The Beef Edge

With many drystock farmers looking for possible alternative income opportunities for their farms, contract heifer rearing has increasingly become an option and Teagasc advisor Tom Coll and specialist Gordon Peppard join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss what’s involved. Gordon says it is a very attractive option with a lot of benefits such as providing a steady monthly cas...

Derrypatrick herd Manager, Michael McManus, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the breeding season. There is 100% AI used in the herd and Michael describes how sires are selected and what sires are being used this year. It has been a very difficult year on the farm managing grass like other farms around the country and he highlights how some of the silage gr...

Aidan Murray, Teagasc Beef Specialist joins Catherine Egan on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the various beef schemes. Firstly, Aidan outlined the actions that farmers had to continue to do in order to comply with the BDGP 1 extension and Aidan advised on various scenarios such as a stock bull being injured or replaced. Next Aidan discussed the Beef Exceptional A...

Teagasc drystock advisor Terry Carroll and beef farmer John Phelan join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss the importance of harvesting silage and the ensiling process in making top quality silage. Given the last few weeks with poor grass growth on farm, Terry advises farmers to make the best quality silage possible now and meet your requirements for good quality silage fir...

Teagasc specialist Catherine Keena joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an update on the new Results Based Environment Agri Pilot Programme also known as REAP. REAP is an agri-environment pilot project that pays farmers to maintain and improve the environmental conditions of their land. Farmers will bring in between 2ha and 10ha of land which will be scored in year one to est...

With calves being weaned on dairy calf to beef farms across the country, Teagasc Green Acres programme advisors Sean Cummins & James Fitzgerald join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with top tips on weaning, advice for the year ahead and an update on the farms. Firstly, Sean has an update on the calves’ performance in the Green acres programme this spring. He highlights the key...

Teagasc Drystock advisor Joe Hand joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss how to maximise silage yield this year on your farm. Firstly, Joe highlights a number of factors which influence silage yield such as soil P, K, and pH levels, soil compaction, reseeded swards and fertiliser applied to the crop Joe advises that sub-optimal soil fertility is probably the core reason t...

Teagasc Grass 10 Manager John Maher is on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast with top tips in relation to grassland management. With a difficult spring leading to challenging grazing conditions, John discussed and gave advice for the different scenarios on farms where grazing has been delayed and very little grazing has taken place to date or where farms are on target starting the second...

With only 20% of beef farmers using AI, suckler & sheep farmer Martin Shaughnessy from Co. Mayo joins Catherine Egan on this week’s podcast for a Beef Edge Masterclass to discuss his beef system & how he uses AI on his farm. Martin explains that he operates a niche suckler to weanling system targeting breeding quality Belgian Blue weanlings for the export market. He has a compact calving s...

With breeding season around the corner on many farms, Teagasc drystock advisor David Argue, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast and with over 80% of beef farmers using stock bulls, David discusses some top tips when selecting a new stock bull. David advises farmers to examine their herd of cows first and figure out the exact genetic traits they are lacking and that...

Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advice Programme advisors Mary Roache & Meabh O’Hagan join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast as part of Water Quality Week to highlight correct weed control management & tips on carrying out drainage work to reduce impact on water quality. Firstly, Mary discussed the main types of weeds farmers want to control. With docks being the most...

As part of the Teagasc & ICBF breeding week, Teagasc researchers Nicky Byrne & Alan Twomey join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) and an insight into its impact in the future. The Dairy Beef Index is a breeding goal for Irish dairy and beef farmers to promote high quality beef cattle bred from the dairy herd that are more saleab...

25% of the annual feed budget consists of grass silage and silage accounts for 40% of the feed costs for the year. Hence it’s so important to make the best quality silage as possible. On this week’s Beef edge podcast Teagasc Drystock advisor Terry Carroll and Kilkenny beef farmer John Phelan join Catherine Egan in a two part series on making quality silage. On this first episode John and Terry hig...

