Dairy-Beef Systems
Commercial Beef Value: making genetics work in the dairy-beef system
What is the Commercial Beef Value? Every spring, beef farmers across Ireland purchase dairy-beef calves and face a simple question: which calves will perform best in my system? Knowing which calf is likely to exhibit good performance traits over its lifetime can be difficult when purchasing at three to four weeks of age, but the […]
1 July 2026
The principles of successful calf rearing
Calf health and nutrition strongly influence an animal’s lifetime growth potential. The calf-rearing phase provides an important opportunity for efficient live weight gain due to calves’ high feed conversion efficiency in early life, which has been shown to be 2–3 times greater than that of comparable finishing cattle. Efficient calf-rearing protocols aim to maximise health, […]
1 July 2026
Understanding Summer Scour Syndrome
Summer scour syndrome (SSS) is a relatively novel digestive disorder affecting recently-weaned dairy-bred calves during their first grazing season in Ireland and in other countries with pasture-based systems, such as the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. This syndrome typically occurs within two to six weeks following turnout to pasture and often affects groups of calves. […]
1 July 2026
Calf health from birth to the end of the first grazing season in dairy-beef systems
Beef production from the dairy herd has increased in recent years due to increasing dairy cow numbers and now contributes approximately 60% of beef output in Ireland. Typically, dairy-bred calves are sourced at approximately three weeks of age and are vulnerable to several infectious diseases, particularly during the calf-rearing phase. The most common diseases of […]
1 July 2026
Tipperary dairy calf to beef demonstration farm update (Ballyvadin Beef Farm Ltd.)
Ballyvadin Beef Farm Ltd. was established in 2022 to function as an independent, standalone commercial entity providing Irish beef farmers with a realistic financial, operational and genetic baseline for integrated dairy-beef production. The enterprise acts as a blueprint for high-efficiency spring-born steer and heifer calf-to-beef finishing systems. Farm footprint and expansion Total land area: 134 […]
1 July 2026
An analysis of the 2025 Teagasc DairyBeef 500 Profit Monitor results
The Irish beef sector has undergone significant structural and economic changes in recent years, particularly dairy-beef systems. The Teagasc DairyBeef 500 Programme, established to promote sustainable and profitable dairy calf-to-beef systems, provides a valuable dataset through its annual Profit Monitor analysis. This programme aims to demonstrate best practice in technical and financial performance, targeting a […]
1 July 2026