Let's Talk Dairy Webinar Series

Join George Ramsbotton for the 'Let's Talk Dairy' webinars Thursday mornings at 10am. Get timely, relevant and practical advice to help you make better management decisions on your dairy farm. George will facilitate the webinars with guest presenters focusing on various topics of interest weekly as well as a lively discussion between attendees and the presenters. There will be an opportunity for you to pose your questions to each week’s presenters. 

Register for the series of Let's Talk Dairy Webinars here

Click on the options below to find out more about upcoming and previous webinars:

• Upcoming Webinars
• Let's Talk Dairy Special Series - Thinking of Dairy Farming?
• Let's Talk Dairy Time and People Management Series
• Previous Webinars - 2022
• Previous Webinars - 2021
• Previous Webinars - 2020

Upcoming Webinars

Let's Talk Dairy Special Series - Thinking of Dairy Farming? Get the Basics Right

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist and Patrick Gowing, Teagasc Dairy Expansion Specialist presented a four part Let's Talk Dairy Special Series which was open to everyone from new entrants to established dairy farmers, whether learning a new skill or honing an existing one. 

Date	Topic
Monday, 9 November	New entrant case study - Peter Hamm and Padraig Foley
Monday, 16 November	Understanding EBI and Sourcing the right stock
Monday, 30 November	Grazing infrastructure and reseeding plans
Monday, 7 December	Farmyard infrastructure design and building a capital budget
Monday, 25 January	Robotics

Let's Talk Dairy Time and People Management Series

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist will be joined by Marion Beecher, Teagasc; Nollaig Heffernan, Independent Management Consultant and guest farmer participants throughout the Let's Talk Dairy Time and People Management Series. This webinar is run on a Thursday at 10am.

Date	Topic
Thursday, 5 November	Making the industry/your farm an attractive place to work
Thursday, 19 November	Working Efficiently
Thursday, 3 December	Managing your time to maximum effect
Thursday, 7 January	Using a Yearly Planner to Organise Yourself

Autumn Grass Targets - Where are we now? 29 September

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses Autumn Grass Targets - where are we now?

Stuart gives an update on current figures in relation to where farm cover is, where that is relative to target cover, etc. Stuart outlines the actions that farmers may need to take over the next two weeks to try and do the best that they can in terms of closing up the farm in a good situation for 2023.

Breeding Season Review - 22 September

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses reviewing your breeding season for 2022.

Stuart explains that by doing a review of the breeding season, it will give an insight into what worked well or if there's any changes that should be implemented next year.

Managing Somatic Cell Count in late lactation - 15 September

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses managing somatic cell count (SCC) in late lactation.

Stuart emphasises the importance of the use of milk recording information, acting on it and the follow through that is required around that.

 Changes to Closed Periods - Slurry - 8 September

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses the changes to the closed periods, specifically for slurry.

Current grazing conditions and advice - 1 September

Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by John Douglas, Teagasc Grass10 Advisor to get an update on the current grazing conditions as well as an insight into the latest advice for farmers.

Update on Grass Supply - 18 August

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist gives an update on grass supply on farms using data available from PastureBase Ireland.

Farmer and Respiratory Health - 28 July

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Dr John McNamara, Teagasc Health & Safety Specialist to discuss general farmer health and respiratory health.

John highlights the fact that health is wealth - if you haven't health, you haven't anything else. In the long term, 70% of illness is preventable so we can make changes.

Autumn Grass Cover - 21 July

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses Autumn grass cover and building it.

Stuart highlights the importance of going about building cover for the Spring.

Winter Fodder - 14 July

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses winter fodder supply.

Stuart highlights how it is important to look at your position in terms of where you are with feed.

IHFA role in Irish dairy breeding - 30 June

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Laurence Feeney, CEO of IHFA to discuss the role of the IHFA in Irish dairy breeding.

Laurence outlines IHFA's role within the industry, where they sit, what they do and the potential challenges ahead.

Teagasc National Farm Survey - 23 June

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by Trevor Donnellan, Head of Economics and Surveys, Teagasc to give an insight into the Teagasc National Farm Survey.

