The year of 2018 brought a cold and wet spring. This, followed by the summer’s drought, reduced grass growth rates – on many dairy farms across the country – and resulted in limited supplies for grazing cattle. It has also left some facing a winter fodder deficit.
However, despite the challenging conditions, Irish dairy farmers produced as much milk as last year (2017).
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures, domestic milk intake – whole milk purchased from domestic producers – by creameries and pasteurisers for the 2018 year-to-date (January – September) was estimated at 6,217.1 million litres.
Therefore, based on this figure, domestic milk intake increased by 1.2% compared to the corresponding period last year.
All year, many dairy farmers have been feeding supplementary concentrates to their cows in addition to other forages to fill the gap left by the grass deficit. This has resulted in them maintaining relatively good milk yields and animal performance, albeit at an extra cost.
In addition, some of this increase can also be attributed to the expansion of the national dairy herd in 2018.
Data source: CSO
Reflective of the much improved grass growth experienced at the back-end of the year, the September 2018 domestic milk intake figure was 715.6 million litres. This is a 9.4% increase compared to the September 2017 figures.
According to the latest Teagasc PastureBase figures, grass growth rates around the country are ranging from 5kg/ha/day to 20kg/ha/day (dry matter).
The south and eastern parts of the country seem to be experiencing relatively good grass growth rates – particularly for this time of the year – ranging from 13kg/ha/day to 20kg/ha/day.
Source: PastureBase Ireland
However, with the arrival of heavy rain, grazing conditions are likely to become more difficult. If keeping cows at grass, it’s important to avoid damaging paddocks through poaching.
In wet conditions, it may be worth allocating grass in 12-hour grazing blocks to minimise damage. In addition, housing cattle on a part-time basis may be an option during unfavourable grazing conditions.