What's your slurry/fodder situation?

Enough silage for two weeks lot's of grass but very wet. Let some out last Saturday and had to go back in on Tuesday. The rain is relentless around here. Looks like I will have to buy bales..........

Got 70% of tanks emptied in January in a dry(ish) week here, about the 15th or so I'd say. Got another 16 loads out in mid February. I have slurry capacity for about 3 to 4 weeks I'd say.

Fodder, I have enough in the pit til into May on full winter feeding so I am lucky enough on both counts.

Fodder is fine but tank is full as of today. Somebody bought a farm down the road and I caught him on the way to the parade and he said I can put 3 or 4 loads in the tank there so that give a little breathing space

Fodder till the end of April, slurry is a problem, can’t get it out on fields that I want, raining here since the second week of June

About 10 days feed here. Squeaky bum time

if it stops raining we’ll be fine. Been feeding something since august

cows are out when ever it’s dry enough which helps a lot

Ten days left for about 300 mouths, oceans of grass, its in the hands of the Gods now. Plenty of bedding straw but no feeding straw left. My contractor has saved me re slurry, just seemed to come when it was just dry enough on a few occasions

I’ve about two weeks feeding left , three at a push. I’ve never seen cows here to go through as much silage as this year, I’ve usually a months feeding over in any given year but I will be buying very shortly if something doesn’t change with the weather. The driest of ground around seems to be saturated after last weeks rain.

I got my slurry out in February with a pipeline luckily. But I’ve one tank I’m pumping out of to keep it below the slats and it is filling the other tanks faster than I’d like.

there does seem to be a better feel of spring about which brings a bit of optimism to the whole thing.

2 weeks silage bales left....biblical amounts rain yesterday. On second round of rain gun since last week.. Can't take out much more as will only be adding water later on. Tanks 6 inches from overflowing again.

Have to laugh when FJ said don't be putting out slurry in Jan as would be wasted.... If I hadn't I'd be in some mess now. Calendar farming does not work in Ireland.

I always have a good chuckle when we get the advice that it is waste to spread until March ,I spread what ground I could travel the week of the opening and have got a mighty growth response .Compare if I had to dump out now off roadways down on high covers of grass ,the mind boggles

Have sold the cows so have enough silage to get me to the end of May. I emptied every tank in the place with the pipe on Jan 17th and it's a great job cos there only 18 inches left in any tank here and the place is swimming, I doubt that they would get out with the pipe at this stage and even if they did the place would be in pure muck after it.

Are you changing system with selling the cows?

Keep a real good eye on the cattle that you are feeding that silage too. IMO Listeriosis raises it head in Spring.

Get over Tuesday night and it's starting to pick up. Just got a few loads of water out of tanks this morning, should help greatly.

Ok here for silage and slurry. Starting to see the straw disappear alright. Had the cows out last night and out by day with the last while so that's making a big difference.

What numbers and breeds are you going for?

I reared a batch of Belgium Blue heifers and a batch of mixed continental heifers before Christmas and they are at grass atm. I've two batches in the shed atm mostly Aax and Hex with a few Aubrac and Charolais. I'm gonna rear 40 this year and along with the few cows that I didn't sell and a few old dears that I didn't bring to the mart I'll end up around the 50 mark. I've just made up my mind to buy a auto feeder just to ease the workload as I'm working an hour and a half away as well.

one new 500g cover but iv a cover hanging along the length of the walls on both sides they go down on top of the cling film then new cover on top of that

forget the price exactly now but I think it wasn't too dear

Probably why the CAP needs further restructuring to provide the necessary incentives via increased Pillar 2 "funding" which would also have the benefit of getting more SFP money to the bigger number of smaller farmers that have been screwed over the by the fat cats via the current grossly unfair Pillar 1 Monster. In addition the Irish government are meant to be setting up a 3bln euro restore nature fund as announced in the last budget to finance the next 10 years of such measures too, so farmers who play ball should be getting a big chunk of that too. In any case we are not talking about whole farms here, just a low single figure % in each landholding concentrated on critical areas along water retaining/flood buffering habitats like existing water courses, steep peaty hillsides, turloughs, callows etc. which are difficult to farm at the best of times anyways. Of course the elephant in the room here is the immense ongoing damage semi states like Coillte and BNM continue to do in this space without being held accountable by successive governments - despite the fact that the current line Ministers for same are Cabbage Head Ryan and Hacket🙄

Tanks need to be rain gunned again tomorrow.... Neighbour giving me 10 bales. Im out as sold another neighbour 20 in Jan... None of my neighbours have bales. We are trying to get loads from east Cork as none in locality for sale. We have secured 100 but at 50 plus 15 delivered…

Tensions simmering around here as 2 farmer's with no cattle won't sell their 200 bales even when know fellas are stuck. They said want to keep them for next winter. I know they are theirs but its not gone down well..

Two of my dairy neighbours leaving cattle out by day as no feeding and they making absolutely shyte of each field they go into.

Were under pressure but just taking it day by day…hopefully nxt wk improves.

That's general gist in bantry.