Grass growth has kicked forward another slow gear this week, but every minor improvement is still an improvement.

Average growth recorded over the past week is still only 54kg DM/ha, with demand at 50kg DM/ha, but thankfully supplementation seems to be down to meal only for many, while there are even a few lucky farmers in the position to be able to afford to take out some surplus.

While most farms are now in a comfortable position on the grazing block, the blip in growth meant that some farmers have had to eat into second-cut ground or that second-cut fields are behind where they should be, while some farms without access to second-cut ground have already had to feed out some of the first cut.

All the above could spell a fodder deficit if left unchecked.

What to do?

The first thing to do is to measure what fodder is available on farm.

Pits should be measured and bales counted to ascertain what level of feed is currently sitting in the yard, combined with the level of feed expected to be made for the remainder of the year.

When all this is calculated, the volume of feed required for the number of livestock to be held on farm over the winter then needs to be totted up.

This can be done through using the Irish Farmers Journal fodder calculator located here.

Where a deficit is identified, action needs to be taken.

Additional fodder needs to be sourced, either inside or outside the farmgate, or higher levels of supplementary feeding through concentrates, fodder beet, etc, will have to take place.

The final option is to offload some stock, for example cull cows or forward stores, to reduce the fodder demand.