Charles O’Donnell, Aisling O’Brien and Breifne O'Brien bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture from Agriland, which this week includes: 

• EU outlines CAP simplification measures;
• Cattle prices continue to soar;
• Euro-Star row deepens – include Pedigree Breeders Council and ICSA statement;
• Fertiliser prices;
• Milk price wrap;
• Ministers slammed for absence at forestry meeting;

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland’s weekly review of Irish agriculture, and visit Agriland.ie for more. 

In the first episode of Agriland's latest limited series 'The Dairy Trail', technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to Brian Rushe’s dairy farm in Derrinturn, Co. Kildare.

Brian Rushe who is also the former deputy president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is set to be milking over 360 cows on two milking platforms in 2025.

In the episode, Brian explains how he is managing his calving season as he has over 130 cows calved down to date.

Agriland's brand new limited podcast series 'The Dairy Trail' takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

Listeners will get to hear how other farm systems operate, how different genetics perform, how different land types grow grass and how each farmer puts milk in the tank and money in their pocket in their own unique way.

Charles O’Donnell and Aisling O’Brien bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture from Agriland, which this week includes: 

• BISS opens with conditions attached;
• €32.4m in tillage and horticulture payments;
• Forestry and horticulture storm damage; 
• Generators grant available through TAMS;
• Poultry housing order due to bird flu risk;
• ACRES commonage scorecard reviews;
• New IFA chairs in Wexford and Limerick

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland’s weekly review of Irish agriculture, and visit Agriland.ie for more. 

In this episode of the AgriFocus podcast, Breifne O’Brien chats to Sean Coughlan, CEO of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) about the move by a number of Irish cattle breed societies to vote ‘no confidence’ in the revised Euro-star evaluations.

Over the past two months, several of the Irish cattle breed societies have issued statements outlining they are to cease publishing ICBF Evaluations in their society sales catalogues.

The ICBF CEO confirmed that the economic values of the indices will be updated this summer and confirmed that Teagasc’s Dr. Paul Crosson is currently working on these updates.

Coughlan also discussed farmer issues relating to the star ratings of cows as well as the weightings of each trait in the composition of the overall figures.

The fortnightly AgriFocus podcast series takes a closer look at some of the key issues that directly impact on farmers, rural communities and the agri-sector.

Go beyond the headlines with our podcast series – AgriFocus – where we take a closer look at some of the key issues that directly impact on farmers, rural communities and the agri-sector.

Charles O’Donnell, Aisling O’Brien and Louise Hickey bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture from Agriland, which this week includes: 

• Storm Éowyn fallout continues;
• Use of livestock ship for calves in doubt;
• Aurivo CEO set to step down;
• ICBF star rating row;
• AI industry to seek intellectual property rights on high-merit bulls;
• Speed limit to drop on some rural roads.

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland’s weekly review of Irish agriculture, and visit Agriland.ie for more. 

Charles O'Donnell, Louise Hickey and Maitiú Monaghan bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture from Agriland, which this week includes: 

• Storm Éowyn cleanup and aftermath;
• Call for household generator grant;
• Minister Heydon's first week in the job;
• TB eradication spending increases again;
• Livestock transport ship heading to Ireland;
• Traditional farm buildings grant now open.

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland’s weekly review of Irish agriculture, and visit Agriland.ie for more. 

In this episode of the AgriFocus podcast, Francess McDonnell chats to David Whelan, agricultural technical consultant with Vogelsang Ireland and part time beef farmer in Co. Westmeath, about the “huge value” in organic fertilisers and how farmers can make the best use of slurry on their farms

Under the Nitrates Action Programme, Ireland is divided into three zones (A, B and C) based on soil type, rainfall and length of growing season. 

Farmers in zones A and B have been able to spread organic manures from January 13 and January 16 but this farmers in Zone C – which includes Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan – can begin the application of organic manures from February 1.

The fortnightly AgriFocus podcast series takes a closer look at some of the key issues that directly impact on farmers, rural communities and the agri-sector.

Charles O'Donnell, Aisling O'Brien and Breifne O'Brien bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture from Agriland, which this week includes: 

• Storm Éowyn brings “unprecedented, widespread and extensive damage to electricity infrastructure”
• New government formed
• EU Commissioner visits Ireland for first time
• What is the outlook for beef and sheep in 2025?
• Dairygold hosts meetings on loyalty scheme concerns
• Clawback on entitlements will not be reinstated in 2025

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland’s weekly review of Irish agriculture, and visit Agriland.ie for more. 

Francess McDonnell and Louise Hickey bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture from Agriland, which this week includes: 

• The new Programme for Government – what’s next for farmers?
• Who is likely to get ministerial jobs in DAFM?
• Latest on Foot and Mouth fears;
• Why are Dairygold milk suppliers unhappy?
• The roll out of December milk prices
• IFAC unveils the Irish Farm Report 2025;
• Why generational renewal should be front and centre this year
• Who is raising a glass as the price of a pint goes up?

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland’s weekly review of Irish agriculture, and visit Agriland.ie for more. 

In the first episode of the 2025 season on AgriFocus, Agriland editor, Stella Meehan is joined by superintending veterinary inspector, Audrey Jenkinson from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to discuss avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.

Most recently, the highly pathogenic virus has been discovered in a wild buzzard in Dublin and another wild buzzard in Co. Galway.

There have also been multiple cases reported in the UK, across Europe and in the US, transferring to dairy cows and in some cases, farm workers.

In this episode, Jenkinson breaks down the different strains of avian influenza, the threat to Irish exports and whether or not humans are at risk.

The fortnightly AgriFocus podcast series takes a closer look at some of the key issues that directly impact on farmers, rural communities and the agri-sector.