The Dairy Edge

Continuing the daily episodes as part of Nutrient Management Week, today John Maher talks about timing of applications to maximise their return, the rates to apply to find the balance between driving growth and mitigating potential environmental losses and how getting soil fertility right improves the return from applied nutrients thus being an important factor in minimising potential nutrient los...

As part of Nutrient Management Week, Grass10’s, John Maher, speaks to Michael Carroll from Co. Limerick.   Michael was one of the joint winners of the Nutrient Management category at the 2023 Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year awards.    He won this award for his understanding of managing slurry on his farm to drive grass growth and reduce his chemical N inputs and today he shares his way of...

Philip Murphy, Co-ordinator of the Blackwater Catchment Programme, and Pat Tuohy, Senior Researcher at Teagasc, join Stuart Childs to discuss effective use of nutrients and avoiding losses.   Pat discusses recent research across 100 farms that he has completed on behalf of the Dept. of Agriculture that is showing slurry production rates are about 20% higher than the current regulatory assumptions...

For the first Grass10 grazing management update of the year, John Maher highlights key practices to get grazing in 2026 off to a good start and he discusses the upcoming Nutrient Management Week which runs from Mon 19th-Fri 23rd January.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at: http://bit.ly/13thJanuary2026   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast...

Michelle McGrath, Calf Care Programme Manager with Animal Health Ireland, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the importance of good calf care and management as we move towards the busy calving period on farms.    Michelle highlights best practice regarding colostrum management, calf rearing and weaning whilst also outlining what farmers can learn from the current Teagasc/Animal...

We’re reposting one of the most popular episodes from last year with Laurence Shalloo, Head of the Animal and Grassland Programme in Teagasc Moorepark, who joined Stuart Childs to discuss the future challenges facing the dairy industry.   Laurence starts by acknowledging that there is a constant state of flux in the world now and that we are constantly adapting to change. This is no different to w...

Fermanagh man, Rodney Elliott, who is farming in the US state of South Dakota, joins James Dunne for the second part of his interview discussing recruiting and managing staff, herd breeding objectives, animal performance and herd nutrition.   He also offers insights into what he has learned along the way and why he is as passionate about dairy farming today as he was 20 years ago.   Image: https:/...

Fermanagh man Rodney Elliott, who is farming in the US state of South Dakota, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge.    In the first of a two part interview, Rodney outlines how he went from farming 140 dairy cows in Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh to operating two large scale dairy units in the US.    He describes how the business has grown over time, some of the challenges met along the way a...

For this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge, in conjunction with Catherine Egan of the Beef Edge and Ciaran Lynch of OviCast, we talk to John Donlon, veterinary lecturer in Atlantic Technological University about bluetongue.   John first describes the disease and explains how it presents in sheep, cattle, alpacas and other cloven hooved animals.   He then explains how, in reality, the risk period sh...

For this week’s final Grass10 grazing management update of the year, John Maher discusses current grazing advice, including opening cover targets and fodder assessment, plus he looks back on the grazing year in review.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-9thDecember2025     For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to t...

We’re reposting an episode from October with Teagasc Dairy Specialist, Patrick Gowing, who joined James Dunne on the Dairy Edge to discuss how to best manage surplus cash, build financial resilience, review production costs, and ensure farmers are best prepared for 2026.   As 2025 draws to a close, it will be remembered as one of the best farming years in recent memory due to strong milk prices, i...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-2ndDec2025   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/   The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMed...

Teagasc hosted the National Dairy Conference last week in both Clonmel and Cavan, and the theme of the conference was, ‘Pathways to Progress’, with key sessions on milk price and key farm performance priorities, collaborative farming arrangements and driving further progress in Irish dairy breeding.    James Dunne caught up with Joe Patton, Martina Gormley and Stuart Childs to gain an insight into...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-25thNov25   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/   The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedi...

Edmund Motherway, from Ladysbridge, near Midleton, was the Overall Winner of the Student Section of the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year Awards and he joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge.   Edmund was always interested in farming as a child, however, due to the scale of the home farm, he didn’t think he had a future in farming. A transition year placement at a nearby father and s...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice, while the featured farmer is Mike Ahern from Ballyduff, Co. Waterford.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-18thNov25   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-da...

Joe Patton, Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer in Teagasc, joins Stuart Childs on the latest Dairy Edge to preview the upcoming Dairy Conferences.   With sudden drops in milk price catching many farmers off guard and even many of those who work in the area of forecasting prices, Joe explains, however, that the best-performing farms remain the best ones regardless of price cycles.   Farmers shouldn’t...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and setting up for the spring, while the featured farmer is Gerry Finneran, Carrignavar, Co. Cork.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-11thNov25   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-ed...

Philip Murphy, Catchment Coordinator for the River Blackwater, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss applying water quality and addressing it.   Philip explains that his role focuses on addressing agricultural pressures on water quality across the wider Blackwater catchment, beyond the already targeted high-priority areas, through providing clear, consistent advice to farmers an...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice, while the featured farmer is Will Griffin, Co. Carlow.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-4thNovember25    For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/   The Dairy Edge is a co-p...

Aisling Claffey, Teagasc ruminant nutritionist, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss what’s important to remember when it comes to the upcoming dry cow period.   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/   The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and closing up for early spring grass.      The featured farmer is John Payne, from Co. Longford who is targeting a closing AFC of  800 kg DM/ha on Dec 1st.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-28thOctober2025   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the...

Teagasc Dairy Specialist, Patrick Gowing, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss how to best manage surplus cash, build financial resilience, review production costs, and ensure farmers best prepared for 2026.   As 2025 draws to a close, it will be remembered as one of the best farming years in recent memory due to strong milk prices, increased stock values and good weather for mos...

John Maher has the latest Grass10 grazing management update, and this week’s featured farmer is Niall O’Regan from Mallow, Co. Cork.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter at: https://bit.ly/grass10-21stOctober2025   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/   The Dairy Edge is a co-production with La...

John Maher, Grass10 Manager, and John Leahy, dairy farmer in Athea, Co. Limerick, join Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss applying lime.   Despite difficult weather a few weeks ago, things have improved, John explains, and ground conditions, rotation length and money in the bank will allow people to spread lime.   John outlines that we are very short of where we should be in terms...