Farmers have been hit with additional feed costs of up to €2,500 based on a 130-cow herd because of ongoing wet weather conditions.
Feed costs have escalated significantly because farmers are unable to get their cows out, leaving them with no option but to purchase fodder in many instances.
Analysis of the current countrywide position by Agriland has found that on farms where cows have not yet had access to grass, the cost of dry matter (DM) intakes from forage and concentrates could be as high as €134.72/cow.
This is based on an average additional cost to a 114-cow milking herd of €2,534.22 incurred during the first eight weeks of lactation.
This has been calculated on an average basis over the last eight weeks – with cows that are longer calved going to have higher feed costs compared to a cow calved in the last week.
In a normal year, grass, silage and concentrates would make up the majority of dairy herd diets at this time of year – but in many cases, silage and concentrates remain the main feeds.
On many farms, grazing has been hampered and in a large number of cases there has been little or no grass in the diet.
Feed costs – case study
In this case study we take a 130-cow herd, which started calving on January 29, 2024 with 114 cows calved in the first eight weeks of calving or an average of 14.2 cows/week.
Based on this, around 114 of the 130 cows are now calved and producing milk.
The feed costs of cows not calved is not included in this analysis, as they would likely have remained in the shed at a somewhat fixed feed cost.
For freshly calved cows, they will require 13kg of DM, including forage and concentrates.
Each week, the DM intake will increase by around 0.8kg, until intakes reach a maximum 10 weeks post-calving.
This means that for the 114 cows calved, the DM intake is between 18.6-13kg; for this analysis 4kg of DM comes from concentrates and the remainder comes from forage.
This would result in a cow that is only freshly calved is consuming 13kg of DM total, her diet would consist of 4kg of concentrates and 9kg of forage, while a cow that is eight weeks calved is consuming 18.6kg of DM total, with the diet consisting of 4kg of concentrates and 14.6kg of forage DM.
Over the eight-week period, a total of 38,931kg of forage DM will be consumed on farm, while the total concentrates fed would be 14,314kg.
At a cost of €420/t for a dairy ration, that equates to a total cost €6,014.40 or €52.76/cow.
Figures from Teagasc state that 1kg of grass DM costs 11c, compared to 22c/kg of pit silage and 24c/kg of bale silage.
Based on this, the total cost incurred on the farm feeding pit silage is €8,564.68 or €75.13/cow – with the addition of concentrates, this rises to €127.89/cow.
If the farm is feeding bale silage, the cost for feeding the 114 cows is €9,343.28 or €81.96/cow – with the addition of concentrates, this rises to €134.72/cow.
Grazing
We then took the example of a farm where grazing has occurred and half the forage DM intake has come from grass or 19,456.5kg of DM.
This would result in a cost of €2,140.22 for the grass and €4,280.43 for pit silage, based off the Teagasc figures above – which is a cost of €56.32/cow on pit silage or €59.73/cow on bale silage.
Adding in concentrates, these costs would rise to €109.08 for concentrates and pit silage, and to €112.49 for concentrates and bale silage.
This means additional costs and other costs associated with having cows in the shed is between €18.81 and €22.23/cow.
For the 114 cows calved in this case study, this equates to €2,144.34 or €2,534.22 in additional feed cost incurred during the first eight weeks of lactation.
On farm impact
Speaking to Agriland, Irish Farmers’ Associations (IFA) dairy chair Stephen Arthur, said there are a number of issue developing on the ground – with feed cost mounting, quality of fodder being low and cows not milking as well.
Arthur said poor quality feed is having a knock-on effect, with cows not milking as well and he has warned that with the peak supply month of April around the corner, farmers are not going to recover.
“This will leave farmers with a watered down peak,” he said.
As farmers currently have to purchase extra feed, corresponding milk volume and constituents are also down. According to Arthur this will have a knock-on effect on the cashflow of farms.
He also said there are some reports of farmers who are finding it challenging to make contact with bank staff who would be able to support them with cashflow issues.
Arthur has called on banks to “step-up and communicate” with farmers.
In contrast he said that many of the co-ops are engaging with farmers and reducing the cost of feed.
Arthur also highlighted that many farmers are heading towards the start of the breeding season with cows in poorer condition than they would like and this could have an impact on the fertility performance.
He has also warned that some of the fall-out from the wet weather will not be apparent until the summer, while some of the other impacts might not be seen until calving 2025.