Dairy
Reducing TB risk
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) provided guidelines on reducing the risk of TB in your herd.
20 April 2024
Signpost farmer update: All set for breeding and trialling plantain
Seán Moher, a dairy farmer Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, is a participant in the Teagasc Signpost Programme and Teagasc/Dairygold Joint Programme. In this update, he outlines his plans for breeding and explains why he's including plantain in his grassland swards.
20 April 2024
Weigh heifers before opting for sexed semen
Earlier housing and a delayed turnout may mean that some dairy replacement heifers are behind target for breeding.
17 April 2024
Extension to Nitrates Derogation application and Dairy Banding deadline
Extensions to the deadlines to submit Nitrates Derogation applications for 2024 and for dairy farmers to confirm their 2024 dairy excretion rate band were today announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D.
17 April 2024
Watch: Preparing for breeding on Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms
Sandra Hayes, Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme Co-ordinator, visited a number of demonstration farmers recently to highlight how they are preparing for the upcoming breeding season.
15 April 2024
Ensuring breeding success with maiden heifers
With the difficult conditions at farm level, much of the conversation over the last number of weeks has centred on ensuring the milking herd are properly fed. These conditions have also meant that maiden heifers have remained housed on a lot of farms for longer than normal this spring.
15 April 2024
10 things to consider before breeding season starts
With the breeding season fast approaching on dairy farms, Dr Joe Patton, Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer at Teagasc, outlines 10 things to consider before the breeding season starts.
15 April 2024
Cleaning without chlorine
Chlorate residues in milk are a no-no for processors. Farmers, in turn, are concerned about heat-resistant ‘thermoduric’ bacteria. Fortunately ‘chlorine-free’ cleaning has now proven to be very effective in controlling thermoduric bacteria levels in milk.
14 April 2024
Crop establishments, silage supplies and slurry storage pressures continue
The convening of the National Fodder and Feed Security Committee on April 9 heard that pressures relating to spring crop establishments, silage supplies and slurry storage are continuing to create significant challenges at farm level.
13 April 2024
Managing the herd in the current weather conditions
On this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge, Donal Patton, Teagasc Ballyhaise, and Michael Egan, Teagasc Moorepark, discussed at a recent Teagasc webinar the current weather conditions and scenarios facing farmers across the country and how best to deal with them.
10 April 2024
Details of Fodder Transport Support Measure revealed
As part of the meeting of the National Fodder and Feed Security Committee, today, April 9, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D, revealed details of a measure to support the transport of fodder to areas where supplies are running tight.
09 April 2024
Maintaining positive wellbeing during this challenging spring weather
Finola Colgan, Development Officer at Mental Health Ireland, and Francis Bligh, Health and Safety Specialist at Teagasc, give advice on maintaining positive wellbeing during this challenging spring weather.
09 April 2024
Supporting farmers through this difficult period
Following a difficult spring and no immediate respite from the weather challenges being faced at farm level, Teagasc has moved to introduce a number of measures to support farmers.
08 April 2024
Have you completed a milk recording and acted on the results?
One of the tools available to dairy farmers in relation to mastitis control is milk recording, Padraig O’Connor tells us more. The recommendation is that farmers complete a minimum of four and preferably six milk recordings per lactation.
08 April 2024
Preparing to get nitrogen applications back on track
Along with the associated grazing challenges, the wet spring has limited the opportunities for both organic and artificial fertiliser applications on many farms.
08 April 2024
Springing into Organics: A Clover Grazing Guide
Clodagh Morgan, Walsh Scholar, Teagasc Galway/Clare, discusses the role of clover in enhancing soil fertility, biodiversity, and sustainability.
08 April 2024
2024 BISS applications for New Registered Farm Partnerships
Ruth Fennell, Collaborative Farming Specialist, outlines the process and considerations for registering a new farm partnership, focusing on steps for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) application.
07 April 2024
Milk deliveries and protein levels down in February
Recently released data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has pointed to a decline in both the volume of milk and its contained constituents delivered to milk processors and co-ops over the month of February.
06 April 2024
Management advice as the difficult spring moves into April
With weather continuing to make management difficult on farms and considerably more rain on the way, the Teagasc Grass10 team has offered some key advice to farmers as part of its weekly newsletter.
04 April 2024
Learnings from Ballyhaise - managing through a difficult spring
Like many farms across the country, the dairy research herd at Teagasc Ballyhaise has been dealing with the difficulties ensuing from a wet spring.
04 April 2024
How do we best feed the dairy cow in the current situation?
With difficult grazing conditions extending into early April, decisions made over the coming days and weeks will have either a positive or negative impact on the body condition score, milk production capacity and the success of the upcoming breeding season on many dairy farms.
04 April 2024
Getting grass in the diet a priority on dairy farms
With the breeding season fast approaching and early-calving cows on the cusp of peak milk production, dairy farmers have been reminded to make getting grass into the diet of their cows a priority.
02 April 2024
Incorporating white clover into grassland swards
Recognition of the high forage quality and the nitrogen (N) fixation benefits of grass-white clover pastures has led to a resurgence of interest in its use as a means of reducing the economic and environmental costs in livestock agriculture.
02 April 2024
Fertilising first cut silage crops - correct application ensures correct cutting date
What happens on farm over the next few weeks will have a significant impact to silage stocks on dairy farms for next winter. James Dunne discusses the importance of managing silage stocks, emphasizing the need for a good yield of high-quality first cut crop.
01 April 2024
Can farms combining livestock and crops improve sustainability?
Tasos Chatzichristou, PhD student in Agricultural Economics at Teagasc, tells us why mixed farming systems are a potential solution to bridging the gap between agriculture's economic and environmental challenges.
31 March 2024
Advisory messages from the National Fodder and Food Security Committee meeting
An online meeting of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee (NFFSC) took place on Friday, March 29, at the request of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD.
29 March 2024
Maximising beef calf potential through sexed semen use
Farming in Ballytarsna, Co. Tipperary, John Dwyer has placed a firm focus on using sexed semen to not only ensure the production of high EBI dairy replacements but to also maximise the potential of the beef progeny being produced from his herd.
29 March 2024
Breeding Week 2024: A refresher on sexed semen
With approximately 300,000 sexed semen straws expected to be used on dairy farms this spring, Dr Stephen Butler of Teagasc Moorepark provided a refresher on this technology and outlined best practice for its use as part of the recent Efficient Dairy Breeding Webinar.
28 March 2024
Breeding Week 2024: Understanding the maintenance sub-index
The maintenance sub-index of the EBI represents 8% of the total euro value of the EBI, but what does the maintenance figure actually represent and what should it mean to you?
27 March 2024
Scope for earlier removal of clusters?
Milking is the main chore on dairy farms and typically consumes over 30% of total labour input. With high labour costs and problems accessing skilled labour, the recent trend has been to install milking parlours, with a greater number of clusters to be handled by one operator.
27 March 2024