Articles
Can farms combining livestock and crops improve sustainability?
Can farms combining livestock and crops improve sustainability? Tasos Chatzichristou, PhD student in Agricultural Economics at Teagasc, tells us why mixed farming systems are a potential solution to bridging the gap between agriculture’s economic and environmental challenges. Global agriculture faces pervasive challenges related to the economic, environmental and social sustainability of farming […]
31 March 2024
In clover with a strategy to cut nitrogen usage
In clover with a strategy to cut nitrogen usage Clare dairy farmer Diarmaid Fitzgerald has established clover on two thirds of the family farm as part of a strategy to reduce N fertiliser usage. John Maher tells us more. Diarmaid Fitzgerald farms in partnership with his father, Sean in Cratloe, Co Clare. […]
31 March 2024
Coming out of its shell
Coming out of its shell Shell waste from commercial fishing has long been an untapped resource, but new research suggests it could have great potential for industrial packaging applications. The world’s population is swiftly increasing; urbanisation and improvements in economic status are leading to concerns that people’s dietetic patterns are shifting and […]
31 March 2024
Beef-Quest: on a mission to reduce finishing age
Beef-Quest: on a mission to reduce finishing age Paul Smith, Mark McGee, Bernadette Earley, Edward O’Riordan, Paul Crosson and David Kenny, Teagasc Grange, and Alan Kelly (UCD), outline the new Beef-Quest Project. Reducing mean finishing age of prime beef cattle from 26 to 22-23 months by 2030 is fundamental to achieving Ireland’s […]
30 March 2024
Root behaviour
Root behaviour The soilborne disease clubroot is increasingly prevalent and difficult to control. To help manage clubroot, Teagasc researchers are investigating the potential of naturally occurring predators in the soil microbiome. The Brassica plant family includes a large range of agriculturally important crops, which are grown as vegetable or oil crops for […]
30 March 2024
Maximising beef calf potential through sexed semen use
Maximising beef calf potential through sexed semen use Farming in Ballytarsna, Co. Tipperary, John Dwyer has placed a firm focus on using sexed semen to not only ensure the production of high EBI dairy replacements but to also maximise the potential of the beef progeny being produced from his herd. Joining the […]
29 March 2024
Insights from the recent Talking Timber event
Insights from the recent Talking Timber event There was great interest in ‘Talking Timber 2024’, held recently in the Great National Ballykisteen Golf Hotel, Limerick Junction, Co Tipperary. Michael Somers tells us about what happened at the event. Organised by Teagasc, in association with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine […]
29 March 2024
The situation with current feed ingredient prices
The situation with current feed ingredient prices Kieran Keane, Pig Research Technician specialising in nutrition, with the Teagasc Pig Development Department joins Amy Quinn on the latest Pig Edge podcast to discuss current feed ingredient prices, the new Teagasc pig feed lab and current and upcoming Teagasc pig nutrition research trials. For […]
29 March 2024
Suckler herd breeding season success
Suckler herd breeding season success A successful breeding season within a suckler herd hinges on a number of key factors, Professor David Kenny, Head of Animal and Bioscience Department at Teagasc, told a recent Future Beef Webinar titled: ‘Getting your cow back in calf’. The starting point, Professor Kenny explained, is having […]
28 March 2024
Buffer zones – where to put them on your farm
Buffer zones – where to put them on your farm Buffer zones are important to protect waterbodies and Hugh Rooney, a Teagasc ASSAP advisor, joins this week’s Tillage Edge to talk about how buffer zones are necessary and what benefits these areas can bring. Hugh explains that protecting waterbodies from nitrates, phosphates, […]
28 March 2024