Dairy
Hazell Mullins on how to achieve high herd health status
Hazell Mullins on how to achieve high herd health status ‘Vet on the Moove’ Hazell Mullins joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the priorities to achieve high herd health status and gives her tips to limit disease outbreaks this spring. Hazell identifies use of farm data, diagnostic […]
19 February 2024
Putting a stamp on the family’s dairy with milk vending
Putting a stamp on the family’s dairy with milk vending Having milked cows in Donegal since the early 1990s, the Porter family have not only grown their dairy farming business from 30 to 450 cows, but they’ve added an element of diversification through the commissioning of a milk vending machine. This diversification […]
18 February 2024
Maximising grazed grass on the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms
Maximising grazed grass on the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms Farmers participating in the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme have set their sights on maximising the proportion of grazed grass in the diet of their dairy cows this year. In a recent update, Sandra Hayes, Co-Ordinator of the Programme, explained that all opening farm covers […]
15 February 2024
Statistics point to stabilisation of national dairy cow numbers
Statistics point to stabilisation of national dairy cow numbers After more than a decade of growth, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have pointed to a stabilisation in the Irish national dairy cow herd. Presenting data from its Livestock Survey December 2023, Ireland’s national statistics office reported that there were […]
13 February 2024
Managing SCC in freshly-calved cows
Managing SCC in freshly-calved cows Elevated Somatic Cell Count (SCC) is a hidden cost on dairy farms, writes Teagasc Dairy Specialist, James Dunne. Unless a clinical case of mastitis is seen and treated, raised SCC levels are rarely acted upon but high SCC levels are costly. Teagasc research shows that mastitis costs […]
12 February 2024
Taking control of SCC in the early stages of lactation
Taking control of SCC in the early stages of lactation Don Crowley, Teagasc Milk Quality Specialist, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge to talk about how to take control of SCC in the early stages of lactation. Don first outlines the importance of a fresh cow group […]
12 February 2024
Farmers selected for Aurivo/Teagasc joint Farm Profitability Programme
Farmers selected for Aurivo/Teagasc joint Farm Profitability Programme Five farmers have been selected to participate in the fourth phase of the Aurivo/Teagasc joint Farm Profitability Programme, which aims to improve farm profitability and environmental practices. Located throughout the Aurivo catchment, key messages from these farms will be shared with all Aurivo suppliers […]
11 February 2024
Reduce milking workload in early lactation
0 Reduce milking workload in early lactation Once-a-day (OAD) milking in early lactation can help reduce workload during spring calving. Moorepark research shows that initially there is a 20% reduction in yield, but when cows switch back to twice a day (TAD), yields recover quickly. By week 35 of lactation there is only […]
9 February 2024
Dairy heifers behind target on a lot of farms
0 Dairy heifers behind target on a lot of farms John McCabe, Teagasc – Aurivo Farm Profitability Programme, has seen many bunches of heifers weighed in the past few weeks and their progress is worrying in many cases. 2023 was a hard year on replacement heifers. July was wet and so was the […]
6 February 2024
The priority tasks for setting up the farm for the grazing season
0 The priority tasks for setting up the farm for the grazing season On this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge, dairy advisor Kay O’Connell joins Emma-Louise Coffey to address priority tasks from supporting cow and calf health to setting up the farm for the grazing season of 2024. Kay recommends that farmers […]
5 February 2024