STORM TRACKER: Follow 'Storm Amy' as it bears down on Ireland amid brutal forecast
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Grass silage is the dominant winter feed used on the vast majority of Irish farms today
Donegal farmers are facing a major hike in the cost of silage.
The cost of making a round bale of silage is set to increase to between €45 and €50 per bale this summer, and new analysis by Teagasc shows that baled silage is more expensive to make than pit silage, due to higher plastic and transport costs.
According to this week’s Irish Farmers’ Journal, rising fertiliser, plastic and contractor costs mean that baled silage will be 31% more expensive to make compared to last year.
When a land charge of €300/ac is included, the cost of making a round bale of silage from first-cut grass is €226/t dry matter (DM) compared to €206/t DM for first-cut pit silage.
Excluding a land charge, baled silage will cost €36 per bale.
According to Teagasc, contractor costs have increased by 56% when compared to recent years but it stressed input cost volatility.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
