The annual Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference took place on Tuesday, 13 October in Cavan and on Wednesday, 14 October in Tipperary. It brought together stakeholders from across the pig farming sector to provide a platform to connect with fellow producers and explore the latest developments from the Teagasc Pig Development Department.
Pictured at the Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference in Cavan on October 13 are from left to right: Gerard McCutcheon, Neil Joseph Tirchett, Dr. Louise Clarke, Professor Frank O’Mara, Director of Teagasc, and Dr. Bob Goodband, guest speaker from Kansas State University
The conference featured an impressive line-up of speakers who shared expert knowledge on key topics affecting pig production, covering topics such as new environmental rules for smaller pig farmers, findings from Teagasc Pig Research Facility and the WelFarmers Project. Guest speaker, Dr. Bob Goodband, Kansas State University, also detailed the impact of nutrition on pork carcass lean percentage and improving sow livability.
Gerard McCutcheon pictured at the Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference 2026
At the Teagasc National Pig Farmers’ Conference on October 13, Gerard McCutcheon discussed new environmental rules for small pig farms, noting that these new requirements will bring extra monitoring, recording and reporting requirements for smaller pig farms in the years to come. Read the full paper below:
Dr Louise Clarke and Michael McKeon of the Teagasc Pig Development Department, highlighted four areas where recent experiences on Irish pig farms provide useful learning points for others: better profitability through older weaning, identifying the optimum sale weight, challenges of rearing pigs with intact tails and designing loose lactation systems.
Dr Louise Clarke presenting to delegates at the Teagasc National Pig Farmers Conference
Guest speaker, Dr. Bob Goodband of Kansas State University discussed both the effects of nutrition and genetics on improving carcass leanness and factors influence sow livability. Dr. Goodband noted that the pork industry has spent decades moving toward pigs that grow rapidly, convert feed efficiently, and produce a high percentage of lean carcass tissue, but these changes do bring challenges.
Dr Bob Goodband presenting at the Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference 2026
Dr. Goodband also explained that improving sow livability requires a shift from viewing mortality as an unavoidable endpoint to treating retention as a measurable production process. Read both papers from Dr. Bob Goodband below:
Genetic Effects on Carcass Lean While this is a presentation on the nutritional effects on carcass lean, it is impossible to discuss improving lean value without mentioning genetics. Genetic selection is one of the most powerful tools for changing carcass composition. Genetic selection for lean pigs has the greatest influence on carcass lean content and […]
Bob Goodband
Sow livability has become one of the most important biological, economic, and welfare challenges facing modern pork production. Genetic progress has produced females that are leaner, faster growing, larger framed, and substantially more productive than previous generations, but the modern sow is also being asked to remain reproductively efficient through repeated cycles of gestation, farrowing, […]
Bob Goodband
Additionally, Neil Joseph Tirchett brought delegates up to date with the WelFarmers Project, which provides an opportunity to bring the experience of commercial farms into that wider discussion: not simply what society would like pig production to look like, but what farmers are already doing, what has worked, what has not worked, and what conditions are necessary to make improvements feasible. Read the full paper below:
