Today's Farm - March/April 2022
The March/April edition of our bi-monthly magazine is now available online. It includes articles on genetics,Commercial Beef value, fertilising for grass silage, basic payment, controlling chickweed in cereals, health & safety, forestry diversification, dahlias and meet Teagasc Director Frank O'Mara
Today's Farm, the popular bi-monthly magazine has an excellent selection of articles covering a wide range of enterprises. Farmers from various parts of the country are profiled and all have interesting stories to tell.
View it here: Today's Farm March/April 2022 (PDF)
The main enterprises of dairy, beef, sheep and crops are covered. Also in this edition are interesting articles on:
- Commercial Beef Value (CBV) – what is it?
There are over 23,000 beef farms nationally who buy stock that they take through to slaughter or rear and sell on as live animals. Currently, they are buying calves, weanlings and store cattle based entirely on what they see in front of them. Pearse Kelly Head of drystock Knowledge Transfer, Teagasc, gives an overview of new Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) Commercial Beef Value (CBV) which will allow farmers to make a more informed decision based on genetics when purchasing. - Get more grass for your money
Set stocking/continuous grazing systems, where sheep graze the same grassland area throughout the season, are still used on Irish sheep farms. Rotational grazing systems offer greater flexibility in grassland management by providing increased control over sward structure, grazing severity, regrowth periods and overall pasture supply. In this article Philip Creighton Sheep Enterprise Leader and Damien Costello Sheep Specialist, Teagasc outline simple grassland management techniques to help maintain the farm’s stocking rate, as well as replenishing winter feed stocks for sheep farmers planning to use less fertiliser. - Genetics not injections
Antimicrobial resistance is becoming a major concern for human medicine. Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics that are used to prevent and treat infections in humans and animals. Stuart Childs Dairy specialist, Teagasc and Natascha Meunier, Animal Health Ireland discuss resistance by pathogens to these products, disease prevention and the role for breeding naturally healthier animals in this article. - Silage: short-term savings could prove costly next winter
Joe Patton Head of Teagasc Dairy Knowledge Transfer advises farmers to Plan carefully for adequate silage supplies next winter in this article. A rolling reserve of at least 400kg DM per livestock unit (equivalent to about two bales per cow) above normal winter feed requirements should be in place to cope with adverse weather. He provides insights from Teagasc Fodder Survey of feed supply on farms. A Sligo group focus on silage quality by Tom Coll, Advisor is also included. - National Championships for Equine Young Breeders 2022
The Irish Sport Horse (ISH) Young Breeders National Championships, jointly supported by Teagasc and Horse Sport Ireland, is to take place at Kildalton Agricultural College on Saturday 2 April. The National Championships are a fi rst step in selecting teams representing the ISH Studbook at World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) Young Breeder World Championships (WC) in Ermelo, Holland in July 2022, hosted by the KWPN Studbook. Wendy Conlon, Teagasc equine specialist has all the entry details plus What do past participants say about their experiences? in this article. - Meet Teagasc Director Frank O’Mara
Director of Teagasc Professor Frank O’Mara was appointed on 1 October 2021. He grew up on a farm at Lisronagh near Clonmel in south Tipperary and has lived in Carlow for the last 30 years. In this Question and Answer article Mark Moore, Editor, Today’s Farm asks questions like What do you see as the biggest challenge for agriculture? Check out the Teagasc Director's answers and advice.