Irish farmers continue to bleed money due to the drought, as income from milk production has now fallen by €510/week for the average 100-cow herd.

According to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), average milk production declined from 24.14kg milk/cow to 21kg milk/cow between the first week of July and yesterday (August 14).

As a result, average milk solids have dropped by 0.14kg/cow/day to 1.65kg, down from 1.79kg.

This despite fat and protein percentages rising to 4.25% and 3.6% respectively, up from 3.94% and 3.48% previously.

On a farm milking 100 cows, the loss of that 3.14kg of milk would amount to the following difference in milk production per day:

This example indicates a difference in income of €72.73/kg of milk per day for a 100-cow herd.

This quickly adds up to €509.11 in reduced income per week when compared to the volumes that were being produced before the drought.

There is no denying that yield is expected to reduce coming into the autumn either way, but not to such a significant extent.

For example, if you look at the reduction in yield between the first week of July in 2025 and mid-August 2025, there was only a 1.49kg/cow/day difference.

That means yield has dropped nearly twice as much in the same time-frame this year as a result of the harsh drought.

Dairy diets

Despite the tight margins, farmers must continue to monitor and alter the herd's diet to ensure cows are receiving at least 18-18.5kg of dry matter (DM)/head.

A reduction of 1kg in dry matter can result in a drop of between 0.85 and 1.05 UFL, depending on the quality of the feed, which can lead to a decline of up to 2L/cow/day in milk production.

It is expensive to maintain these diets, but unfortunately it is a cost that farmers must be willing to carry during droughts, as the alternative can be much costlier.

Looking back to mid-June, the average diet consisted of 15.5kg of grass and 3.5kg of meal.

For a 100-cow herd, that is 1,550kg of grass/day and 350kg of dairy nuts.

Calculating costs

If grass is calculated at €95/t of dry matter, that is a daily cost of approximately €143, and if the cost of dairy nuts amount to €400/t, that would equate to an additional €140/day.

That would bring the total cost of feeding a 100-cow herd up to €283/day.

Meanwhile, the current average diet for a dairy cow consists of 10.5kg of grass, 4.5kg of meal, and 4kg of silage, according to PatureBase Ireland.

If the same costing is used for grass and meal, and silage is estimated to cost €260/t, the costing of the diet changes dramatically.

These farms would be feeding dairy cows just over €99 worth of grass, €180 worth of meal, and €104 worth of silage.

That brings the feeding cost for the herd up to €383/day, a €100 increase on the June diet.

Farms in the south-east that have no grass are feeding up to 8kg of concentrates and 10kg of silage/cow/day.

This diet can cost up to a total of €580/day, or a €297 increase on the June diet.

That means the worst affected farms have seen feed costs rise by over €2,000 a week, with milk production falling by more than €500 a week.