The Dairy Edge

Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer, Joe Patton, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss optimum feeding rates to complement grass supply.   Joe reviews the feed supply situation on farm and while average farm cover and growth rate looks healthy at 219 kg per cow and 60 kg DM/day, respectively, the scenario on individual farms is variable due to localised soil moisture d...

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss his vision for the future of Dairy Farming in Ireland.   Minister McConalogue shares his positivity for the future of the Irish dairy industry with scope for new entrant dairy farms as well as growth for viability on existing dairy farms which he justifies by acknowledging that dairy...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by James Dunne with an overview of the Ballyhaise 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 at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals...

Economist Emma Dillon joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss farm incomes from 2021.   Emma explained that farms experienced an increase input prices to the tune of 11% for dairy systems primarily from fertiliser, feed and fuel in 2021. This was coupled with a significant rise in milk price and output.  Consequently dairy farm income rose by 23% compared with 2020 to...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Laurence Feeney the new CEO of the Irish Holstein Friesian Association to discuss the role of the IHFA in Irish dairy breeding.   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 Da...

Donal Patton and Barry Reilly join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to identify the optimum stocking rate based on feed supply and the profile of annual grass growth.  Barry explains that the long term average grass production at Ballyhaise is 14 tonne DM/ha. Donal outlines the profile of growth: magic day of ~40 kg DM/day achieved in late April while grass growth of ~80 kg DM/...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Trevor Donnellan to discuss the preliminary results from the 2021 National Farm Survey.   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:...

Donal Patton and Barry Reilly joined Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss building robust milk production systems in the border, midlands and western region.   Barry outlined current annual performance from the Ballyhaise herd: 470 kg MS at 4.62% fat and 3.65% protein, 80-83% average 6 week calving rate and 361 day calving interval.   Donal explained that the current res...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Patrick Gowing to discuss the marginal cow.   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/the-da...

Olin Greenan joins Emma-Louise Coffey for the second part of his interview on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to give further insights into his production system.   Olin first explains what his lactation looks like: calving from early July to mid-September, mating starts in early October with dry off at the end of April.   However, he explains that the 2021/22 lactation proved challenging owing to...

Irishman Olin Greenan joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss how his dairy farming career has developed in New Zealand.   Olin recalls the decision to travel to New Zealand for one year after he finished his degree in agriculture and how that developed into a twenty-year farming career from farm assistant to farm manager, contract milker and now 50:50 share milker.  ...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Liam McCabe, dairy specialist with Bord Bia, to discuss sustainability around Irish dairy farming.   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 sh...

This week’s Dairy Edge celebrates the evolution of the Kildalton dairy herd over the last 50 years with contributions from past and present staff at the college.   James Ryan and Zerlina Pratt as well as John Connolly and Norman Storey join Emma-Louise Coffey with their insights and memories.   In fifty years, the dairy herd has grown from 40 pedigree British Friesian cows producing ~3,500 litres...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, is joined by Stephen Connolly from ABP and John Tobin from Munster Bovine to discuss the best beef bulls to select for the breeding season. 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 E...

Johnstown Castle farm manager, Aidan Lawless, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the performance of the Winter Milk Herd. Aidan quantifies the production performance of the winter milk herd at 630 kg MS from 7,000 litres, which is driven by a right calving season of 10 weeks, high EBI genetics and high quality base winter forage in the form of grass silage. Aidan...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, outlines the steps to make quality silage. 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/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Dairy advisor, John McNamara, and Shinagh dairy manager, Kevin Ahern, join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the system of pushing milk solids per hectare from grazed grass and low levels of supplementary feeds. John explains that since cows started milking on farm in 2012, the focus has been on converting grazed grass to milk solids with a low reliance on purchased f...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, does some checks and balances in relation to breeding. Stuart discusses the need to run a weekly fertility report to track progress and identify the cows not yet bred. It is also important to make sure that you AI for long enough before releasing bulls and use high DBI bulls to generate...

Lameness experts, Ger Cusack and Ned Dunphy, join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the level of lameness that exists in grazing dairy cows and the proactive steps that farmers can take to reduce its incidence. Based on a recent on-farm study, up to 20% of cows within Irish dairy herds have some level of lameness and Ger explains that cows suffering fro...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, discusses the factors that affect milk fat %. 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/the-dairy-edge-podcas...

Micheál O’Leary from PastureBase Ireland joins Emma-Louise Coffey on the latest Dairy Edge podcast with advice on how to keep control of the grass on your farm, maintain quality and avoid feed waste as growth rates explode across the country. Currently, average farm cover is 790 kg DM/ha / 203 kg/cow, growth 70 kg/day, demand 56 kg/day and almost half of dairy farms have a pre-grazing cover of &gt...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, discusses the reduced Crude Protein diets requirement under Derogation. Stuart gives an overview of the rationale for the decision by DAFM; whether or not it will have implications for farmers; and for farmers not in derogation, the benefits to doing this as well. To register for future...

On this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge, advisor Adrian O’Callaghan and dairy farmer Diarmuid Hegarty join Emma-Louise Coffey to consider the potential feed saving that can be achieved by identifying problem cows and culling them from the herd early. Diarmuid explains he is milking 200 cows and running an overall milking platform stocking rate of 2.5 cows/ha that rises to 4-4.5 cows/ha across the...

For this week’s podcast version of the Let’s Talk Dairy webinar series, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist was joined by Dr Emma-Louise Coffey, Teagasc and Brendan Ryan, Dairy Farmer to get an insight into the Teagasc Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management. Emma-Louise gives an overview of the course and outlines the benefits of studying the course while Brendan Ryan, dairy farmer, giv...

Agri-economist, Trevor Donnellan, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the dramatic rise in production costs and speculates whether strong milk price can maintain profit margins. Prior to the war in Ukraine, milk price was set to decline from early 2022. Following the outbreak of war, milk price has continued to rise and outlook remains high until at least Q3 of 20...