Dairy
27% of farmers in Ireland report their wellbeing was ‘poor’ or ‘below average’
A recent Irish study shows that 27% of farmers reported their wellbeing was ‘poor’ or ‘below average’ whilst a further study found that the most common sources of work related stress are weather, workload and money. Other issues causing stress include policy changes, regulation and farm succession.
10 May 2022
How to keep control of the grass on your farm, maintain quality and avoid feed waste
Micheál O’Leary from PastureBase Ireland joins Emma-Louise Coffey on the latest Dairy Edge podcast with advice on how to keep control of the grass on your farm, maintain quality and avoid feed waste as growth rates explode across the country
09 May 2022
Reminders for Breeding Season 2022
George Ramsbottom, Teagasc Dairy Specialist summarises advice on breeding. Select a team of high EBI sires using the threshold and average values detailed here. As herds stabilise, there is an opportunity to more carefully select the cows that we breed our dairy replacements from in the years ahead
09 May 2022
Let's Talk Dairy - Reduced Crude Protein Diets Requirement Under Derogation
On this episode of Let's Talk Dairy, which took place on Thursday, 28th April, Stuarts Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist discusses the reduced Crude Protein diets requirement under Derogation.
09 May 2022
Dairy Newsletter - May 2022
Get the latest information & advice from the Teagasc Dairy team in the May newsletter. It includes information on: Don’t delay first-cut silage, Are you taking on the clover challenge?, Research Update - Milking efficiency of dairy farms and Health & Safety - May is a high-risk month. View it here
09 May 2022
Helping farmers reduce energy use
Teagasc is engaged in an extensive range of research including national and international collaborations. Teagasc highlights the impacts of its latest research in "Research impact highlights in 2020". Dairy - reducing energy use is one such area as John Upton, Teagasc Researcher, Moorepark outlines
08 May 2022
Red Clover for silage swards
Red clover has the potential to fix between 150-200 Kg N/ha per year from the atmosphere in well managed silage swards. Nicky Byrne, Research Officer in Teagasc Grange highlights the progress of a red clover/ perennial ryegrass silage sward at Grange in this video
07 May 2022
Getting to Grips with the Summer Wedge on PastureBase
Join John Douglas & Joseph Dunphy from Teagasc Grass10 and Micheal O'Leary from PastureBase in this webinar on Thursday 12th May at 7pm, as they give advice on understanding the summer wedge, managing summer grass and more. They will be joined by 2021 young GFOTY Philip Tyndall
07 May 2022
Managing stress
The most valuable assets that any person has is their health and safety. With pig farmers facing into increasingly difficult times – be it financial, personal or professional – the one thing that shouldn’t be neglected is your mental health and well-being.
06 May 2022
Teagasc Signpost Programme Newsletter May 2022
In this month’s newsletter, we publish a factsheet on practical steps to reduce chemical N use on farms as well as an article on useful tips for managing silage effluent. We have the profiles of 3 Signpost farmers, our monthly climate actions, key messages from the Teagasc clover walks and more
05 May 2022
Grass10 Newsletter - 3rd May 2022
In this week's newsletter the Grass10 team return to farmer Lawrence Sexton in The Clover Reporter section as well as this week's Grass10 featured farmer Philip & John Tyndall. View some Grass10 weekly tips, grass growth figures and upcoming webinar on the grass wedge using PastureBase Ireland
04 May 2022
Don't delay silage cutting date on your dairy farm
James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, Ballyhaise, outlines why delaying silage cutting date will have a negative effect on quality and quantity of silage for dairy systems. He advises against using a ‘one big first cut’ approach, which can lead to fodder shortages due to late first cuts being made
03 May 2022
How to make potential savings to feed reserves this year
On this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge, advisor Adrian O’Callaghan and dairy farmer Diarmuid Hegarty join Emma-Louise Coffey to consider the potential feed saving that can be achieved by identifying problem cows and culling them from the herd early.
02 May 2022
Let's Talk Dairy Webinar - Teagasc Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management
On this episode of Let's Talk Dairy which took place on Thursday, 21st 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.
02 May 2022
Summertime Cow Nutrition: A Lot Done, More to Do
We have come a long way in the last 20-25 years in terms of managing the feed we give to dairy cows during the summer. However, there is still a lot more to be done in terms of mid-season cow nutrition. John Mc Cabe, Teagasc/Aurivo Joint Dairy Programme Advisor has some advice
30 April 2022
The Signpost Series Webinar - Danone Sustainability Story
On this episode of The Signpost Series which took place on Thursday, 14th April, Andy Boland, Teagasc Environment Specialist was joined by Elaine Crosse and Mark Stafford, Danone to give an overview of Danone's Sustainability Journey.
