Grass growth surge worth €1.5m a day to farmers

GR ASS growth is surging ahead, with estimates that early cover could be worth up to €1.5m a day to farmers.

It is providing a safety net for many farmers who were facing tight supplies following extreme weather last year.

A recent Teagasc fodder survey found that one in eight farms was running a winter fodder deficit of up to 10pc, with one in six estimating they were more than two weeks short of supplies.

Teagasc dairy specialist George Ramsbottom said grass growth was a month ahead for this time of year.

Figures from the PastureBase measuring database show growth is up to 9-10kg DM/ha/day in parts of the country.

Micheal O’Leary of PastureBase said growth rates were up 50pc for this time of year.

However, individual farmers with good reseeding and dry soils are reporting figures of up to 18-19kg DM/ ha/day.

Soil temperatures are around two degrees above normal levels of around 6-6.5C for this time of year.

“If the weather permits early turnout of stock then it could help to overcome the current fodder deficit on many of the farms,” said Mr Ramsbottom. He added it would be a “photo finish” on the fodder side for some of those farms.

The early grass is a massive boost, with the level of growth and the early turnout of stock valued at €2.70 per cow a day.

It is expected that a third of the cows will be calved by the end of this month.

“This early grass could be worth up to €1.5m a day to farmers,” he said.

In the North-West, many farms are reporting three times the level of cover of this time last year. Drystock adviser Tom Coll said it will mean a lot of stock will be able to be moved outdoors when a dry spell arrives.

“There are covers of over 1,000kg DM/ha. Last year it was around 360kg DM/ha on the same farms. There was a lot of growth in November and December,” said Mr Coll.

However, he said their advice to sheep farmers was to continue to spread about 20 units of fertiliser per acre.

On fertiliser prices, the IFA report that merchants have been reluctant to quote prices due to efforts to stabilise the market. However, bigger coops were said to be offering select customers big bag CAN at €270-265/t and urea at €370-365/t. The best quotes for compounds such as 10-525 and 18-6-12 are €390-400/t and €397-405/t respectively.

Larger buyer groups are believed to have secured significant discounts on these quotes.

“While the Irish trade will attempt to hold new season quotes for fertiliser at current highs, EU and international wholesale nitrogen prices have started to slip over recent weeks,” said the IFA’s John Coughlan.

“This trend could accelerate given the high level of nitrogen stocks in store coupled with a late start to the spring across Europe. The best advice to farmers is to shop around and not to buy their full complement at current price highs as these are expected to head in one direction only and that is down.”