Swards for the Future Grassland conference launched
Teagasc are organising and hosting an exciting two-day conference and workshop on Thursday, 8th & Friday, 9th of September 2022 to explore Resilient Swards for the Future. The event will take place at the Teagasc, Animal & Grassland, Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork
The event is sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
There are many new challenges in Irish agriculture, such as achieving reductions in environmental emissions, reducing nitrogen fertiliser use and addressing rising costs of production. While grassland continues to be the lowest cost feed for milk and meat production systems in Ireland, it offers other benefits including carbon sequestration and increased biodiversity.
Conference and Workshop Objective
The objective of this conference and workshop is to provide an overview of the latest research findings and current best practice in grass-white clover and multi-species swards. The conference will provide the first opportunity to view cutting-edge research on mixed species swards, including new species under trial. The development of a ranking index for clover will also be introduced. Advisors, farmers and researchers will all share their experiences providing excellent opportunities for discussion and learning.
Pictured above at the launch are Deirdre Hennessy, Teagasc, Caitlin Looney, Teagasc, Michael Egan, Teagasc, dairy farmer Robert O'Dea, Limerick, dairy farmer Michael Birmingham, Fermoy, Ted Massey, DAFM, Michael O'Donovan, Teagasc and Liz Hyland, DAFM. Photo O'Gorman Photography.
Future-proofing Irish grassland systems
Speaking at the launch of the conference, Professor Michael O’Donovan, Head of Grassland Science at Teagasc, remarked; “The grassland research programme is totally focused on ensuring that Irish grassland systems are future proofed. Some of the challenges facing our systems are considerable, but we have a lot of research effort directed to addressing these and finding the answers to major questions”.
In response to the conference launch, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D. stated he was delighted the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was able to provide sponsorship for this very relevant event. The Minster also remarked, ‘This event is most timely given the industry’s desire to identify the swards for the future that will support our agreed sectoral climate commitment. This will be key to addressing many of the challenges that lie ahead for our grass based production systems. I am particularly pleased to see the range of topics for this event, which will appeal to people right across our grassland industry.’
Dr Deirdre Hennessy, Senior Grassland Researcher at Teagasc Moorepark said; “The opportunity for delegates to discuss the major topics, with leading national and international scientists is an important part of this two day event.
Delegates will have the opportunity to view the research work on both days.
On the second day, we have a number of farmers speaking and they will discuss their expectations of, and experiences with, grass-clover swards on their farms”.
The conference is targeted to all those involved in the grassland industry, including industry partners, farmers, co-op representatives, advisors and researchers.
Further Information & Registration
For more information and to register for the event, please visit website Swards for the future conference workshop 8th-9th sept 2022