A webinar will be held today (Tuesday, May 5) for farmers on managing silage season, amid the expected increase in silage production costs this year.

The webinar, called 'Gearing up for Silage 2026' has been organised by Teagasc. It will start at 8:00p.m this evening.

Teagasc said that the cost of silage production is set to rise this year, given current pressures on input and service prices.

However, the difficult spring period has underlined the value of having adequate quantity of silage in place, Teagasc added.

The webinar is set to address "some key management issues" for dairy and drystock farmers heading into silage season.

The webinar will be hosted by Deirbhle Browne, a Teagasc dairy adviser in Limerick.

Browne will be joined by a panel of speakers.

These include Dr. Peter Doyle, a grassland researcher in Teagasc Grange, who has done extensive work on different silage cropping systems.

Dr. Doyle will present the comparative costs for a range of silage harvesting strategies for different beef and dairy systems, with updated input prices factored in.

The webinar will also hear from Portlaoise dairy farmer Bernard Ging, who will share his experience of balancing good silage yields and quality across multiple silage cuts.

Ging used home-grown feed to maintain diet quality and keep feed costs down during early and late lactation, and during periods of summer drought.

David Argue, Teagasc beef specialist based at Ballyhaise, will also take part in the webinar. He will look at the effect of silage dry matter digestibility (DMD) on animal performance in calf-to-beef and suckler systems.

Argue will also look at the costs of balancing diets with concentrates for different stock types on beef farms.

The final participant is Dave Davies, a UK-based consultant with Silage Solutions Ltd. He will talk through key practical points on achieving a good preservation of the silage crop, including the effect of nitrogen fetiliser on cutting dates, testing crops for sugars the value of wilting, and decisions on use of silage additives.

Commenting on the webinar, host Deirbhle Brown said: "Farmers across the country are understandably concerned about the cost of making winter feed this year.

"That said, demand for silage next winter will be largely unchanged to the overall silage plan on farms must meet the budget targets.

"Our webinar will seek to answer practical questions such as the cost of pit silage versus bales; does bulking first cut make sense this year; if fertiliser was delayed can silage still be harvested early; and what effect will silage strategy have on feed costs next winter," the Teagasc adviser said.