The Dairy Edge

With the level of data available to dairy farmers increasing all the time, David Hannon, a dairy farmer from county Meath, joins James Dunne on the latest Dairy Edge podcast to explain how he uses data to drive better decisions on his farm.     The National Dairy Conference 2023 takes place on November 29th at the Lyrath Hotel, county Kilkenny with the theme of this year’s conference, 'Adapting to...

Teagasc’s Richie O’Brien and Joe Patton join Emma-Louise Coffey on the latest Dairy Edge podcast to reflect on the progress made after a decade of expansion whilst also discussing concerns in areas such as the economic consequences of overstocking the milking platform.   Richie explains that the advice now is similar to pre-quota: efficiency before scale, getting the simple things right like soil...

Dairy advisor, Jim Moyles, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the financial performance of dairy farms in 2023 and potential areas where farmers can focus on to protect profits.   Jim documents farm accounts for 27 farms from January to September and he explains that farm receipts have declined by €800 per cow compared with 2022 resulting from a 15 cent/litre drop in mil...

With the winter housing period upon us in large parts of the country, Laois-based Teagasc Dairy advisor, Lorcan Dooley joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to outline the advice he’s giving to his clients with regards to winter feed, while Kate McCarthy, Co-Ordinator of the Teagasc National Fodder Survey outlines the current fodder situation.   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge...

Pablo Silva Bolona, mastitis researcher at Teagasc Moorepark, is on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss his research and recommendations into successfully implementing selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) on farms for the drying off season in 2023. Pablo first explains the concept of selective dry cow therapy saying the main risk periods for cows are the two weeks after dry off and the 2 weeks b...

Dairy farmer, Aidan Ahearne, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the practical implementation of 10 in 7 milking frequency on his farm and the benefits to work-life balance and animal welfare with minimal impact on milk production.   Aidan explains that he tried 10 in 7 milking frequency from October last year with good success but based on research, he started fr...

As part of Sustainability Week, dairy farmers John and Brendan Walsh join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the evolution in their farming practices in an effort to improve the sustainability of the farm system.   Brendan explains that, while they have always had an environmental focus on the farm, their urgency in the uptake of new practices has escala...

With the recent announcement to the changes in the upper derogation limit from 250 to 220 kg of organic nitrogen per hectare, this week’s Dairy Edge podcast is joined by Eddie Burgess, Catchment Specialist from the Agricultural Catchments Programme, who gives the background and sequence of events that led to the decision being made; while Joe Patton, Teagasc’s Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer, dis...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, is joined by Michael Dineen, Senior Research Officer at Teagasc, to discuss the key messages from the National Winter Milk Open Day.   To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page...

With the deadline for slurry spreading fast approaching, Mark Plunkett joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge podcast with his tips and advice to maximise the nutrient uptake and productivity from slurry on farm.   Mark urges farmers to make a plan to target the most appropriate fields for slurry application - slurry with low P and K indexes or have had silage cuts durin...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, is joined by Ciaran Hearn, from PastureBase Ireland, to discuss the tools to keep grass in the diet longer this autumn   To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://w...

John Maher and John O’Loughlin from the Grass10 campaign join Emma-Louise Coffey on the latest Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the key learnings from farm visits for Grass10 competition applicants.   John Maher explains that these farms are good at basic grassland management as well as demonstrating excellence in nutrient management and biodiversity.   John O’Loughlin highlights the sources of nitro...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, is joined by Martina Gormley to discuss labour requirements & efficiencies on-farm.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/t...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, is joined by Patrick Gowing, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, to give an overview of costs, costs of production and managing cashflow for the remainder of 2023 and into early 2024.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more episodes from...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Joseph Dunphy, Teagasc Grass 10, who offers advice on dealing with current conditions as the focus turns to autumn grazing.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more episodes from the Dairy...

On this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge, Sarah Higgins, Ruminant and Equine Veterinary Manager with MSD, discusses Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) but in particular Bovine Coronavirus.   Sarah first explains BRD and the risk factors that predispose animals to the disease.  Bovine Coronavirus is a coronavirus, though it is not associated with COVID-19 having been first identified in the 1970s.   ...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Derek O'Donoghue, Principal of Salesian Agricultural College, Pallaskenry, who provides an update on the college's dairy herd.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more episodes from the Dai...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Tomas Tubritt from Teagasc Moorepark who goes through the Pasture Profit Index and how best to use it to select grass varieties.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more episodes from the D...

On this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge podcast, Nicky Byrne, Research Officer in Teagasc Grange, discusses the benefits of red clover silage.   Nicky explains that red clover has a huge potential to fix nitrogen and dramatically lower the chemical nitrogen input for silage. With yields of 25-26 bales per year, it is producing a significant amount of forage with no chemical nitrogen input.   Howe...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Dr Joe Patton, Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer Department, Teagasc to give an insight into the key messages from the Moorepark '23 Dairy Open Day which took place on Tuesday, 4th July.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corpora...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Dr George Ramsbottom, Teagasc Signpost Advisory Programme, to provide an overview of what's involved in the climate advisory programme for dairy farmers.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For...

Pat Tuohy, Senior Research officer at Teagasc Moorepark, is on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the drainage status of grassland peat soils in Ireland.   Pat and his colleagues, Lillian O’Sullivan, Conor Bracken and Owen Fenton have recently released a review paper that when accepted into the national inventory by the EPA, will be of great significance in the Land Use, Land Use Change and...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by James O'Donoghue, Teagasc dairy advisor based in Monaghan, to give an update as to what has been happening in the Monaghan area over the last couple of weeks and the things to look out for.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/cor...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Martina Gormley, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Raymond Goggin, Bandon dairy farmer and Teagasc/Dairygold Joint Programme participant, to get an update on what's been happening on the farm.     To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk-dairy/   For more ep...

Laurence Shalloo, Head of the Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Programme at Teagasc Moorepark, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the dairy industry in the forthcoming years.   Laurence looks back at challenges that were there in the late 2000s when expansion was beginning to kick off and there were many questions...