30 April 2022
Save the dates – Teagasc Open Days 2022
Teagasc has a busy summer offering of events and open days. Open Days planned for 2022 include Beef 2022 in Grange, Sheep Open Day in Athenry, and Kildalton 50th anniversary celebration. More information on these and other events below.
29 April 2022
Dairying and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
AMR is a new challenge to the farming community and a risk to public health. Don Crowley, Teagasc Dairy advisor discusses antimicrobial resistance, how it develops and the importance of milk recording in the absence of preventative antimicrobials, on the dairy farm
29 April 2022
Kildalton College takes top prize at Macra Challenge Day
The 2022 Macra Na Feirme Challenges day ran in Gurteen Agricultural College, Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary on Wednesday, 27 April 2022. The overall winners this year were Kildalton College.
28 April 2022
From costs to the weather, how stressed out are farmers?
Analysis: farmers and farm workers have been found to experience high levels of stress and relatively low levels of wellbeing.
This article by Mary Brennan, Emma Dillon and David Meredith, Teagasc and Thia Hennessy, UCC, was first published on RTÉ Brainstorm recently
28 April 2022
The Cullinane Monitor Farm in West Cork
John and Veronica Cullinane are dairy farming with their three children; Eoin, Aoife and Laura in Ballineen. Co Cork. They milk 140 cows on a milking platform of 53 hectares and farm outside blocks for replacement heifers and silage. Aoife Healy, Teagasc Dairy advisor discusses their April tasks
27 April 2022
Grass10 Newsletter - 26th April 2022
In this week's Grass10 e-newsletter; PastureBase Ireland growth figures, Grass10 Weekly Tips, Grass growth and soil temperature predictions, Grass10 Farmer David Gannon, Red clover for silage swards and Aidan Maguire, Drystock GFOTY on measuring grass. Sign up for the weekly e-newsletter here
27 April 2022
Should you consider clover in 2022?
Vincent Ronayne, Teagasc Advisor Ballinrobe, notes that Clover offers an alternative to expensive artificial fertilisers and helps towards Environmental Sustainability. Incorporating clover in grassland swards can to reduce costs, improve profitability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
27 April 2022
Alternative Forage Crops for Winter 2022
Many farmers will question an article about next year’s winter fodder supply while they still possibly have stock in sheds. But given the exceptional rise in input costs, it's now time to plan for adequate winter feed. Kevin O’Hara, Education Officer, Teagasc Ballinrobe advises on alternative crops
26 April 2022
Calving date impacts on feed and forage costs
In 2020 & 2021, 29% of spring-calving dairy cows calved between April and June. Teagasc’s target is that only 10% of spring calving cows should calve in April to June – and these should all calve in April, not in May and June. George Ramsbottom, Teagasc dairy specialist explains the recommendations
26 April 2022
Donal Kavanagh Teagasc/Glanbia Signpost Future Farm Walk
The Signpost Programme, led by Teagasc, ran a farm walk recently in conjunction with programme partner Glanbia Ireland, on the dairy farm of Donal Kavanagh, Carrigeen, Baltinglass. Catch up on the farm details, breeding plans and herd health of the farm here in this article and series of videos
25 April 2022
Monitoring Cash Flow in 2022
Patrick Gowing, Teagasc Dairy Specialist at Moorepark, discusses the importance of cash flow management. Patrick explains how to complete the Teagasc 5 minute cash flow worksheet in a video here. The 5 minute cash flow is easy to use and will give you a snap shot of how your finances are looking
25 April 2022
Will a strong milk price maintain profit margins in the face of rising production costs?
Agri-economist, Trevor Donnellan, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the dramatic rise in production costs and speculates whether strong milk price can maintain profit margins.
25 April 2022
Let's Talk Dairy Webinar - Silage Fertiliser N - How much is enough?
On this episode of Let's Talk Dairy which took place on Thursday, 14th 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.
25 April 2022
Planning for Fodder Stocks Factsheet
Teagasc recently published a compendium of 20 factsheets providing the latest technical advice on soils, nutrients and fertiliser. The eleventh of these is about Planning for Fodder Stocks and can be read here. All 20 will be published here on Teagasc Daily
24 April 2022