21 August 2025

2025 is proving to be a very challenging year for farmers.  One of the driest springs on record followed by at least three notable heat waves has put pressure on crops and livestock.  The only silver lining has been good harvest weather.    

For local dairy and cattle farmers it has meant cows in fields without grass growing sufficiently to support them and exhausting their buffers of silage feed.   As a result, without that grass, forage/ fodder feeds have become scarce as farmers look to keep their herds fed.

As Brains Farm has taken grass harvests in 2024 and 2025, we have a large quantity of well ensiled grass at the plant, which we haven’t been able to use owing to delays in bringing certain pieces of processing equipment online.  As a result, you may have seen the unusual sight of grass leaving the plant as we make space for the 2025 harvests and, at the same time, supply local cattle farmers with much needed fodder for their herds.

It is worth sparing a thought for your local farmers as they struggle with a cold season last year and an unusually hot dry one this year, which has left feed stocks empty or depleted, while demand is much higher than usual.  

In a few weeks time, the lower yielding than expected maize crop will be in, winter crops drilled ready to emerge in the spring, livestock brought in and the land put to sleep for the winter.  We keep our fingers crossed for a break in fortunes, less challenging and better growing conditions next year.