Teagasc appoint new Cattle Specialist
Teagasc has appointed a new Cattle Specialist, Niall Kerins, who will be based in Teagasc Moorepark will cover the South west of the country. Niall Kerins is from a drystock farming background based in County Kerry.
Niall Kerins graduated from the Cork Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. He went on to complete a Bachelor of Science in Land Management in the Waterford Institute of technology (Now SETU). The Kerry man later went on and completed a Masters in Agricultural Extension and Innovation with University College Dublin/Skillnet. His master’s degree involved a study into the current use of agricultural media to transfer knowledge and implement change on farms.
He is currently a Teagasc Business and Technology Drystock Advisor in the Kerry/Limerick advisory region. He previously worked as Drystock advisor based in Kilrush in Co Clare and as a dairy advisor in Listowel Co Kerry. He has also worked for the National co-op Farm Relief Services as a GLAS and TAMS planner for farmers.
Speaking this week Niall Kerins said: “This role gives me a great opportunity to bring technical messages to cattle farmers and I’m looking forward to working with farmers, advisors and the wider agricultural industry. While I acknowledge beef farming in Ireland has its challenges, emphasising the importance of grassland management along with animal breeding/husbandry can aid farmers to enhance the environmental sustainability of their enterprises while also being profitable. I look forward to working with farmers and their advisors on the Teagasc Future Beef programme and the Dairy Beef500 programme where we continue to build resilient beef farming systems for the future”.
Pearse Kelly, Head of the Teagasc Drystock Knowledge Transfer Department, congratulated Niall on his appointment. He said; “I look forward to working closely with Niall and the rest of the Cattle specialist team, as we provide the technical knowledge from the Teagasc research programme to help farmers on the ground meet the challenges facing the sector and to embrace the opportunities that are emerging.”