Teagasc announce details of ‘Virtual Beef Week’
Teagasc are holding a ‘Virtual Beef Week’ from Monday 6th to Friday 10th July, to demonstrate best practice and communicate the latest research results relevant to beef farmers.‘
Building a Sustainable Irish Beef Sector’ is the theme for this virtual beef week, which will involve two streamed broadcasts, BeefTalk at 12 midday and Live@Grange at 7 pm, each day from Monday to Friday. This will be accompanied by a continuous stream of content through social media platforms. The Teagasc Virtual beef week is kindly sponsored by FBD Trust.
The Virtual Beef Week replaces the planned major Teagasc Beef 2020 Open Day, which was due to take place at the Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation centre, Grange, County Meath. Due to COVID-19 farmers will now have the opportunity to access the latest research and knowledge through their mobile phone, laptop or tablet.
Dr Paul Crosson, Teagasc Beef Enterprise Leader, described what will be taking place; “On Monday, 6th July we will be focussing on suckler beef production, covering the performance and the genetics of the Derrypatrick suckler herd, animal breeding and parasitology.”
On Tuesday we switch our attention to dairy calf to beef, outlining what has been happening with the new research experiment on this topic in Grange and also discussing the animal health issues associated with rearing calves.
Pearse Kelly, Head of Drystock Knowledge Transfer in Teagasc, said that Wednesday 8th July, will be all about environmental sustainability, and what steps farmers can take to reduce the environmental footprint of their cattle enterprises. The latest Teagasc research on reducing greenhouse gases, and improving water quality, enhancing biodiversity and protecting our soils, will be covered.
All the focus on Thursday 9th July will be on grassland and nutrition for beef production, showcasing how to grow and utilise more grass in the production of beef animals. We will show how commercial farms are practicing good grazing management and how this is improving animal performance and ultimately the financial performance of their beef enterprises.
Professor Pat Dillon, Head of the Teagasc Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Programme spoke about the challenges facing cattle producers in Ireland. “We are conscious of the challenges facing beef producers in Ireland, be they in suckler or calf to beef businesses. During the Teagasc Virtual Beef Week we will outline the latest production blueprints from Teagasc for the sector, and on Friday we will bring together industry experts for an online forum to discuss possible solutions to address the economic, environmental and social challenges facing the sector.”
Visit www.teagasc.ie/virtualbeefweek for more details, for the webinar times and information on each online event, taking place during the week.
Teagasc are partnering with Agriland and the Irish Farmers Journal in the delivery of some of the online events.