30 September 2022
Successful National Organic Beef Open Day
Over twelve hundred farmers attended the National Organic Beef Open Day on the farm of John Purcell, Ross, Golden, Cashel, Co Tipperary earlier this week. The open day was jointly organised by Teagasc, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Bord Bia and provided the farmers attending
Opening the forum at the organic beef open day, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD said the organic sector in Ireland has a very exciting and unique future. He said; “This event demonstrated the benefits of organic farming through a workable viable enterprise. Our programme for government has a target of 7.5% of all agricultural land farmed organically by 2030 and this is a very achievable target and one we are committed to reaching. We are going to provide €256 million in funding over the next CAP period, which is a fivefold increase in organic payments from what the last CAP would have had.”
Pictured at the National Organic Beef Open Day on the farm of John Purcell, Ross, Golden, Cashel, Co Tipperary were: Jack Nolan, Department Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Joe Burke, Bord Bia; John Purcell, Host farmer; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD; Pat Dillon, Director of Research in Teagasc; Kathryn Roche Irish County Meats.
A forum took place at the OrganicBeef22 Open Day on the farm of John Purcell, Co. Tipperary on Wednesday, 28 September and was addressed by Minister Charlie McConalogue. The forum chaired by Damien O’Reilly included panel speakers Joe Bourke, Bord Bia; Catherine Roche, Irish Country Meats; Jack Nolan, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Pat Dillon, Teagasc and host farmer John Purcell
Orla Kinane, Digital Communications, Teagasc caught up with Nicky Byrne, Research Officer, Teagasc to get an insight into the benefits of red clover silage at the National Organic Beef Open Day. Red clover (RC) can contribute substantially to organic, low-input and conventional animal production systems due to its ability to fix atmospheric N and support of higher animal performance.
Joe Patton, Head of Dairy KT, Teagasc discusses the quality of winter diets for organic systems.
Martin Bourke, Organic Crops Specialist, discusses growing combination crops.
Munoo Prasad, Composting Research and Advisory, Naas, gave an insight into composting cattle manure.
A comprehensive booklet prepared for the national beef organic open day is available at this link: https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2022/national-organic-beef-open-day.php
Articles and videos on the content of some of the stands is available on Teagasc Daily https://www.teagasc.ie/news–events/daily/ and through the Teagasc app.
These include information on red clover, combination crops, organic winter finishing diets and composting cattle manure.