The Dairy Edge

Padraig O’Connor, Dairy Technician with Teagasc in Grange, joins Stuart Childs with tips and advice for the month of February.   Padraig discusses the management of the freshly calved cows as a separate group.  Keeping these cows in for a few days after calving in a fresh-calved group allows recovery, easier observation and reduced bullying. Control of the colostrum group also simplifies milking m...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher gives an update on the first set of figures in terms of grass supply from PastureBase Ireland. Plus he talks about the grazing management plan for the spring.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-27thJanuary   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the s...

This week’s Dairy Edge is from a recent Teagasc webinar entitled, ‘TB Update – Understanding the Recent Changes for Your Dairy Farm.’   TB continues to be a major challenge for the dairy sector, with herd incidence rising above 6% in 2024. There are now significant changes being introduced through the new TB Action Plan.   James Dunne hosted the webinar and was joined by Damien Barrett, Head of th...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher has a few tips before the grazing season gets going and he gives a summary of the farmers’ contributions from Nutrient Management Week 2026.   Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at: https://bit.ly/Grass10-20thJanuary   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https...

Setting up the fertiliser spreader correctly is important to ensure accurate and even placement of fertiliser. John Corbett from Grassland Agro joins John Maher for the final daily episode as part of Nutrient Management Week to discuss this important aspect of nutrient application and management.   Join us on the Dairy Edge each day of Nutrient Management Week for special episodes from farmers and...

For today’s episode as part of Nutrient Management Week, Grass10’s John Maher is joined by Mike Ahern who is farming near Ballyduff, Co. Waterford.    Mike was the winner of the Nutrient Management category as well as the overall winner of that Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition in 2024 and he talks to John about the importance of driving growth with early fertiliser application on his farm...

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...