The Beef Edge

Just over 3% of herds in Ireland will go down with TB in any given year and on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge Podcast, Catherine Egan is joined by Philip Breslin, Superintending Veterinary Inspector with the Department of Agriculture Food & the Marine to discuss all things related to bovine TB. Philip outlines how the herd test works and why farmers have to do a herd test every year. Wil...

Where stock are to be grazed over the winter months, many farmers will be beginning to transition stock on to fodder crops over the coming days and managing this transition needs to be carefully considered. On this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast, Catherine Egan is joined by suckler farmer Michael Flynn from county Waterford to discuss his beef farm system and to find out how he is managin...

The 2020 Animal Health Awareness Week organised by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine is taking place this week from 23rd-28th November. On this week’s Beef Edge Podcast, Mícheál Casey, Head of DAFM Regional Veterinary Laboratories (RVL) gives an insight into the many services they provide to farmers. The RVL network provides animal post-mortem examinations, surveillance of disease...

From 2010 - 2019, 214 farmers lost their lives through a farming accident. They are not just a statistic, they are a valued family member. Each time we hear of a farm accident every farmer stops for a minute as we are all connected through the farming community. On this week’s episode of the Beef Edge, founding member of Embrace FARM (Farm Accident Support Network) Norma Rohan outlines the service...

Gurteen College Beef Lecturer, Peter Grogan, and Drystock Farm Manager, Gerard Carey, give an overview of Gurteen College, the farm systems operated and what it has to offer students on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge Podcast. Gerard gives an overview of the Autumn & Spring calving suckler herd, their beef finishing systems, and the dairy calf to beef enterprise along with the contract re...

With consistent rainfall over the past ten days, a lot of cattle have been housed around the country. On this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast, Teagasc Nutritionist Joe Patton outlines a number of factors farmers should consider now at housing. As feed accounts for over 75% of variable costs on most beef farms, Joe highlights the results from the Teagasc fodder survey and tips to reduce cos...

In this second of a regular monthly 'Beef Edge Masterclass’ series from expert farmers on the Beef Edge podcast, Catherine Egan is joined by JP Hammersley a farmer in Lattin, Co. Tipperary. JP explains his system whereby British Friesian bull calves are brought to beef as steers at 24 & 28 months. Calves are purchased from one local dairy farmer at 4 weeks of age and arrive in batches of 12. T...

In light of the Covid–19 restrictions Dr. Noel Richardson, Director National Centre for Men’s Health , IT Carlow, has some tips on mental and physical well-being on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge Podcast. Farmers are very resilient on a daily basis but at times there can be pressure and stress. Farmers were very busy during the first lockdown with calving and lambing etc. but it’s different...

Martina Harrington joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an overview of parasite control at housing. Housing is one of the best times of the year for treating cattle against some of the more common internal and external parasites. However, products vary in price, in what they control and in how they are given to the animal. Martina outlined what parasites should be controll...

Henry O’Donnell project manager of the Inishowen Upland European Innovation Partnership joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an overview of the project and explains how it aims to improve the economic sustainability of farming High Nature Value (HNV) land in Inishowen. This is done through the implementation of a range of innovative measures which also deliver on environme...

Michael McManus, Manager of the Derrypatrick demonstration farm at Teagasc Grange, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the farm. The Derrypatrick herd is a suckler to beef Teagasc research demonstration farm with a land block of 65 hectares bringing all progeny through to slaughter. In the spring, 105 cows calved and there were 110 live calves which calved ov...

This week's episode of the Beef Edge podcast is the first in a regular monthly 'Beef Masterclass’ series from expert farmers. First in the series to discuss his system is Niall O’Meara, a suckler farmer from Co. Galway who operates an autumn calving suckling to weanling system. Niall is achieving all the key targets from birth to weaning and he explains just how he does it. Bull weanlings are sold...

Iarlaith Collins, Manager of Newford Demonstration Herd joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an update on the farm. With 89% of the herd proving in calf the focus on the farm at the moment is weaning. Weight gain of the bull weanlings is 1.39kg/head/day from birth to weaning. Extending the grazing season in very important to reduce costs and the winter period on the farm. Tea...

