Articles
4 key winter housing considerations
4 key winter housing considerations Niall Kerins, Beef Specialist at Teagasc, outlines the key considerations and best practices for providing effective winter housing for cattle. There are numerous beef systems on farms across the country. Some farmers operate a few systems; from weanlings recently housed, finishing beef cattle, suckler cows due to […]
17 November 2024
Test your silage for better winter management
Test your silage for better winter management With housing taking place on farms across the country, it is the start of an expensive few months ahead. Silage quality should be tested, as this informs each farm of the correct amount of concentrates to feed to each animal group. Dr. Peter Doyle, Research […]
16 November 2024
How genetics has changed the science of animal breeding
How genetics has changed the science of animal breeding Maeve Williams, VistaMilk, explains how genetic differences and modern breeding techniques, including DNA sequencing, are used to improve traits for economic and environmental sustainability in dairy farming. Have you ever been sitting around a table with your siblings and wondered why you all […]
16 November 2024
Mating and Closing
Mating and Closing Philip Creighton of AGRIC, Teagasc Athenry, Co. Galway reports on mating, forage crops, and closing on the Sheep Research Demonstration Farm. Rams were turned out to ewes on October 11. The average body condition score (BCS) of ewes going to the ram was 3.4, which is an increase of […]
16 November 2024
Pneumonia: the silent killer
Pneumonia: the silent killer In the most recent all-island animal disease surveillance report pneumonia was diagnosed in 47.6% of suckler weanlings submitted for post mortem. Pneumonia (also known as bovine respiratory disease (BRD)) is the most significant infectious disease challenge in suckler weanlings. Bovine respiratory disease can be caused by a host […]
15 November 2024
Lowering Feed Cost: Picking the Low-Hanging ‘FCE’ Fruit
Lowering Feed Cost: Picking the Low-Hanging ‘FCE’ Fruit Gerard McCutcheon, Michael McKeon, and Laura Boyle, discussed strategies to enhance feed conversion efficiency to improve cost competitiveness, focusing on health, feed access, and minimizing stress at mixing, at the recent Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conference. One of the four pillars of sustainability is financial […]
15 November 2024
Part one: Thinning of high-yielding Sitka spruce – an overview and results
Part one: Thinning of high-yielding Sitka spruce – an overview and results In part one of a two part series, Dr Niall Farrelly, Teagasc Forestry Development Department, discusses the importance of timely thinning practices for Sitka spruce. There are over 140,000 hectares of Sitka spruce in private sector forests in Ireland. Performance […]
15 November 2024
Lamb finishing rations and feed management
Lamb finishing rations and feed management Ruminant Nutrition Specialist at Teagasc, Aisling Claffey joins Ciaran Lynch on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss lamb finishing rations. Aisling explains ration spec and highlights some of the key areas to look out for when choosing a finishing ration, highlighting why it’s important that it’s […]
15 November 2024
Teagasc unveils winners of Research and Innovation photo competition 2024
Teagasc unveils winners of Research and Innovation photo competition 2024 An image titled ‘The Irish green’ was officially announced as the overall winner of Teagasc’s Vision of Research and Innovation photography competition at an event in Oak Park House, Carlow on Wednesday, 13 November. The aim of the competition is to identify […]
15 November 2024
Invest wisely and the loss of an industry great
Invest wisely and the loss of an industry great Michael Hennessy, Head of Crops Knowledge Transfer, reminds farmers to focus their investments in areas where there is a clear payback. Michael also provides a fitting tribute to Jim O’Mahony, a stalwart of the industry whose innovations still form a key pillar of […]
14 November 2024