The Beef Edge

Future Beef programme farmer Trevor Boland is on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast to give an update on his farm, closing for silage and selecting sires.    Trevor farms part-time in county Sligo and his main enterprise is an autumn calving suckler herd, calving August to October.    The bull calves are sold at 10-12 months with a target weight of 500kg and the heifers are kept to calve...

DairyBeef 500 Manager, Alan Dillon, is on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast with some tips for rearing calves at this time of year, the financial performance update for 2023 as well as slaughter performance.     With a difficult spring to get cattle out to grass on programme farms, Alan outlines the plan at the moment with some cattle going to be kept in and finished from the shed due t...

Ken Gill operates an autumn calving, organic suckler to beef system located in Co Offaly and he joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to explain his system.    He has 73 suckler cows calving from the end of July to mid-September and all progeny are brought to beef with the aim to slaughter at 24 months.   Ken says that one of the big changes he had to make when converting to an org...

When it comes to this time of year, the question of doing an agricultural course arises and with so many on offer it can be difficult to decide what Teagasc course suits best.   On the latest Beef Edge podcast, Teagasc education officer, Serena Gibbons, discusses the range of Teagasc education courses that are available and how you can apply.   Log on to www.teagasc.ie/education where you can find...

This week it’s a joint episode between the Beef and Dairy Edge podcasts with dairy farmer Paul Delaney joining Emma-Louise Coffey & Catherine Egan to discuss the importance of genetics in the dairy-beef system to maximise performance and profitability.    Paul first gives an overview of his system. Two thirds of the cows are calved to date and Paul has used a number of continental sires to bre...

With a difficult spring leading to challenging grazing conditions, Teagasc Grass10 Manager, John Maher, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with his top tips in relation to grassland management this spring.    John discusses the current soil temperatures and grass growth across the country and on farms where grazing has been delayed and very little grazing has taken place to date, John explains wh...

With calving season underway in the Newford herd, Teagasc Newford farm technician Michael Fagan is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an insight into changes on the farm, preparation in advance of calving and a review performance of the herd.    Michael discusses the big changes on Newford farm since we spoke last with the cows being moved from Athenry to Roscommon.  As the farm operated a t...

John Donlon who gives advice and tips for caring for the new born calf.    John outlines the best practice for when the calf is just born such as feeding colostrum and care of the navel.   He also describes the key tips when stomach tubing a calf.    Regardless of a suckler or dairy beef system, there are a number of ailments that can arise and John has important advice for management from a healt...

On this week’s Beef Edge podcast, it’s the first of a two-part episode with Teagasc Researcher and Vet, John Donlon, who gives his insights and top tips in relation to managing the cow before calving and calving the suckler cow.   Calving will be taking place on farms over the coming weeks and John discusses the nutrition to be aware of in the final stages with mineral and vitamins and ensuring th...

January is a good month to review your 2023 financial performance before you start focusing and putting a plan in place for 2024 and on this week’s joint episode with Ciarán Lynch from Teagasc’s Ovicast sheep podcast, we discuss financial management tips on drystock farms with Teagasc Financial Specialist Kevin Connolly.   Kevin first outlines the benefits of completing a profit monitor. He discus...

Dr. Siobhan Kavanagh from the Signpost Programme is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss what areas you can focus on to make your farm more sustainable in 2024.   The Signpost  programme is a multi-annual campaign to lead climate action by all Irish farmers. The programmes aims to achieve early progress in reducing gaseous emissions from Irish agriculture and to also improve water quality,...

Teagasc Cattle Specialist, Niall Kerins, is on this week’s Beef Edge Podcast with an update on the nutrient management legislation and developing a nutrient management plan for your farm.    The Nitrates Action Programme underwent a number of changes last year, with stronger measures introduced for the protection of water quality. There were a number of changes in particular that all farmers with...

With calving kicking off on many dairy farms, on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast, Teagasc DairyBeef 500 advisor, Tommy Cox, discusses the key areas you need to focus on from sourcing calves and rearing up to weaning.    There are over 2,500 calves reared across the country on dairy beef farms and Tommy highlights that, in addition to the physical health of the calf, it is important to...