John Maher, Manager Grass10 Campaign, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an update on grassland management tips to deal with current weather conditions. Managing grass in the coming weeks will play an import role in extending the grazing season and John highlights that each additional day at pasture is worth €2/LU. While there is huge variation across the country, John also...

Noel Meehan, Manager of the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advice Programme (ASSAP) joins Catherine Egan on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge to discuss the progress of the programme and what you can do to help improve water quality. Farming plays an important role in the Irish economy and landscape and approximately two-thirds of the Irish land area is in agricultural use. The quality...

The importance of pregnancy scanning cows is the topic on this week’s Beef Edge podcast and Catherine Egan is joined by Teagasc Researcher Professor David Kenny and Teagasc Advisor Sinead Devaney. David highlights the many benefits of scanning of cows as well as the importance of the correct timing of scanning to identify date of calving next spring, twins and possibly the sex of the embryo. Sinea...

Aidan Murray, Teagasc Beef Specialist, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge to discuss the Beef Finishers Payment scheme (BFP) which is an Exchequer-funded scheme of €50 million to provide income support for farmers with beef finishing enterprises, who have been impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has opened for applications. The Beef Finishers Payment scheme is open...

Chris Daly from ICBF joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss all you need to know about BDGP. Chris outlined that there are over 22,500 farmers in BDGP I and the key upcoming date of the 31st October 2020 is very important to ensure that you must have 50% of the reference number of animals, genotyped 4 or 5 star on the Replacement Index. They must be at least 16 months of...

Teagasc Dairy specialist Patrick Gowing joins Catherine Egan on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast to discuss the Teagasc Dairy Start-Up course.   Patrick highlighted the fact that converting to dairy involves a major commitment and sizeable capital outlay, therefore you need to be sure you are making the right decision. Patrick discussed the importance of selecting the right cow type, p...

Soil pH plays a key role in soil fertility and it is also critical for maximising the availability of nutrients (N, P & K) applied in organic and chemical fertilisers. On this episode of the Beef Edge Podcast, Shane Devaney Teagasc Business & Technology Drystock Advisor joins Catherine Egan to discuss the importance of lime on beef farms and a campaign he organised in 2018 in Co. Longford...

If you don’t measure grass you can’t manage it. On this episode of the Beef Edge podcast, suckler farmer Thomas O’Connor from Co. Kildare joins Catherine Egan to give an insight of his farming system.   The farm is run as a partnership by Monica, Tom and their son Thomas. It is a truly mixed farm with four enterprises comprising beef, sheep, tillage and pigs. In 2015, Thomas was the winner of the...

Accidents on farms are a continuing cause of concern and on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast, Teagasc Health & Safety specialist John McNamara, joins Catherine Egan with some tips for farmers in advance of Farm Safety Week.  Ireland and the UK have joined forces for Farm Safety Week 2020, taking place from July 20th to 24th and John highlighted the importance of safety around machi...

Recently appointed Teagasc Beef Enterprise Leader at Teagasc Grange, Paul Crosson, joins Catherine Egan on the latest Beef Edge podcast to address the ‘Grand Challenges’ facing the beef sector. Paul gives an overview of the facilities and areas of research at Teagasc Grange and the two most recognised research projects in Grange are the Dairy Calf to Beef and Derrypatrick research experiments of w...

Sean Roddy, suckler farm manager of the Lyons Demesne farm Co. Kildare, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge to discuss grassland management on his farm.   Last Spring, Sean calved 90 stabiliser breed cows with all stock brought to finish at 18-20 months. By measuring grass on a weekly basis it allows him to utilise grass better. His main aim is to finish all progeny off grass with little...

Producing Irish beef sustainably is important and poses many challenges as reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHG) is something farmers have heard about a lot lately, especially with agriculture accounting for 34% of Irish GHG emissions.  On this episode of the Beef Edge, Catherine Egan is joined by Prof Sinead Waters, Researcher in Teagasc Grange and Dr Dominika Krol, Researcher in Teagasc Johnstown Cast...