The Beef Edge

Barry Caslin, Teagasc Energy & Rural Development Specialist, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss energy and farm diversification options and the areas for farmers to consider. 

It is a very big area including: Anaerobic Digestion, Energy, Solar, Electricity, Biomass, Community Energy, Business Diversification, Food Business Start Ups, Agri Tourism, Organics, Forestry, Bio-economy and Agri-Tech.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine recently launched Ireland’s National Biomethane Strategy and Barry outlines the potential in this area.

There are grants available for solar panels under TAMS , which has created huge interest and Barry discusses key areas that farmers should be considering.

Many farmers are interested in enterprise diversification. There are countless possibilities when trying to identify a realistic option for generating additional household income. Barry highlights possible diversification options.

With the BIA Innovator hub set up in Athenry Co Galway, Barry discusses the opportunities in relation to food business with agri-tourism also expanding in recent years.

The Energy and Farm Business Show is taking place on 18th July in Gurteen Agricultural College and you can find out more at:

https://energyandfarmdiversificationshow.com/

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Alan Dillon, Teagasc DairyBeef 500 Manager, is on this week’s Beef Edge Podcast to explain the key messages discussed with farmers who visited the Dairy Calf-to-Beef Village as part of BEEF2024, Teagasc’s National Beef Open Day. 

Alan outlines the benefits of the Commercial Beef Value (CBV) and how its use at purchase time can result in more profitable and efficient dairy-beef systems.

The importance of meeting weight gain targets was also highlighted, with Alan explaining that animals must perform on farm from arrival to the point of sale and this can only be achieved through adequate nutrition and health programmes, and having appropriate housing facilities available.

Alan also discusses the next Dairy Beef open day on the Tipperary Dairy Beef Demonstration Farm which takes place on the 10 July 2024 at 11am in Ballyvadin, Fethard, Co. Tipperary. Eircode: E91 E0X3. Further details are here: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/national-events/events/tipperary-dairy-beef-demonstration-farm-open-day.php

The Tipperary Dairy Calf to Beef Demonstration Farm, a joint initiative between Dawn Meats, Shinagh Estates and Teagasc, was established to demonstrate best practice in breeding, rearing and finishing dairy-beef animals.

Twelve DairyBeef factsheets were launched at the BEEF2024 Open Day in Grange last week. This is one of the commitments from the 10 Point Action Plan to Support Dairy Calf to Beef Systems in Ireland, launched by the Department of Agriculture earlier this year.

The full set of factsheets are available here:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/beef/dairy-calf-to-beef/dairybeef-500/dairybeef-500-factsheets/

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

With the launch the GROFarmS project taking place today at BEEF 2024 National Beef open day in Teagasc Grange, Teagasc organic specialist, Elaine Leavy, and Teagasc researcher, Kevin Kilcline, join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss the role this research programme will have for anyone interested in converting or currently in organics, as well as detail on the variety of organic events taking place in the coming weeks.

GROFarmS stands for Growing Resilient Organic Farming Systems and is an organic farming research project funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Teagasc and is being undertaken in collaboration with  UCD. 

In the past few years there has been huge interest in organics, a large number of farms have converted and many more are considering the option of converting. Whilst there are various opinions on the benefits of organic farming, there is a lack of evidence and figures on the sustainability of Irish organic farms. The GROFarmS project aims to address this gap by putting figures on the performance and sustainability of organic farms.

Research on beef finishing systems will be conducted on a dedicated, organic certified 100 acre beef finishing farm in Kildavin, beside Johnstown Castle in Wexford. This farm is currently being converted to organic farming standards. This includes a reseeding programme and conversion of farm sheds to meet organic standards. Complimentary research trials on organic finishing diets will also be under taken in Grange research centre which will subsequently inform the design of winter diets in Kildavin.

In addition, the Teagasc National Farm Survey will be extended to capture information on real organic beef farms across the country that will identify what different production practices are being applied on farms, and what they mean in terms of costs of production, profitability and sustainability.

More detailed information on the background to the project and updates from the project will be on the project website at www.Teagasc.ie/GROFarmS.

There is a National Beef Organic Walk on the farm of  Ken Gill Co. Offaly which takes place on Friday 12th July 6:30pm:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/beef/demonstration-farms/future-beef-programme/events/#nationalwalks

And information on further upcoming organic walks can be found here:

https://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/organics/events/

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Emma Dillon and Kevin McNamara from Teagasc join Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss the findings from the recent National Farm Survey Small Farms Report.

Teagasc collects farm data through the National Farm Survey (NFS) and this report focuses on the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the approximately 48,000 farms in Ireland that are too small in economic terms for inclusion in the annual NFS survey. 

What's in the Report?

Farm Coverage

1. Cattle Rearing
 2. Cattle Other
 3. Sheep
 4. Partially Leased

Farm Categorisation

Farms typically produce more than one type of agricultural output. In the National Farm Survey farms are categorised into farm types according to their principal output.

In this Small Farms Report for 2022, the sample is representative of a population of over 48,000 small farms in Ireland. A small farm is defined as a farm with a standard output of €8,000.

Key Performance Indicators

A range of indicators is provided, including information on farm output, production costs, farm supports, farm income, labour input, stocking rate and input usage.

To view the report go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2024/NFS_Smallfarms_Report2022.pdf 

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Teagasc researchers Peter Doyle and Nicky Byrne join Catherine Egan on the latest Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the suckler and dairy beef herds in Grange, what research is currently ongoing in Teagasc Grange and what’s happening at the National Beef Open day BEEF 2024 on Wednesday 26th June.   