Teagasc specialist Tim Hyde joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme, also known as TAMS which in January, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine announced it was extending. Grant aid is 60% for young trained farmers or 40% in all other cases up to a maximum of €80,000 spend for individuals or €160,000 for partnerships....

Last week the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine advised farmers that the application process for the 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and the Greening Scheme has now opened online. Over the past few days, farmers have been receiving a BPS information pack in the post containing maps and land details and on this week’s Beef Edge podcast, Teagasc Farm Management Specialist James McDonnel...

If you want to reduce fertiliser bills on your farm, listen to this week’s Beef Edge podcast with Teagasc specialist Mark Plunkett joining Catherine Egan for top tips and advice Mark advises that the starting point on every farm is to have up to date soil sample results. In 2019 , there were 7,863 samples taken on drystock farms. These results show that 18% of these soils are optimum for lime, pho...

James Madigan, a suckler farmer from Co. Kilkenny, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast for the latest in the show’s Masterclass series. James outlines his suckling to finishing system with bulls finished under 16 months and heifers under 20 months and he describes how he operates a split calving 50/50 spring and autumn calving herd with 100 cows put to the bull. The spring herd c...

Calving the suckler cow and caring for the new born calf are important tasks on every spring suckler herd in the coming weeks and for the second in a two-part interview, vet Tommy Heffernan joins Catherine Egan to discuss the key tips for caring for the newborn calf. Tommy first outlines how building the immunity of the calf is important through quality colostrum and describes the 1-2-3 rule of co...

Calving the suckler cow and caring for the new born calf are important tasks on every spring suckler herd in the coming weeks. Vet Tommy Heffernan joins Catherine Egan on the Beef Edge podcast for a two-part interview to discuss these important topics in detail. In the first part this week, Tommy highlights all the top tips related to calving the suckler cow. One issue on farms is when a farmer in...

As part of the Animal Health Ireland & Teagasc Calf Care Virtual Week, Teagasc researcher Emer Kennedy & Joe Patton, Teagasc nutritionist, join Catherine Egan on the latest Beef Edge podcast to discuss the guidelines for feeding milk and concentrates in the diet of the calf. Emer outlines the importance of feeding six litres of milk to the calf. She highlights the importance of following t...

After years of uncertainty since the Brexit referendum in 2016, a deal on the future relations between the European Union and the UK has finally been sealed and on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast, Kevin Hanrahan, Head of Rural Economy and Development Programme at Teagasc, outlines what this deal actually means for the Irish Beef sector. With over 50% of Irish beef going to British mar...

Michael Fagan, Technician on the Newford Demonstration Herd joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with a review of the farm in 2020. With 89% of the herd proving in calf, the focus on the farm at the moment is calving 2021. Michael explains how the finishing steers and heifers preformed in 2020. There were 59 heifers and 46 steers on Newford farm to be slaughtered this year. All of...

Calf diarrhoea and calf pneumonia the leading causes of death in Irish calves pre-weaning. Vet Doreen Corridan joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge to explain why vaccinations should be used. Preventing disease, less antibiotics and less labour are major benefits Doreen highlights for using vaccinations. As scour accounts for more than 50% of all calf deaths Doreen recommends vaccinating...

The extension of contracts under GLAS & the Beef Data Genomics Programme (BDGP) are to be extended for a rollover period of one year in 2021. Teagasc beef specialist Alan Dillon & Teagasc environment specialist Catherine Keena join Catherine Egan on the Beef Edge Podcast to explain more about these schemes. The deadline to apply for GLAS extension is 31st December 2020 while the deadline t...

Do you have a spring calving suckler herd? Then you need to hear what Teagasc Nutritionist Joe Patton has to say in advance of spring calving season 2021 to find out how to manage your suckler cows' nutrition in the crucial weeks pre and post-calving. On this week’s Teagasc Beef Edge Podcast, Joe highlights the importance of nutrition and particularly the body condition score of the cow in reducin...