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‘Farming for a New Decade’ – New Kerry Agribusiness / Teagasc Joint programme

Kerry Agribusiness and Teagasc launched their new phase of the dairy joint programme on zoom on Tuesday, 17 November. ‘Farming for a new decade’ is the ninth chapter of the Teagasc / Kerry Agribusiness knowledge transfer programme that began in 1994.

This new programme will promote economic, social and environmentally sustainable dairy farm systems to Kerry Agribusiness suppliers. It will provide a tailored range of activities to engage with Kerry farmers which are focussed on supporting advancements in best practice and technology adoption.

At the virtual launch of the three year Joint programme, Pat Murphy, CEO Kerry Primary Dairy & Agribusiness stated that “building on our 25 year journey of enhancing the livelihoods of our milk suppliers and sustainability of the Kerry Agribusiness milk pool, we are delighted to begin a new phase of the Joint Programme which represents an investment of €1m by Kerry Agribusiness over the next three years. This programme will have an increased focus on reducing carbon footprint, improving water quality, animal welfare and biodiversity. This will further enhance our sustainability credentials, strengthen our position as world leaders in sustainable milk production, and enable us to provide safe and nutritious food to our global customers while protecting our natural resources”.

Professor Gerry Boyle commented: “We are delighted to be working with these 15 demonstration farmers and with Kerry Agribusiness on a new phase of the joint programme. The increased emphasis on reducing carbon footprint and enhancing water quality reflects the challenges facing all farmers over the next decade. This environmental focus, coupled with the latest technical farming advice and financial expertise, will provide a basis for sustainable farming into the future.”

The 15 ‘Demonstration farms’ are representative of herd size of Kerry Agribusiness suppliers and are geographically spread across the Kerry Agribusiness catchment. There will be a strong focus placed on nutrient management planning, effective use of nitrogen and Economic Breeding Index of herds to optimise productivity and further advancements in the conversion of grazed pasture to milk solids production.

Teagasc Dairy Business and Technology Advisors Ger Courtney and Robert Prendiville will manage and provide the technical services for the programme.

Demonstration Farmers

Farmer

Location

Andrew Killeen

Doonbeg, Co. Clare

Damien Carmody

Kilkee, Co. Clare

David O’Leary

Cordal, Co. Kerry

Declan, Eileen & Kieran Murphy

Effin, Co. Limerick

Dermot & Micheal Kavanagh

Lispole, Co. Kerry

Gerry & Niall Moloney

Crecora, Co. Limerick

Joe Carroll

Ballyheigue, Co. Kerry

Michael & John Casey

Causeway, Co. Kerry

John Galvin

Ardfert, Co. Kerry

Michael & Alex McCarthy

Feenagh, Co. Limerick

Patrick & Paula O’Hanlon

Tarbert, Co. Kerry

Sean & Diarmiad Fitzgerald

Cratloe, Co. Clare

Stephen & Brian McAuliffe

Templeglantine, Co. Limerick

William Daly

Newmarket, Co. Cork

William Dennehy

Currow, Co. Kerry

 For more information see www.teagasc.ie/KerryJointProgramme