The theme of this year’s event is ‘Securing your future’ and Teagasc are delighted to invite all beef farmers and stakeholders in the Irish beef industry to the event.

The focus of BEEF2024 will be on the application of technologies that will help beef farmers increase the profitability and environmental sustainability of their family farm businesses. 

BEEF2024 will be hosted on a new site on the farm with a new and improved layout and structure on the day. It is a free event and all are welcome to attend.

BEEF2024 is on Wednesday 26th June from 9-4pm in Teagasc, Grange, eircode C15 PW93, and is a day not to be missed. 

For further information go to: 

www.teagasc.ie/beef2024

Teagasc acknowledges with gratitude the support of FBD Trust who will be available on the day to meet attendees.

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

With the upcoming Irish Grassland Association National Beef walk taking place on Tuesday 11th June, suckler and sheep farmer Martin Shaughnessy from Co. Mayo, and the Irish Grassland Association Beef chairperson, Paddy Casey, are on this week’s Beef Edge to discuss Martin’s system and the upcoming open day.

Martin runs a suckler-to-weaning system while also lambing approximately 150 ewes – a typical suckler and sheep operation in the west of Ireland.

Martin now runs a herd of sixteen three-quarter-bred Limousin dams mated to Belgian Blue sires each year. Maiden heifers are crossed back to Limousin genetics while sexed semen was also introduced in 2023. Breeding season has gone very well with all cows inseminated.

The sheep enterprise consists of Suffolk and Texel-cross ewes – split lambing at the start of February and then again around St. Patrick’s day each year. The ewes are synchronised to leave the management during lambing easier. 

The suckler system is quite simple.  The cattle rotationally graze a 10-12 ac block on the home farm which is laid out in paddocks under a leader-follower system.

Martin is also involved in the Teagasc Agricultural Catchments Programme with the farm located in the Cregduff catchment, east of Ballinrobe town, Co. Mayo (Eircode F12PR23).

The farm walk is a free event and is very kindly sponsored by FBD Insurance. Flame grilled burgers will be available at 6pm sharp for those who wish to arrive early and the event will get underway at 6:30pm, finishing at 8:30pm.

For further details go to: 

https://www.irishgrassland.ie/event-detail/beef-walk-mayo/

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Future Beef farmer, Trevor Boland, who operates an autumn calving suckling system in county Sligo is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the farm including harvesting of silage and management of grass in the coming weeks. 

With current weather conditions very changeable, Trever discusses how he has some first cut silage harvest and the rest will be made in the coming days.

There are currently four groups of stock on the farm grazing and he outlines the management of the various groups in the coming weeks. 

Silage quality is very important on the farm as Trevor avoids feeding concentrates to cows. He discusses his fertiliser programme on grazing and silage ground and the management of cows pre-calving

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

For this joint Beef Edge and Ovicast podcast with Catherine Egan and Ciaran Lynch,

Future Beef Farmer, Olivia Hynes from Roscommon, discusses how she is managing grass this year and how mixed grazing is working on her farm.

Olivia describes the farm system and how this spring has been on the farm. She is using 100% AI with breeding in full swing and she discusses various sires she has selected. 

Weanlings are targeted for the export sales and Olivia keeps 10-12 heifers as replacements annually.  Olivia complements the suckler enterprise with an early to mid-season ewe flock.   Scanning & weaning percentages are excellent with all lambs finished off grass to factory specification.

Over 90% of the farm is free draining brown acid soil, with moderate to good fertility. Olivia has been working on improving fertility for a number of years and liming is a priority to correct pH levels.  

Olivia also outlines the paddock system that she has put in and how it is working for her and she discusses her plan for managing grass in the summer, balancing the demand of the different groups of stock as priorities arise.

For further details go to: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/beef/demonstration-farms/future-beef-programme/farmers/olivia-hynes/

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Teagasc Researcher, David Kenny, is on this week’s Beef edge podcast to discuss how to deal with current breeding issues and the key tips to be aware of.

With extended housing this spring, David outlines the  impact this has had on suckler cow fertility and body condition. 

In some cases breeding season has been delayed by 2-3 weeks. With some cows only calved in the last 3 weeks, David discusses a plan for these cows with synchronisation programmes and timed AI. Further details can also be found here:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/beef/Oestrous-Synchronisation-or-Timed-Insemination-Tech-Note.pdf 

David says that stock bull fertility is a major concern with approximately 20% of bulls sub-fertile, and keeping records is essential. Carrying out a mid-season scan will allow any issues be detected early.

David discusses the research being carried out in Grange on breeding at the moment which will cover, AI, calving heifers at 24 months and breeding technologies at the BEEF 2024 Open Day taking place on Wednesday 26th June 2024 at Teagasc Grange, Co. Meath. 

For further details:

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/news/2024/beef2024-openday-launched.php 

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

DairyBeef 500 advisor, Tommy Cox, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an update on the programme farms, management tips for the coming weeks and he discusses the weaning process. 

It has been a challenging spring and Tommy outlines the targets on the farms up to weaning.  He describes the weaning process on the farms and the amount of concentrates fed to calves at grass. 

In a lot of cases weanlings were 30-40 kg behind target at housing last autumn and Tommy outlines the management plan for yearlings at grass to achieve compensatory growth. 

And in the coming weeks silage will be harvested on the programme farms and surplus heavy covers will be removed to help manage grass for the next rotation.

Calf health is critical too, with coccidiosis and worm burden being an issue in the coming weeks.

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com