Sheep
Teagasc BETTER Sheep Farm – John Joe Fitzgerald
John Joe Fitzgerald, his wife Karen and children, operate a hill sheep farm in Baile an Lochaig West of Dingle in Kerry. Here Frank Campion, Teagasc, Athenry discusses how outdoor lambing of the hill flock went in 2022, why John Joe is Increasing the proportion of purebred hill ewes and grass update
11 June 2022
The importance of having a nutrient plan on your farm in 2022
Now more than ever the efficient use of all organic and chemical fertilisers is vital to supply fertiliser requirements and control costs on farm. Tom Deane, Teagasc Advisor, Enniscorthy looks at importing slurry to minimise fertiliser cost but advises on completing a Nutrient Management Plan first
09 June 2022
Grass10 Newsletter - 7th June 2022
This week's Grass10 Newsletter includes; Grass10 featured farmer-Oisin Gallen, Co. Donegal; the clover reporter with Kevin Moran plus Grass10 weekly tips on fertiliser for 2nd cut silage; weekly grass checklist; grass growth predictions, PBI figures, an emphasis on lime & the Teagasc Sheep Open Day
08 June 2022
Weed Control in Productive Grassland
Weed control is a key element of productive grassland and should involve the adoption of an integrated pest management plan approach where cultural control methods are considered before the use of pesticides. Eamonn Dempsey, Teagasc Advisor, Tralee has advice on how best to approach weed control
08 June 2022
Planning for Succession & Inheritance
Planning for succession is a vital process to engage in, for all farm families. It is through this process that that the next generation of farmers or farm owners are brought into farming or the ownership of land. Thomas Curran, Regional Manager of Teagasc Cork West has worthwhile advice here
07 June 2022
Sowing multi-species swards
If you applied for the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine Multispecies Sward Measure, you may be interested in learning a little more about how best to sow multi species swards. The Teagasc Signpost team has summed up what you need to know in a factsheet here
07 June 2022
Time to start thinking about weaning
As we move into June we need to plan for weaning of mid-season flocks. The recommended age to wean lambs at in most grass based systems occurs at 14 weeks or 100 days so as they can transition over to a forage based diet. Ciaran Lynch, Teagasc Sheep Specialist discusses weaning options
07 June 2022
Lime – the forgotten fertiliser
Improving soil fertility, especially soil pH, leads to increased Nitrogen use efficiency and an increase the availability of soil phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) for plant uptake. James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist sums up why it is so important to apply lime and why it makes financial sense
06 June 2022
Teagasc Signpost Programme Newsletter June 2022
In this month’s newsletter we present a factsheet on the establishment of multispecies swards; we profile 3 Signpost farmers; have timely climate actions for this month; some short video messages from HRH Prince Charles visit to Shane Fitzgerald's farm; The Environment Edge podcast and more
02 June 2022
Grass10 Newsletter - 31st May 2022
The Grass10 team are delighted to see Pre-Grazing Yields come down on dairy farms as farmers remove surplus grass. This week's e-newsletter has a reminder to apply lime, has details of the Teagasc Sheep Open Day in Athenry on June 18th plus the Clover Reporter, Grass10 featured farmer & Weekly tips
01 June 2022
TResearch Summer 2022
TResearch is an official science publication of Teagasc. It aims to disseminate the results of the organisation’s research to a broad audience. Picture of health - Researchers are leading work to improve the health and happiness of animals on farms, as public interest in animal welfare increases
31 May 2022
Blowfly Control in Sheep
Flystrike is a production limiting, costly and sometimes fatal condition in sheep. When it comes to Blowfly strike the aim should really be to prevent it from happening in the first place. Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep Knowledge Transfer, Teagasc tells us more.
31 May 2022
Certificates in Farming presented in Killarney
The presentation of Teagasc Level 6 Specific Purpose Certificates in Farming took place in Killarney, Co. Kerry on Friday 20th May. Dr Anne-Marie Butler, Head of the Teagasc Education Programme presented the certificates and student of the year award.
28 May 2022
The Signpost Series - Ireland's 5th Nitrates Action Programme and beyond
On this episode of The Signpost Series which took place on Friday, 13th May, Pat Murphy, Head of Environment KT, Teagasc was joined by Ted Massey & Leanne Roache, Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (DAFM) Nitrates Division to discuss Ireland's 5th Nitrates Action Programme and beyond.