Trevor outlines what's involved in it, why it's done, some of the data that goes into it and how it's actually recorded. He also discusses the 2021 NFS Preliminary Results.

Stocking Rate - effect on the forage budget - 16 June

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by Patrick Gowing, Teagasc Dairy Specialist to discuss stocking rate - effect on the forage budget.

Patrick discusses using the milk records to identify poorer performing cows in the herd. Proportion of farmers are reliant on purchased feed so it is important to complete a fodder budget.

Sustainability & Irish dairy farming - 2 June

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by Liam McCabe, Dairy Specialist, Bord Bia to discuss sustainability and Irish dairy farming.

The best beef bulls to select for the breeding season - 26 May

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by Stephen Connolly, ABP and John Tobin, Munster Bovine to discuss the best beef bulls to select for the breeding season.

Stephen and John outline bull selections, the options that you have when using Beef AI and how bull choice is influencing the performance of animals.

Steps to Making Quality Silage - 19 May

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses the steps to making quality silage.

Stuart covers areas such as cutting as close to the right stage as possible; completing the job quickly and cover; and how quality always trumps quantity.

Breeding Season Progress - 12 May

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist does some checks and balances in relation to breeding.

Stuart discusses the need to run weekly fertility report frequently to track progress and identify the cows not yet bred. It is also important to make sure that you AI for long enough before releasing bulls and use high DBI bulls to generate high quality beef.

Milk Butterfats - 5 May

 Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses milk butterfats

In relation to milk fat percentage, a huge problem that we have would be generally associated with the potential of a farm to produce milk fat. The genetics side of things is very key.

Reduced Crude Protein Diets Requirement Under Derogation - 28 April

Stuarts Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses the reduced Crude Protein diets requirement under Derogation.

Stuart gives an overview of the rationale for the decision by DAFM; whether or not it will have implications for farmers; and for farmers not in derogation, the benefits to doing this as well.

Teagasc Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management - 21 April

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by Dr Emma-Louise Coffey, Teagasc and Brendan Ryan, Dairy Farmer to get an insight into the Teagasc Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management course.

Emma-Louise Coffey gives an overview of the course and outlines the benefits of studying the course. Brendan Ryan, dairy farmer gives an insight into his background, his experience of participating on the course and the changes that he has made to his farming practices since the course.

Silage Fertiliser N - How much is enough? -  14 April

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses how much silage fertiliser N is enough and where is the tipping point in terms of getting a return for your investment in silage fertiliser.

Everybody needs to be conscious of the quantity of silage that they're going to require for the coming winter.

Pre-breeding management - 7 April

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses pre-breeding management to try and improve six week calving rate.

The target is that we would have 90% calved within six weeks.

Use of Beef AI in Kildalton College Dairy Herd - 31 March

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Zerlina Pratt, Dairy Lecturer at Teagasc Kildalton College to give an insight into the use of Beef AI in the dairy herd at the college.

Zerlina gives an overview of how they pick the cows, in terms of the ones they're going to breed to have replacements for the college herd and the beef choices after that.

 When to start the second round in 2022 - 24 March

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses when to start the second round of grazing in 2022.

Stuart outlines how the start time varies from year to year. You need to look back to go forward - need to see what's on the first grazed paddocks - where that is is going to dictate the start of the second round. Need to reassess weekly due to the ever changing weather.

Synchronization Protocols for 2022 Breeding Season - 10 March

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Dr Stephen Moore, Teagasc to discuss synchronization protocols for the 2022 breeding season.

Given the current climate it is going to be important to try and retain as many cows as possible in the herd as you can. Stephen gives an overview of the various options around synchronization for heifers and cows - including sexed and conventional semen protocols.

Milk Recording - 3 March

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Rosarii O'Connor and Mairead O'Neill, Munster Bovine to discuss milk recording.

Rosarii and Mairead gave an insight into Electronic DIY milk recording and the steps you can take to ensure a successful recording.

