiliser, only annoy a contractor asking to pick up a 4 ton crop without a bonus

freedominacup · 10-01-2018 7:28pm

wrangler wrote: »

Very hard to make money selling good silage, machinery costs are the same for 16 ton crop as 8 ton crop, as are fertiliser, only annoy a contractor asking to pick up a 4 ton crop without a bonus

Machinery costs much lower for lighter crops as are fert costs per cut. Going to be squeaky bum time here but should be ok. Not counting a bale of straw per cow we'll be cutting it fine but 5kg of distillers draff and a kg of straw for everything bar milkers will give us an extra couple of weeks.

visatorro · 10-01-2018 7:52pm

Neighbour is feeding 120 bales a week all bought in. Milking more cows but lost rented ground. He wouldn’t get cows out until paddy’s day

visatorro · 10-01-2018 8:02pm

stanflt wrote: »

I've 100 bales of 74 dmd plus silage for sale and also two pits of around 500ton available

Would be willing to barter for weanlings

How many weanlings?

stanflt · 10-01-2018 8:04pm

visatorro wrote: »

How many weanlings?

Would do a deal on price of silage vs price per kg lw with animals weighed across a scales- beef weanlings btw

whelan2 · 10-01-2018 8:04pm

visatorro wrote: »

Neighbour is feeding 120 bales a week all bought in. Milking more cows but lost rented ground. He wouldn’t get cows out until paddy’s day

3000 euro a week- at 25 euro a bale- before any other cost :eek:

Say my name · 10-01-2018 8:07pm

Anyone have a tractor and loader in Mullingar?

Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) Tweeted:
Spotted, on the Mullingar bypass...and the price of it! https://t.co/z2cLomx6M9 https://twitter.com/farmersjournal/status/951162230959206406?ref_src=twcamp%5Eshare%7Ctwsrc%5Em5%7Ctwgr%5Eemail%7Ctwcon%5E7046%7Ctwterm%5E2

whelan2 · 10-01-2018 8:08pm

Say my name wrote: »

Anyone have a tractor and loader in Mullingar?

Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) Tweeted:
Spotted, on the Mullingar bypass...and the price of it! https://t.co/z2cLomx6M9 https://twitter.com/farmersjournal/status/951162230959206406?ref_src=twcamp%5Eshare%7Ctwsrc%5Em5%7Ctwgr%5Eemail%7Ctwcon%5E7046%7Ctwterm%5E2

Reggie

mf240 · 11-01-2018 1:36am

stanflt wrote: »

Your missing the point- if I was allowed to keep more stock I would

I cut grass when it's young so I have a quality feed for my animals- this in turn allows you to grow more as it need less time to recover

You probably could cut back on fertilizer or bought in feed if your consistently making to much silage. But having said that there's no flys on ya so you probably know what your at.

I like to have lots of silage as on a wet year I could have to rehouse cows .

Water John · 11-01-2018 1:50am

See the lads on RTE picking up redistributed bales last night. None had even thrown a rope over any load!!!

keepalive213 · 11-01-2018 2:34am

There was an awful lot of bad silage made around here this year, does that count as a crisis... Bales with so much muck on them that they were black before wrapping from land being tore up, wrappers needing help to lift bales cos they are so heavy. 390 2wd reversing with bales... Cattle spitting out silage, not rechewing it. Silage quality is questionable here in a good year but the likes of this year when it's raining since May, it's brutal altogether.

I says · 11-01-2018 2:46am

Did a bale count today with turnout date the 29th of March will have 30 bales left.Heres hoping for an early spring around these parts.

stanflt · 11-01-2018 9:52am

mickdw wrote: »

Its over my head but something not right if you have to cut 500 bales too many for no good reason.

Using 15 ton of silage a day here so 500 bales is around 1 months supply

kerryjack · 11-01-2018 12:04pm

Was talking to a lad this morning he was outraged at a lad selling silage at 50 euro a bale, I don't have a problem with it, I think its up to every farmer themselves to make sure they have enough fodder for the winter and if they haven't, off load some stock but no excuse for running out of fooder in January.

blackdog1 · 11-01-2018 12:42pm

mickdw wrote:

Its over my head but something not right if you have to cut 500 bales too many for no good reason.

I'm not getting involved in this argument but I will say this... People forget that you can still suffer drought in the summer and that twice in the last couple of years the spring has been so bad that we're feeding silage into May so it's a very smart thing to have 2-3 months more than you need. I know some lads had a terrible year and couldn't cut enough and I genuinely feel sorry for them and I don't think lads should be charging them 50 a bale.

Lady Haywire · 11-01-2018 12:53pm

I know I'd prefer to be looking at silage bales instead of looking for them......

Farming can be a very strange business at times. Instead of banding together at times of low prices in factories, bad fodder years or curbing disease, there can be a horrible attitude of making a quick buck and not giving a toss about others.

wrangler · 11-01-2018 1:04pm

Lady Haywire wrote: »

I know I'd prefer to be looking at silage bales instead of looking for them......

Farming can be a very strange business at times. Instead of banding together at times of low prices in factories, bad fodder years or curbing disease, there can be a horrible attitude of making a quick buck and not giving a toss about others.

That's business, you'll take the hit whether you like it or not in the bad times, you'd be foolish not to cash in on the good times.

Fodder Crisis

Comments