Dairy Discussion Group Projects 2012
1. Breeding and heifer rearing project
2. Innovation project
Objective:
This new initiative, sponsored by ACCBank,
Teagasc, ICBF and the Irish Farmers’ Journal,
involves the establishment of a process to encourage
and reward discussion groups who engage in a project
during 2012. It is envisaged that all dairy
discussion groups would participate in one, or both,
projects. This proposal envisages two types of
projects:
1. Breeding and heifer rearing project; and
2. Innovation project.
Further projects may be added in 2013.
The first project category, Breeding and heifer rearing, is pre-defined i.e. a standard template has been developed. Individual groups will be required to complete the template; this will involve establishing 2011 performance on ten criteria and then setting goals for 2012 performance under the same criteria. Later in the year, ICBF will issue a group report comparing 2012 actual performance against the goals set. As the overall objective of this category is to encourage participation in goal setting and performance monitoring, the prize fund for this category will be shared among the first 100 qualifying entries.
The second project category, Innovation, is less pre-defined i.e. while an application form has been developed it is up to individual groups to identify an innovative project which they wish to enter for consideration. This category is competition based and a maximum of four projects will share in the prize fund. Depending on the number of entries, a number of applications in this section may be shortlisted for consideration.
An overall prize fund of up to €40,000 will be available for this initiative in 2012. This will be split between section 1 (€20,000) and section 2 (€20,000).
Download 'Innovation' application form (93KB , PDF format).
Download 'Breeding & Heifer Rearing' application form (78KB , PDF format).
