The Beef Edge

At the Beef2022 National Beef Open Day on the 5th July, a forum took place moderated by Ivan Yates.    Attendees heard from and had the opportunity to ask questions of Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.    This Beef Edge bonus episode is a recording of that question and answer session.   The complete forum can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjp-03M...

Beef 2022 has finally arrived.   Teagasc Grange researcher Peter Doyle joins Catherine Egan on the Beef Edge podcast with an insight into what you can expect at the Sustainable Grassland Village at the #Beef2022 Open Day on 5th July 2022.   Peter outlines the various heights of grass on display and the impact this has and he also discusses the establishment and management of red and white clover o...

Pearse Kelly, Teagasc’s Head of Drystock is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss technologies to make your farming system sustainable, the challenges in relation to overall profitability on farms as well as a preview of the Beef2022 Open Day on July 5th in Teagasc Grange.   Despite market disturbances, CAP reform, climate change policy and input price rises, the market for grass-fed beef as...

Teagasc Beef specialist Aidan Murray and Grass10 Manager John Maher are on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with details on the Fodder Support Scheme as well as top tips to deal with the current grass situation on farms.   Aidan explains that the purpose of the Fodder Support Scheme (FSS) is to incentivise and support farmers to grow sufficient grass and conserve sufficient fodder (silage and/or hay)...

Anne-Marie Butler Head of Education at Teagasc joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss the wide variety of courses Teagasc has to offer, Kildalton Agricultural College celebrating 50 years in education and the upcoming Beef2022 Open Day.     Having been appointed as Head of Education  as at the end of last year, Anne-Marie discusses how is it going so far. She gives an ove...

Suckler farmer James Madigan from Co Kilkenny and Niall Claffey IGA Beef chairperson are on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with James discussing how he is managing grass on his farm and he is also hosting this year’s Irish Grassland Association beef walk on the 14th June.   James harvested his first crop of silage on 12th May with the remaining bales harvested on 26th May. With over 400 bales made...

Stephen Conroy, Manager of the ICBF, Tully Bull Performance Centre, and Paul Smith, Teagasc Researcher, join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an insight into the centre, current research findings and its future direction. Stephen explains how the research is carried out on progeny selected from Gene Ireland sires. Every year over 700 animals are put through the testing faciliti...

Teagasc Organic Specialist Elaine Leavy joins Catherine Egan with an update on the recent organic scheme, how red clover and multispecies is managed on organic farms and the upcoming organic walks. Given the rise in fertiliser prices, there is an increased interest in organic farming. Over 300 farmers applied for the organic scheme and it expected to re-open again in October. Elaine outlines the b...

Green Acres calf-to-beef programme participant, Peter O’Hanrahan, from Co. Kilkenny discusses how he is managing costs on his farm this year on the latest Beef Edge podcast. Peter farms with his father Thomas outside Thomastown and he explains how the 220 purchased calves at 2-3 weeks of age have received good colostrum and a vaccination programme that is so important to weaning calves at 90kg. Th...

With silage harvesting taking place over the coming weeks, Michael Moroney, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Farm Contractors in Ireland (FCI), joins Catherine Egan on the latest Beef Edge podcast to discuss how to best to prepare for silage 2022 when it comes covering the pit, handling of bales and the cost of making silage. Michael first outlines that good communication between...

Aidan Murray, Teagasc Beef Specialist, joins Catherine Egan on the latest Beef Edge podcast to discuss what beef price you can afford to pay for stock, what impact costs will have on the bottom line and what price will be needed to cover these costs. Aidan explains that the national kill has increased by 58,000 cattle so far this year and while obviously costs have risen, he compares how prices ha...

With breeding season around the corner Derrypatrick farm manager Michael McManus gives an insight on this week’s Beef Edge podcast into how calving went, the breeding season ahead and what sires are being selected. Michael describes how calving took place from 2nd February- 22nd April. There were 102 cows calved, 100 live calves, 1 set of twins and 3 moralities. The average birthweight was 45.5 kg...

