Dairy
Lessons on pasture utilisation and meal feeding to be learned from 2022
Lessons on pasture utilisation and meal feeding to be learned from 2022 2022 was an extraordinary year on Irish dairy farms. Although input price volatility overshadowed much of the year, dairy incomes still managed to hit record highs on the back of all-time high milk prices. With volatility now seemingly an ever-present […]
18 December 2023
Recuperation for yourself and your cows during the dry cow period
Recuperation for yourself and your cows during the dry cow period Although 2023 has been a long and challenging year on dairy farms, now is the right time to take back control and help get 2024 off to a good start, writes Tom Murphy, B&T Advisor at Teagasc Galway/Clare. Compact calving spring […]
17 December 2023
Feeding replacement heifer weanlings this winter
Feeding replacement heifer weanlings this winter The winter management of your replacement heifers is crucial to ensure they meet their target weights at breeding next spring, writes Stephen O’Callaghan, Walsh Scholar, Teagasc Navan. We want to ensure all heifers meet the planned pre-breeding targets, and to minimise liveweight variation within the group. […]
14 December 2023
Why the Irish dairy industry has the capacity for continued growth
Why the Irish dairy industry has the capacity for continued growth International dairy consultant, David Beca joins Emma-Louise Coffey for part two of his discussion on the Dairy Edge podcast to outline the global milk supply trends over the last two decades and he speculates on what milk-producing nations have the capacity […]
11 December 2023
Top five tips for December
Top five tips for December Joe Patton, Teagasc Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer, gives his top five tips for dairy farmers this December. 1. Feed your best quality silage to weanling heifers Heifers need 73+ DMD plus 1kg of high-quality concentrate to meet growth targets. If silage is lower quality, 2kg+ concentrate […]
11 December 2023
Viewing labour as an asset not a cost
Viewing labour as an asset not a cost Farming in Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny, Brendan and Fiona Joyce milk a herd of 150 high EBI cows under a spring-calving system. Their farm is very much grass focused; the herd produced 560kg of milk solids per cow last year, while concentrate input is targeted […]
11 December 2023
Agriculture must work to meet skills and labour shortages
0 Agriculture must work to meet skills and labour shortages Agriculture is one of seven Irish sectors facing skills and labour shortages, Teagasc researcher Marion Beecher told the Teagasc National Dairy Conference, while highlighting the need for the sector to ‘work harder’ to ensure the correct steps are taken to make farms a […]
7 December 2023
Facility to amend nitrates banding submission now live
0 Facility to amend nitrates banding submission now live Dairy farmers who have a need to change the nitrogen excretion band for which their herd was placed earlier this year have been given the opportunity to do so. The facility, which is now live on the ICBF website, will remain open for submission […]
6 December 2023
FBD contributes €6 million to new research centre at Teagasc Moorepark
0 FBD contributes €6 million to new research centre at Teagasc Moorepark The new research centre is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the environment sustainability of Irish agriculture. Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue today announced that contributions by FBD Holdings plc, FBD Trust CLG and Farmer […]
4 December 2023
David Beca on the fundamentals of cost control in grazing systems
0 David Beca on the fundamentals of cost control in grazing systems International dairy consultant, David Beca, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the fundamentals of cost control in grazing systems. David discusses pasture harvest, as defined as grass utilised on the milk platform, and consequently, the proportion […]
4 December 2023