28 May 2022
Silage walls: consider safety and capacity
Herd size has increased on many farms, but in many cases there hasn’t been a corresponding investment in silage storage. Silage pits on some farms are dangerously high. Farm Buildings and Infrastructure Specialist Tom Fallon has some advice on silage pit safety and capacity
27 May 2022
Fertiliser Spreader - Tray test and field procedure Factsheet
Teagasc recently published a compendium of 20 factsheets providing the latest technical advice on soils, nutrients and fertiliser. The sixteenth of these is about the Fertiliser Spreader - Tray test and field procedure and can be read here. All 20 will be published here on Teagasc Daily
25 May 2022
Grass10 Newsletter - 24th May 2022
The Grass10 e-Newsletter features; Grass10 featured farmer Sean O'Donnell, Co. Mayo, the clover reporter with Ger Pardy, Co. Offaly; a look back on the Getting to Grips with the Summer Wedge webinar plus Grass10 weekly tips and checklist; grass growth predictions, and more here
25 May 2022
Grass silage – why high feed value is essential
The production of high feed-value silage should always be the objective of producers who feed silage to lactating dairy cows, growing and finishing beef cattle, and pregnant ewes. For me, the target for high feed-value silage is a DMD of greater than 75% writes Dr. Tim Keady, Teagasc researcher
25 May 2022
New Teagasc study finds no impact of inhibitors on the soil microbiome
New research from Teagasc Johnstown Castle has demonstrated that there was no impact of urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), incorporated into protected urea fertiliser, on the structure and abundance of soil bacterial and fungal communities after 5 years repeated application
24 May 2022
Maximising lamb performance
Michael Gottstein, Head of Teagasc Sheep Knowledge Transfer Programme, summarises the five key management tips that sheep farmers should be taking into consideration at this time of year to maximise the performance of their lambs
24 May 2022
Lambing review and planning ahead in the South East
Tim & Richard Sheil farm in partnership with their parents Terry & Olwen at Coolree, near Kiltealy on the Wexford/Carlow border in the shadow of the Blackstairs Mountain. James Doran, Teagasc advisor reviews how lambing went and takes a look at grazing season plans
24 May 2022
The Jackson Organic Farm
In 2015 Ross and Amy Jackson began conversion to organic farming and now farm a cereal enterprise of malting barley and oats, and a sheep enterprise. In April they held an organic farm walk on their farm at Lacka, Carrig, Co.Tipperary. We catch up with them here to find out about their organic farm
22 May 2022
Fodder Budget – Planning for winter 2022
As feed prices are anticipated to remain strong next winter, it’s very important that farmers calculate the silage stock in their farmyards. Advisor Eddie Webb gives advice and guidance on the completion of a fodder budget as the best way to forward plan
21 May 2022
Climate Actions for May
As we progress through the latter half of May it's time to check to see if we are meeting our Signpost climate action targets for May; Using protected urea, grazing at 8-10cm, targeting a late May silage cut, manage silage effluent, right clover incorporation conditions, applying sulphur to cereals
21 May 2022
How farmers can help bees on World Bee Day
It's #WorldBeeDay. Bees need food all year round, requiring a diversity of flowering plants in the landscape. Farmers can help bees by allowing space for wildflowers to grow and flower within hedgerows and field margins, around farmyards, along farm roadways and in field corners. Learn more here
20 May 2022
Additives reducing methane emissions
The ‘METH-ABATE’ project aims to identify additives from a range of sources in order to reduce methane emissions. Emily Roskam and Sinéad Waters, Teagasc Grange Researchers enlighten us. Sinead Waters also presented on the role of feed additives in reducing methane emissions in a Signpost video here
19 May 2022
Grass10 Newsletter - 17th May 2022
In this week's newsletter get the regular Grass10 weekly tips, grass growth figures plus a chance to look back on the webinar on grass wedge using PastureBase Ireland. Peter Doyle, Teagasc Grange returns as The Clover Reporter and this week's Grass10 featured farmer is John and Brendan Walsh
18 May 2022
Making more use of AI on Future Beef farm
Recently Brian Daly, Teagasc advisor Roscommon caught up with Olivia Hynes. Olivia, is a full-time beef and sheep farmer from outside Four Roads, Roscommon and is part of the Teagasc Future Beef programme. He started off by asking Olivia how the current crop of calves born this spring are doing.
17 May 2022
Identifying poor performing sheep in your flock
Every year ewes drop out of flocks for a variety reasons including mastitis, prolapse etc. However, invariably some ewes slip through the cracks and despite underperforming are kept on for a further year. Here Teagasc researcher Frank Campion has some advice on identifying underperforming ewes.
17 May 2022
Kildalton 50th Anniversary Open Day launched
Kildalton College in South Kilkenny will hold a major open day on Saturday, 25th of June this year kindly supported by FBD. Martin Heydon TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine recently launched the open day in Kildalton and reviewed the plans for the event.
16 May 2022