The Dairy Edge

Dairy farmer Ed Payne joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to explain how the work-life balance he has created in his dairy farm business allows him to train and compete in ultramarathons. Firstly, Ed gives an update on the dairy farm business, milking 550 cows across the two dairy platforms with family labour, 3 full-time labour units as well as relief staff and he explains...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, was joined by Joe Patton, Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer, Teagasc to discuss the concept & risk of system drift in dairy farming in Ireland and how people can find it. To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webin...

Superintendent veterinary inspector, Philip Breslin, from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the incidence of TB in dairy herds in Ireland. Philip explains that the skin test remains the best method for diagnosis of TB in cattle, offering the most accurate number of positive incidents of TB with low levels of fa...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, discusses the proposed nitrate excretion bands for dairy cows and the implications that they may have for farmers To register for future Let’s Talk Dairy webinars go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/lets-talk...

Teagasc researcher, Jonathan Herron, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast and quantifies how much dairy farming is contributing to national greenhouse gas emissions with practices on dairy farms showing a reduction in emissions intensity. Jonathan explains that dairy production accounts for 12% (agriculture = 34%) of total national emissions, with methane and nitrous oxide be...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, discusses planning for drying off for 2021. Stuart outlines the jobs which need to be done before we start looking at drying off at all over the next couple of weeks. Stuart discusses what jobs can be started now, such...

Teagasc Dairy Adviser, Abigail Ryan, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss what the dairy farm workplace will look like in 2030, based on a recent survey of students and graduates from agricultural courses. In the future, the respondents of the survey expect to be either farm owners (63%), in a partnership (23%), share farming (3%) or farm employees (11%) and have i...

Alan Twomey and Nicky Byrne join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast with an overview of the non-replacement dairy calves contribution to the beef production systems and suggest how farmers can add value to both dairy and beef farms. Alan gives an insight into the Dairy Beef Index which is an economic index that promotes high quality beef animals from the dairy herd. The index rep...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, discusses keeping replacement heifers on target this Autumn. Stuart outlines the key target weights for the different breeds whilst also taking into consideration the Maintenance Sub Index. He also highlights the import...

On the third and final day from the Moorepark Open Day, this week’s Dairy Edge speaks to John Upton, Ryan Prendergast and Fergal Buckley from Teagasc to discuss the milking and energy use efficiency of herringbone and rotary parlours. John firstly explains that rotary parlours are becoming common place on large scale dairy farms with in excess of 300 cows to complete the milking procedure in a tim...

On Day Two of the Moorepark Open Day, Jack Nolan from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine joins Emma-Louise Coffey on the Dairy Edge to explain the measures proposed for the new Nitrates Derogation and challenges for farmers and industry as to how they can minimise negative environmental impacts. Jack estimates that 85% of nutrient loss into water comes from agriculture and expects...

Stephen Butler joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast with an insight into the Sexed Technologies lab that will be established in Moorepark later this year to provide a semen sorting service open to all AI companies. This offers the potential for a greater number and elite bulls to become available as sexed straws. Sexed semen in combination with high Dairy Beef Index bulls can...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, discussed late season fertiliser N and planning for spring 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 Edge...

Laurence Shalloo joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to explain the Nitrates modelling work completed by Teagasc which considered a reduction in chemical Nitrogen, consequence of non-compliance with closed dates for slurry, a reduction in stock rate, whole-farm v milking platform stocking rate and a banding system for the organic N per cow. Laurence details the new banding s...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, was joined by Aoife Leader, Teagasc to discuss managing hedgerows. With hedge-cutting season commencing, Aoife gave an insight into how hedgerows are an important source of biodiversity on farms and how their management...

Grassland researcher Mike Egan joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge and quantifies the level of grass cover on dairy farms. Based on PastureBase Ireland figures, farm cover is on average 812 kg DM/ha which is 120 kg behind target. If you are behind target, Mike recommends that farmers consider increasing supplementation, remove non-milking cow stock from the milking platform, don’t c...

Teagasc’s Head of Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Programme, Pat Dillon, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast with a preview of the 2021 Moorepark Open Day event. It will take place over three days on Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th September with the normal face-to-face format during the day and an additional virtual online forum each evening at...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, was joined by James Dunne to explore the decision around the best time to end the breeding season and considers the economics of spring calving herds milking on through the winter. To register for future Let’s Talk Dair...

Danny Bermingham joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast with an insight into his dairy farm, including how his management practices differ from the standard guidelines. Through participation in the heavy soils programme, Danny has learned the correct drainage techniques for his soil types and this in combination with improved soil fertility and grazing infrastructure, days at g...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, was joined by Tomás Tubritt, Teagasc Moorepark, to discuss the grazing utilisation star index. Tomás starts by giving an overview of the Pasture Profit Index (PPI) which is a variety selection tool used to select variet...

On this weeks episode of The Dairy Edge, Tom Fallon gives insight into important practices to win the second half of the lactation. Tom explains that after the busy calving and breeding season and conservation of silage, farmers tend to take a step back from the farm but Tom urges farmers to continue to pay attention to cow health and in particular, mobility to ensure cows are achieving their milk...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, was joined by John Douglas, Teagasc Grass10 Advisor to discuss an Autumn Grass Strategy. It is important that we build covers during the Autumn period in order to have grass for the remainder of the year and it's also v...

On this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge, Beth Dooley explains what makes individual farmers an employer of choice and has tips on complying with employment regulation. Beth explains that employees are attracted to farms that are safe places to work, have processes and are streamlined (including SOPs), a clear working roster and an opportunity to upskill. Beth recommends that farmers complete a wr...

Barbara McGrogan from the Irish Cancer Society joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge with tips and advice on how to be Sun Smart and protect ourselves against skin cancers. Barbara provides some statistics about skin cancer, including the fact that skin cancer accounts for 1 in every 3 cancers diagnosed in Ireland each year, with outdoor workers having a 2-3 times greater risk compare...

Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available as a bonus podcast episode. In this webinar, Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, discusses setting up your fertiliser spreader. He was joined by guest speaker Francis Quigley, Machinery Specialist at Kildalton College, Teagasc. They spoke about protected urea, how it spreads and problems with fertil...