Dermot O'Donovan grazing update -  24 February

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by Dermot O'Donovan, who is farming in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. Dermot gives an update as to how he is managing grazing on the farm and what his plans are for the grazing season.

OAD Milking to manage spring workload - 17 February

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by dairy farmer Martin Connaughton to discuss milking Once-A-Day (OAD) to manage spring workload.

Stuart gives a brief overview of ongoing research in Teagasc Moorepark on OAD milking. Martin gave an insight into his farming system and why they decided to move from Twice-A-Day (TAD) to Once-A-Day (OAD) milking, especially during the spring calving period.

Record Keeping - 10 February

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses record keeping and how it can improve efficiency on your farm.

Stuart outlines how good record keeping can improve farm performance and how it's important to put a system of recording in place that works for you.

Plan for Spring Grazing 2022 - 3 February

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses the plan for Spring grazing in 2022. Stuart outlines what is important to watch out for and some actions that people can be taking.

It is important to have a Spring Rotation Plan (SPR), as well as a Spring budget. Regular farm walks will help you make the best decisions in relation to grass supply on your farm. Good Spring grazing underpins excellent cow performance both in early lactation and mid season.

Spring N - when should you spread? -  27 January

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses when you should spread chemical Nitrogen - specifically Urea - this Spring.

It is important to have a plan in place and to have your soils analysed. Early N application should also have more grass on the farm in the run into the start of the second rotation.

Milk Replacers - 20 January

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by George Ramsbottom, Teagasc Dairy Specialist to discuss milk replacers.

George gives an overview of milk replacer specifications for younger calves; how to calculate the costs of milk replacer; differences between the use of milk replacer and whole milk; and how much milk does a calf need.

Buffer Zones in Agriculture - 13 January

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses buffer zones in agriculture.

With the opening of the slurry spreading period, Stuart gives an overview of what buffer zones are and how they're important, especially when it comes to water quality.

Key messages from the National Dairy Conference - 16 December

George Ramsbottom was joined by Joe Patton, Teagasc Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer to provide an overview of the key messages from the National Dairy Conference which took place on 6 & 8 December.

Key messages from Winter Milk Week - 1 December

George Ramsbottom was joined by James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist who reviewed the key messages from the winter milk events that took place across the country recently.

Design and evaluation of cow roadways in Ireland - 24 November

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Paul Maher, a postgraduate student at Teagasc Moorepark to discuss Paul’s area of study which focuses on the design and evaluation of cow roadways in Ireland.

Paul discussed practical steps that farmers can take to improve the quality of their farm roadway network for their dairy herds.

Recent study of lameness on Irish pasture-based dairy farms - 17 November

George Ramsbottom, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Dr. Natasha Browne, Teagasc Moorepark. Natasha has recently completed a PhD in the area of dairy cattle lameness in Ireland.

Natasha presented the results of her studies and identified some practical measures that farmers can adopt to reduce the incidence of lameness in dairy cows at pasture.

Principal types of lameness - 10 November

George Ramsbottom, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Ned Dunphy, Waterford Farm Relief Service to discuss the principal types of lameness.

Ned outlined the principal types of lameness in grazing dairy cows and steps that should be taken to minimise the risks.

Roadway surfaces - 3 November

George Ramsbottom, Teagasc Dairy Specialist is joined by Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist to discuss roadway surfaces.

They also give an overview of a large scale survey of dairy farm roadways from all around the country by Paul Maher, a Masters student working in Teagasc. Poor quality roadways are a major risk factor for lameness.

Maiden Heifer Weight Targets - 27 October

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses maiden heifer weight targets to coincide with a new herd weight profile which has been launched recently by ICBF.

On-Off Grazing - 20 October

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses on-off grazing.

On-off grazing is often associated with the Springtime but it's also part of the grazing repertoire at this time of the year. If ground conditions are gone tricky, on-off grazing may be the solution.

Milk sensitivity analysis when drying off cows - 13 October

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses how milk sensitivity analysis is going to be an important piece to the jigsaw in relation to drying off cows.

Closing up the farm - 6 October

Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses the last rotation and closing up the farm to have enough grass for the Springtime.