Dairy
DairyBeef 500 Ambassador shares 2024 beef breeding plan
On this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge, Stuart Childs is joined by David Gannon, Aurivo Joint Programme Monitor Farmer and DairyBeef 500 Ambassador, and John McCabe, Monitor Farm advisor with the Aurivo Joint Programme, to discuss the beef breeding plan for David’s farm for 2024.
29 April 2024
Producing quality beef calves to ensure repeat custom
Milking 75 Friesian cows in Pallasgreen, Co. Limerick, Seán Barry is following a dairy-beef breeding programme centred on the use of high Dairy Beef Index sires, with individual bulls selected for heifers, second calvers and mature cows.
29 April 2024
Early May harvest essential for winter milk silage
Profitable winter milk systems rely on the availability of high quality silage, with 75-80DMD targeted to lessen the requirement for concentrate feed over the winter months.
25 April 2024
Adjusting nitrogen applications on white clover swards
When sufficient quantities of white clover are present within grassland swards, farmers can tailor their nitrogen application programmes to make full use of the clover plant’s ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere – thus reducing chemical nitrogen usage and saving on costs.
25 April 2024
Dispelling some of the myths around TB
David Quinn, Superintending Veterinary Inspector at the Department Of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is on this week’s joint episode of the Dairy Edge and the Beef Edge with hosts James Dunne and Catherine Egan to dispel some of the myths around TB (Bovine Tuberculosis).
24 April 2024
The milk production benefits of incorporating white clover in grass swards
Since 2013, researchers in Teagasc Moorepark and Clonakilty have been looking at the benefits incorporating white clover into grass swards can bring. Along with reducing the requirement for chemical nitrogen, milk production benefits have been witnessed.
24 April 2024
Steps to improve the likelihood of success with sexed semen
Sexed semen provides many potential advantages to dairy farmers. The most obvious reason to use sexed semen is the sex bias induced in the calf crop, with 90% of the pregnancies resulting in a heifer birth and only 10% male dairy calves.
22 April 2024
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