Teagasc Cattle Specialist Aidan Murray is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an insight into the outlook for the coming year and what farmers can expect. Farmers have seen only a minor reduction in production costs in 2023 compared with 2022 and Aidan reviews the 2023 performance from the outlook conference and discusses the outlook for 2024. Aidan highlights what’s expected in 2024 and expl...

For the final episode of 2023, Teagasc Researcher Peter Doyle is on this week’s Beef Edge to give a review of the Derrypatrick herd in Teagasc Grange in the past year.   Weaning started on the 9th October and the weanling performance this year was: Males = 326 kg (1.3 kg/day) and Females = 305 kg (1.2 kg/day). The weanlings remained outdoors for another month post-weaning and they received 1 kg co...

Rupert Claxton, Livestock Director from GIRA Consultancy (UK), is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with his presentation from the Teagasc National Beef Conference giving an overview of the Global Beef Market and highlighting the likely trends for input prices as we move into 2024.   Rupert’s presentation is available at: https://www.teagasc.ie/beefcon23/Rupert-Claxton/   Full conference details ar...

Anaïs L’Hote from the French Livestock Institute is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with her  presentation from the Teagasc National Beef Conference discussing how farmers can be paid for reducing their carbon footprint based on the experience in France.   Anaïs’s presentation is also available at: https://www.teagasc.ie/beefcon23/Anais-LHote/   Full conference details are here:  https://www.teag...

Dr Siobhan Kavanagh from the Teagasc Signpost Programme is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with her presentation from the National Beef Conference examining the main drivers of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) on beef farms and the steps that farmers can take to reduce them. Siobhan’s presentation is available at: https://www.teagasc.ie/beefcon23/siobhan-kavanagh/ Full conference details are here: https://...

As a bonus Beef Edge episode, Dr. Maria Guelbenzu from Animal Health Ireland (AHI) who presented at the Teagasc National Beef Conference, discusses the prevalence of Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), and why Ireland needs to move towards a national eradication programme.   Maria’s presentation is available at:  https://www.teagasc.ie/beefcon23/Maria-Guelbenzu/   Full conference details are...

This week’s Beef Edge podcast features Ellen Fitzpatrick from Teagasc Johnstown Castle who gave an interesting presentation at the Teagasc National Beef Conference describing how to make the most of a Low Input/High Output Dairy Beef system.   Ellen’s presentation is also available here: https://www.teagasc.ie/beefcon23/ellen-fitzpatrick/   And full conference details are here:  https://www.teagas...

It is expected that more than €1.8 billion in payments will be issued to farmers before the end of the year.    Teagasc Advisor, Keith Fahy, based in Athenry Co. Galway, is on this week’s Beef Edge Podcast to outline some of the payment dates later this year.   Keith outlines how BISS, CRISS, Eco-Scheme and ANC have started to be paid already or in the coming weeks.    ANC advance payments commenc...

DairyBeef 500 manager, Alan Dillon, and programme advisor, Fergal McGuire, are on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the programme and they also discuss winter management on farms.    Alan describes how the difficult weather conditions have decreased performance this year and it is important to get silage quality tested and balance rations accordingly.    Fergal highlights that due...

To explain the upcoming improvements that are being made to both the Terminal and the Replacement beef indexes, Teagasc Beef Enterprise Leader Paul Crosson, in Teagasc Grange, and Dr Margaret Kelleher from ICBF, are on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge.    They discuss the changes being made and Margaret outlines how the replacement and terminal index have progressed over the past decade.    Ch...

With farmers seven times more likely to have cardiovascular disease, on this week’s Beef Edge podcast, Catherine Egan is  joined by Croí’s, Annie Costelloe, Head of Patient & Community Engagement, and Community Nurse, Caroline Dermody, to discuss tips and advice relating to farmer health.   People usually think of cardiovascular disease as an older person’s problem but small changes matter and...

An Garda Síochána Crime Prevention Officer, Sergeant John Fitzpatrick, discusses, on this week’s Beef Edge podcast, top tips and the steps you can take to reduce the possibility of theft on your farm.   As the evenings are getting darker earlier, Sergeant Fitzpatrick says it’s an ideal time for farmers to review their farm security and he advises farmers on how to protect theft of livestock.    Lo...