Dairy
DairyBeef 500 Ambassador shares 2024 beef breeding plan
DairyBeef 500 Ambassador shares 2024 beef breeding plan On this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge, Stuart Childs is joined by David Gannon, Aurivo Joint Programme Monitor Farmer and DairyBeef 500 Ambassador, and John McCabe, Monitor Farm advisor with the Aurivo Joint Programme, to discuss the beef breeding plan for David’s farm […]
29 April 2024
Producing quality beef calves to ensure repeat custom
Producing quality beef calves to ensure repeat custom Milking 75 Friesian cows in Pallasgreen, Co. Limerick, Seán Barry is following a dairy-beef breeding programme centred on the use of high Dairy Beef Index sires, with individual bulls selected for heifers, second calvers and mature cows. Seán, who works closely with his father […]
29 April 2024
Early May harvest essential for winter milk silage
Early May harvest essential for winter milk silage Profitable winter milk systems rely on the availability of high quality silage, with 75-80DMD targeted to lessen the requirement for concentrate feed over the winter months. Speaking as part of the recent ‘Protecting Margins on Winter Milk farms after a tough Spring’ webinar, Advisor […]
25 April 2024
The milk production benefits of incorporating white clover in grass swards
The milk production benefits of incorporating white clover in grass swards Since 2013, researchers in Teagasc Moorepark and Clonakilty have been looking at the benefits incorporating white clover into grass swards can bring. Along with reducing the requirement for chemical nitrogen, milk production benefits have been witnessed. The sustainability of Irish milk […]
24 April 2024
Steps to improve the likelihood of success with sexed semen
Steps to improve the likelihood of success with sexed semen Sexed semen provides many potential advantages to dairy farmers. The most obvious reason to use sexed semen is the sex bias induced in the calf crop, with 90% of the pregnancies resulting in a heifer birth and only 10% male dairy calves. […]
22 April 2024
Reducing TB risk
Reducing TB risk The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) provided guidelines on reducing the risk of TB in your herd. The advice on reducing herd-wildlife contact is particularly important, but other steps are: Only buy animals from low-risk herds, that is herds that have not had an outbreak of […]
20 April 2024
Signpost farmer update: All set for breeding and trialling plantain
Signpost farmer update: All set for breeding and trialling plantain Seán Moher, a dairy farmer Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, is a participant in the Teagasc Signpost Programme and Teagasc/Dairygold Joint Programme. In this update, he outlines his plans for breeding and explains why he’s including plantain in his grassland swards. The final preparations […]
20 April 2024
Weigh heifers before opting for sexed semen
Weigh heifers before opting for sexed semen Earlier housing and a delayed turnout may mean that some dairy replacement heifers are behind target for breeding. Joining James Dunne on a recent episode of the Dairy Edge podcast, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, Stuart Childs touched on the ramifications this may have for the fast-approaching […]
17 April 2024
Extension to Nitrates Derogation application and Dairy Banding deadline
Extension to Nitrates Derogation application and Dairy Banding deadline Extensions to the deadlines to submit Nitrates Derogation applications for 2024 and for dairy farmers to confirm their 2024 dairy excretion rate band were today announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D. Originally scheduled to close on […]
17 April 2024
10 things to consider before breeding season starts
10 things to consider before breeding season starts With the breeding season fast approaching on dairy farms, Dr Joe Patton, Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer at Teagasc, outlines 10 things to consider before the breeding season starts. 1. Breeding start date What is your optimal start date for breeding? On early farms […]
15 April 2024