Aidan Maguire from Co. Meath, is this year’s Grass10 Drystock Grassland Farmer of the Year winner and he joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an update on his grassland management over the coming weeks and his plan for silage 2022. Aidan outlines how he started measuring grass when he joined the Grass10 group and the Green acres programme and describes the changes he made on...

Future Beef programme participant Aonghusa Fahy from Co. Galway joins Catherine Egan on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast with an insight into his plan for the breeding season ahead. Aonghusa describes the sires he selected for using on heifers and cows. He plans to synchronise the heifers and goes through the protocol. Aonghusa calves his heifers at 24 months and describes how he achie...

With silage ground being closed on many farms across the country at the moment, Teagasc advisor Peter Lawrence from Tinahely, Co. Wicklow is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an insight into reducing costs whilst balancing silage quantity and quality. Peter outlines the importance of completing a fodder budget to determine the amount of silage needed next winter and hence the area of ground to...

With the recent launch of a number of schemes by the Department of Agriculture, including the Tillage Incentive Scheme, Beef Environment Efficiency Programme Suckler scheme also known as the BEEP-S Scheme and the Dairy Beef Calf Programme, Aidan Murray, Teagasc Beef Specialist and Michael Hennessy, Teagasc Head of Tillage, discuss the main points and information on this week’s Beef Edge podcast. M...

Teagasc researcher, Deirdre Hennessy, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast to discuss what you need to know about clover swards. With the price of chemical fertiliser this spring Deirdre highlights that clover most definitely has a role on all grass based systems. Before establishing white clover, Deirdre advises on the importance of good soil fertility (soil pH 6.2...

Following the National Fodder and Food Security Committee meeting last week, Teagasc Head of Drystock, Pearse Kelly, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an insight into the steps farmers can take in the coming weeks. With the current cost of fertiliser, farmers are questioning what to do and Pearse advises to apply fertiliser requirements to grow the silage crops for first c...

With changes in the regulations surrounding antibiotics introduced since 28th January, Tommy Heffernan aka ‘Tommy the Vet’ is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with tips and advice. Firstly, Tommy outlines some key tips to ensure the health of calves from birth onwards. He highlights the impact the current changes in the antibiotic regulations are having at farm level and says that calf scours are...

Future Beef programme participant Cathal Irwin from Co. Mayo is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an insight into grassland management on his farm this spring and planning ahead for silage 2022. Cathal operates a suckler to store system in Castlebar and farms just over 18 ha of predominantly heavy land. Cows calve in December and January so that the calves can thrive at grass when they hit...

Philip O’Connor, Head of Farm Support, and Trevor Boland, accountant with Irish Farm Accounts Co-operative Society (IFAC), join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss what can be done to help manage costs this year on farm and how to plan and budget for the year ahead. Trevor advises to get your books and records in to the accountant early which means you will know if you have...

As dairy calves start to arrive on farms, Green Acres Dairy Calf to Beef participant, Shane Cranny from Co. Carlow, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to share some of his top tips when it comes to rearing calves and an update on his farm. Shane purchases calves in the autumn and has grown the number of calves to 110, purchased in 2021. Shane targets to slaughter off grass as steers at 22-24 mont...

As the new Organic Farming Scheme opens today on the 9th February, organic specialist Joe Kelleher gives tips and considerations for conversion to organic farming on this week’s Beef Edge podcast. The government is targeting a conversion of 350,000 Ha of agricultural land to organics over the next 5 years and Joes outlines the opportunities and steps to conversion. Given the rising input costs, he...

With the high price of fertiliser this spring, Teagasc pig development officer, Gerard McCutcheon, and Teagasc specialist, Mark Plunkett, are on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an insight into using pig manure as a cheap alternative and the dos and don’ts around importing slurry. Gerard highlights that each 1000 gallons is currently worth €48 (double what it is usually worth!) which is a total...

As calving season approaches on the Newford farm, Farm technician Michael Fagan gives an insight into the preparation in advance of calving and a review of performance of the herd in Athenry where there are 76 cows and 17 heifers due to calve from the start of February for 10 weeks. The cows are all in-calf to 5 star terminal bulls. Michael explains that cows are currently on ad-lib silage 66-68 D...