Beef
Contract heifer rearing – Liam Cassin’s experience
Contract heifer rearing – Liam Cassin’s experience Kilkenny farmer, Liam Cassin is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss his contract heifer rearing system. Liam moved from sheep to suckler cows and started contract heifer rearing 14 years ago. The steady monthly cashflow alongside the reduced financial input of purchasing stock […]
11 December 2024
Lightening the workload through infrastructure
Lightening the workload through infrastructure In order to maximise labour efficiency, Future Beef farmer Cathal Irwin has made a number of strategic investments on his farm over the last year. Farming 27.7ha in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Cathal’s beef enterprise is of a part-time nature. The progeny from his 18 spring-calving suckler cows […]
11 December 2024
Outlook for cattle farming in 2025
Outlook for cattle farming in 2025 As part of the Teagasc Outlook 2025, Economic Prospects for Agriculture, Jason Loughrey and Kevin Hanrahan of the Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department, Teagasc, forecast the expenditure for various input items and the beef price that is most likely to prevail in 2025. They also […]
11 December 2024
Watch: Finishing cattle with Future Beef farmer James Skehan
0 Watch: Finishing cattle with Future Beef farmer James Skehan Historically a weanling producer, a TB outbreak led James Skehan, a participant in the Teagasc Future Beef Programme, to start finishing steers and heifers off farm in the last two years. Farming part-time in Ballynevin, O’Briensbridge, Co. Clare with his wife Joanne and […]
8 December 2024
Controlling liver fluke this winter
0 Controlling liver fluke this winter A year of weather-related challenges has heightened the risk of liver fluke infection on some farms. Tommy Cox, DairyBeef 500 Advisor, shares key advice on the most appropriate treatment programmes to follow. After a year of grazing challenges – including delayed turnout, higher than normal rainfall levels […]
4 December 2024
Fluke: Why is it such a problem this year?
0 Fluke: Why is it such a problem this year? Dr. Natascha Meunier, Beef HealthCheck Programme Manager, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss how to control liver fluke effectively and understand it better. Liver fluke is estimated to cost at least €90m to the Irish industry through reduced production, and […]
4 December 2024
Breeding for a good score
Breeding for a good score Sarah Burke, Edward O’Riordan, Paul Crosson and Mark Mcgee of the Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Grange, Co. Meath, report on exploiting genetic divergence for carcass fat score. Irish suckler cattle are mostly from breeds that take longer to mature. It’s harder for these […]
30 November 2024
Winter beef finishing – will it pay off this year?
Winter beef finishing – will it pay off this year? Alan Dillon, Manager of the DairyBeef 500 Campaign, takes a closer look at beef markets and examines the prospects for winter finishing. The question of will it pay to put cattle in a shed and feed them expensive concentrates and silage is […]
28 November 2024
Beef cattle finishing age reductions have stalled
Beef cattle finishing age reductions have stalled Supported by strong evidence, reducing the average age of finish for beef cattle is an essential element for Irish agriculture to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Worryingly, however, much of the progress that had been made in previous years stalled in 2023. Addressing […]
27 November 2024
Listen: Practical nutrient management solutions for your farm
Listen: Practical nutrient management solutions for your farm Dr. Patrick Forrestal, a Research Officer in Teagasc Johnstown Castle, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss the practical nutrient management solutions that beef farmers can implement on their farms to increase efficiency, reduce costs and address environmental pressures facing the sector. […]
27 November 2024