Monday, 30th March – Friday, 3rd April
The breeding season on Irish dairy farms has become increasingly concentrated in the late April to June period. The purpose of Breeding Week, which took place from Monday, 30th March – Friday, 3rd April, was to provide timely reminders to farmers on important genetic and technical issues underpinning a successful dairy breeding season.
Get more information on breeding and genetics here
See details of the events which took place throughout the week below
Monday, 30th March
The Dairy Edge Podcast
presented by Stuart Childs and James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialists
Professor Donagh Berry, Quantitative Geneticist at Teagasc Moorepark, joins Stuart Childs on this episode of The Dairy Edge to discuss the future of Irish Dairy Breeding Programmes.
Donagh first explains that breeding is all about numbers. With the uptake in use of sexed semen, the pool of dairy bull calves being born has shrunk and while this was part of the objective of using it in the first place, there is a side effect which has the potential to slow genetic gain in Irish dairy.
He outlines the type of numbers of calves that need to be born each year in order to maintain the genetic growth that Irish farmers have enjoyed since the late 2000s when genomics arrived.
Listen in to the podcast below
Subscribe to the podcast here
Tuesday, 31st March
Video
Maximising Breeding Performance in Replacement Heifers
As we approach the breeding season, attention must be given to the management of heifers. Analysis has shown in herds in the border, midlands and west region that heifers are calving down at an average of 27.5 months, which is costing the average 90 cow farmer €6,000 approximately.
Owen McPartland, Teagasc Dairy Advisor caught up with Kieran and Brendan Brady, Cavan dairy farmers to gain an insight into how they’re achieving success with their heifer management through this breeding season.
Watch the clip below
Wednesday, 1st April
Video
Identifying Problem Cows and Acting Early to Maximise Early Season In-Calf Rate
Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist caught up with David Hally, Tipperary dairy farmer to find out more about his pre breeding activity and the work that he does in advance of his breeding season. David has excellent fertility figures, facing up on 90% calved in sixed weeks the last few weeks.
Elsewhere in the video, Stuart caught up with Dennis Howard, Technical Manager, Munster Bovine to provide some advice on dealing with problem cows in the lead up to the breading season.
Watch the video below
Countdown to Breeding 2026 Webinar | 8pm
Maximising the Success of your Breeding Season
A Countdown to Breeding webinar took place on Wednesday, 1 April which focused on maximising the success of your breeding season.
Webinar host, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined in studio by Dr Stephen Butler, Teagasc; Dr Doreen Corridan, National Cattle Breeding Centre (NCBC) CEO; and Kieran Condon, Dairy Farmer from Kells, Co. Kilkenny.
Watch back the webinar recording below
Thursday, 2nd April
Video
Maximising Synchronisation Success
Dr Stephen Butler, Teagasc Researcher spoke to Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist to provide an insight into how to maximise the success of a synchronisation programme.
Stephen outlines the benefits of synchronisation programmes for farmers who are thinking of doing it. The big benefit is to concentrate the breeding time period. There are three synchronisation programmes – prostaglandin, timed AI for heifers and timed AI for heifers. Stephen provides an overview of the protocols for each programme.
Watch the video below