The Dairy Edge

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and closing up for early spring grass.  It’s a great opportunity to spread lime - the cheapest fertiliser one can buy!     The featured farmer is Mark Lonergan, who is from Co. Tipperary and is targeting a closing AFC of  750 kg DM/ha on Dec 1st.    Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter at: https...

Teagasc Research Officer, Pablo Silva Boloña, whose work focuses on milk quality, dairy cow mastitis and selective dry cow therapy, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge.    Pablo explains selective dry therapy and why it is being implemented on Irish dairy farms, plus he highlights the important management steps to ensure its successful implementation at farm level.    For more episodes fro...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and the start of closing up for early spring grass.  It’s a great week to reseed paddocks sprayed and grazed.    The featured farmer is Jason Coulter, who is from Co. Sligo and trying to get autumn closing sorted out after a very  difficult weekend.    Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit....

Mike Dineen, Teagasc Senior Research Officer, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the fundamentals to optimising performance from freshly calved cows by making informed decisions around the winter diet.     Winter feed is obviously a significant cost to producing liquid milk therefore it is important farmers get it right.    Mike explains how forage quality is key to generating...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and the start of closing up for early spring grass.     The featured farmer is Shane Hegarty from Co. Carlow and Shane was the Young Farmer Category Winner of the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year.   Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/grass10-30thSeptember2025   For more episod...

Kevin Downing of ICBF joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the recent changes to the EBI incorporated into the September Evaluation run.   Kevin outlines the reason for the base change in order to make sure we are comparing the current cows with as representative population as possible to best reflect the on farm performance of herds.   Kevin then discusses the changes that hav...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing management and advises using the higher grass growth now to build grass into the autumn as many farms are behind on grass supply.  He also has tips on dealing with some difficult grazing conditions.   Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/grass10-23rdSeptember2025   For more episodes from the D...

John Conroy, Dairy Advisor in Teagasc Nenagh, and Jim Delahunty, dairy farmer, join Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss closing the farm for 2025.   John says it has been an exceptional year for the most part, in the area he covers, with people complaining about making bales at this stage which is a far cry from the situation experienced in 2024.    However, the recent dry spell has...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing management and advises using the higher grass growth now to build grass into the autumn as many farms are behind on grass supply.    He also highlights this week’s feature farm, the O’Dea Farm Partnership, who are having a phenomenal grazing year with 14 tons DM/ha grown already with an input of 140 units N/acr...

Seamus Kearney, Teagasc Tirlán Joint Programme Co-ordinator, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss soil fertility actions that can still be taken despite the chemical fertiliser deadline passing for 2025.   Firstly, Seamus outlines the reduction in chemical nitrogen in the last 9 years and these reductions are becoming more conspicuous where soil fertility isn’t on point.   Seam...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and as many farms are behind on grass supply, he advises using the higher grass growth now to build grass into the autumn.    The featured farmer is Patrick O’Neill from Longford, who is having a good year with grazing and is on target!   Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/Grass10-9th...

Padraig O’Connor, technologist with Teagasc, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to outline how farmers should manage their herd somatic cell count this autumn, how to make best use of the milk recording information and what to do with identified problem cows.   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice as some farms are dealing with low grass supply.    He also talks about the featured farmer Mike Ahern, who is the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year, and who is opening his farm to the public on Tuesday Sept 9th at 11am , in Ballyduff Co. Waterford.   For more go to: https://youtu.be/kbrAbDg7Hrc  ...

Ruth Fennell, Collaborative Farming Specialist, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the various collaborative farming options that exist.   Ruth outlines the options that range from contract heifer rearing, nutrient sharing, machinery trading and land leasing to more commonly thought of collaborative farming options such as registered farm partnerships and share farming. Effec...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grass growth and predicted grass growth.  Plus the featured farmer is Arthur Sweetman from county Wexford.   Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/Grass10-26thAugust2025   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/...

George Ramsbottom, Head of the Teagasc Signpost Advisory Programme, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss how Irish dairy farmers can improve their farms’ carbon footprint.    George outlines how there is a dedicated team of 21 climate advisors available through the Signpost Advisory Programme to offer farmers help and advice on how they can improve the environmental credentials o...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice as some farms are dealing with low grass supply. He also focuses on reviewing where fertiliser use needs to be.   Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/Grass10-19thAugust2025   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-...

Emma-Louise Coffey, Programme Co-Ordinator for the Farm Manager Apprenticeship Programme, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss why young, skilled dairy farmers are important for the industry and what the farm apprenticeship course can offer both host farmers and aspiring young dairy farmers. For more information go to: https://teagasc.ie/education/apprenticeships/farm-manager/  ...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice as we approach autumn build-up of grass and while some farms, particularly in the southern coast, are very tight on grass supply. There is also a grazing update from Sean Phelan, from Kilkenny who is investing in grazing and currently on target for autumn build-up.   Link to this week’s Grass10 newslette...

John Maher, Teagasc Grass10 Programme Manager, joins Stuart Childs to discuss the current PastureBase figures and he explains the idea of autumn build-up and autumn grazing management.   Firstly, John outlines the figures for the week explaining that on the majority of farms, there is currently way too much grass and that action needs to be taken to manage this situation sooner rather than later. ...

It was another hugely successful Open Day at Moorepark this year with the theme of ‘Innovating for the Future’ showcasing the latest technology and insights into Irish dairy farming.   For this bonus episode from the Dairy Edge, Stuart Childs and James Dunne used the opportunity to speak to some of those in attendance, including Denis Drennan from ICMSA, the IFA’s Francie Gorman and Minister for A...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, Joseph Dunphy discusses current grazing advice as grass supply increases on farms and he has a grazing update from Chris Cahill, Co. Westmeath.   Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/Grass10-29thJuly     For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podca...

Muireann Conneely, Teagasc dairy researcher who specialises in animal welfare, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge.   Muireann discusses the impact of lameness on Irish dairy farms, detecting and dealing with lameness issues and putting prevention measures in place at farm level.   For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/th...

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, Joseph Dunphy discusses current grazing advice and he has a grazing update from Eoin Corrigan, Co. Meath.   Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/Grass10-22ndJuly   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...

Conor Hogan, Teagasc’s People in Dairy Programme Manager, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss share farming as an option for generational renewal.   Conor discusses the importance of managing time to keep the length of the working day in check and also the importance of getting time off or away from the farm also. This can be helped by being structured in the way work is appro...