Dairy Farmers Urged to Plan Ahead for Winter Feed

With its reliance on grass and grazing, the dairy sector has suffered more than most and conserved forage stocks have started to be used without any notable grass growth since early July.

But as we look to the winter, with the milk price gradually improving the buoyancy in the market can be optimised by producers. 

Here we speak with ForFarmers’ Organic and Grazing Commercial Manager Ben Trott who outlines: “It is a real double edge sword. There is currently strong demand for quality milk as supply is falling short. Dairy producers should be pushing for more production, but it isn’t that easy this year.”

Ben offers some advice. He says: “As a starting point, it is important dairy farmers do a proper forage budget, to work out what is available and plan around that.

“Once the farm’s individual forage stocks are established, we can start to look at alternatives. Forage analysis is also important as quality needs to be taken into account when making plans.”

In response to the extreme conditions experienced this year, Defra is also offering derogations to allow organic non-productive stock to be fed conventional forage, based on need and examined on a case-by-case basis. Several criteria must be met by the farmer for his certifier to support his application for the derogation.

Ben says: “The advice is to plan now for the winter ahead. Make sure you have alternatives in place now rather than waiting to get to Christmas before addressing the problem. Farmers who are most severely hit should consider planting root crops to give a late bite to keep some stock outside grazing. This might be turnips or forage rape if sown quickly now.”

To support farmers with their planning for winter, ForFarmers has produced a forage guide to help farmers assess their options. Click the link for further information and to request a copy