The Beef Edge

With calving season underway in the Newford herd, Teagasc Newford farm technician Michael Fagan is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an insight into changes on the farm, preparation in advance of calving and a review performance of the herd. 

Michael discusses the big changes on Newford farm since we spoke last with the cows being moved from Athenry to Roscommon.  As the farm operated a tillage and beef enterprise, Michael discusses the work involved in making paddocks, reseeding and making pens before calving. So far just over 40 of the cows have calved and Michael discusses their performance. 

Michael also discusses how the yearlings on the farm are performing and the performance of the cattle finished before Christmas. 

Obviously heavy rainfall the past few weeks has hampered any chances so far of starting the grazing plan this spring.  Soil samples have been taken and analysed and slurry and fertiliser is being applied accordingly.

Further details are at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/beef/newford-herd-settled-into-new-home-in-roscommon.php

Farm Walks

Coming up……DairyBeef 500 farmer, James O’Sullivan, Union Hall, Co. Cork will host a farm walk on Tuesday, 27th February @12pm, while Gareth Peoples, Co. Donegal will host a walk on Tuesday, 5th March @2pm.

Topics covered will be focusing on grassland management, silage preparation, fertiliser spreader calibration and calf management at purchase. 

For further details go to: 

www.teagasc.ie/DB500

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 

John Donlon who gives advice and tips for caring for the new born calf. 

John outlines the best practice for when the calf is just born such as feeding colostrum and care of the navel.

He also describes the key tips when stomach tubing a calf. 

Regardless of a suckler or dairy beef system, there are a number of ailments that can arise and John has important advice for management from a health perspective for a number of conditions and diseases.

Don’t forget as well to listen back to last week’s episode on managing the cow before calving and calving the suckler cow.

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 

On this week’s Beef Edge podcast, it’s the first of a two-part episode with Teagasc Researcher and Vet, John Donlon, who gives his insights and top tips in relation to managing the cow before calving and calving the suckler cow.

Calving will be taking place on farms over the coming weeks and John discusses the nutrition to be aware of in the final stages with mineral and vitamins and ensuring that cows are fit and not fat.  

 
John then discusses giving assistance at calving and about the presentation of the calf and essential items to have ready.

Finally, he describes using the calving jack and some of the key things to be aware of.

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 

January is a good month to review your 2023 financial performance before you start focusing and putting a plan in place for 2024 and on this week’s joint episode with Ciarán Lynch from Teagasc’s Ovicast sheep podcast, we discuss financial management tips on drystock farms with Teagasc Financial Specialist Kevin Connolly.

Kevin first outlines the benefits of completing a profit monitor. He discusses the data that’s required and how farmers make use of the data for their system. 

Kevin explains the reports that can be developed and the importance of benchmarking the farm as volatile market or weather conditions can really impact financial performance 

One year is a starting point and after completing it for 3-5 years it enables the farmer to develop a plan with their advisor to make decisions on the system, on farm investment and future direction of the farm.

Further details are available at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/farm-management/financial-analysis/farm-profit-analysis/

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 

Dr.Siobhan Kavanagh from the Signpost Programme is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss what areas you can focus on to make your farm more sustainable in 2024.

The Signpost  programme is a multi-annual campaign to lead climate action by all Irish farmers. The programmes aims to achieve early progress in reducing gaseous emissions from Irish agriculture and to also improve water quality, maintain and in some cases improve bio-diversity, reduce costs and create more profitable and sustainable farming enterprises.

There are two elements to the programme:

- A network of Signpost Farms, which will act as demonstration farms for the programme and sites for carbon sequestration measurements. These will point the way forward towards climate smart farming, and are central to the second element

- The Signpost Advisory campaign which will engage with all farmers and support them to move towards more sustainable farming systems

Siobhan discusses a number of actions such as using protected urea in 2024. Applying Lime and slurry using LESS and incorporating clover are discussed as ways to improve soil fertility and reduce dependence on chemical fertiliser. 

Improving grassland management on the farm is important by utilising grass with a paddock system, walking the farm weekly and extending the grazing season to reduce emissions. 

Siobhan discusses having a good herd health plan, breeding policy and reducing the age at slaughter and the impact these have on reducing emissions.  

Find your local Future beef farmer here:

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

Find your local Dairy Beef 500 farmer here:

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

You can also subscribe for the newsletter at the following link:

https://www.teagasc.ie/environment/climate-change--air-quality/signpost-programme/newsletter-subscription/

If you would like to apply for the sustainability awards, the form is at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/environment/climate-change--air-quality/signpost-programme/sustainability-awards/

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 Cattle Specialist, Niall Kerins, is on this week’s Beef Edge Podcast with an update on the nutrient management legislation and developing a nutrient management plan for your farm. 

The Nitrates Action Programme underwent a number of changes last year, with stronger measures introduced for the protection of water quality. There were a number of changes in particular that all farmers with a grassland stocking rate above 130kg of N/ha must take soil samples.  In addition to this, for arable farmers, all sown arable land must be soil sampled.

Further details are here: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/environment/6-key-changes-to-nitrates-regulations-for-2023.php

Niall also mentions that soil sampling is mandatory on all farms participating in ACRES.  Niall discusses taking soil samples and the importance of developing a nutrient management plan with their advisor.

 
The opening date for spreading slurry is this week for a number farmers depending on the county that the farm is located in:

-       Farmers in Zone A will be permitted to spread organic fertiliser (both slurry and farm yard manure) from Saturday, January 13th

-       Farmers in Zone B will be permitted to spread organic fertilisers from Tuesday, January 16th

-       Finally, farmers in Zone C will be permitted to spread organic fertiliser from Thursday, February 1st

The end of the closed period is not essentially a ‘green light’ for farmers to go out spreading slurry, and weather conditions should be looking favourable before slurry spreading goes ahead. 

Niall advises how farmers can best maximise the value of slurry nutrients, including using slurry on silage ground. There are numerous benefits of using Low Emission Slurry spreading techniques. 

With very high prices for fertiliser over the past number of years, Niall outlines the prices that are expected in the coming year.

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 calving kicking off on many dairy farms, on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast, Teagasc DairyBeef 500 advisor, Tommy Cox, discusses the key areas you need to focus on from sourcing calves and rearing up to weaning. 

There are over 2,500 calves reared across the country on dairy beef farms and Tommy highlights that, in addition to the physical health of the calf, it is important to look at the Commercial Beef Value (CBV) to get an insight into the genetic make-up of the calf. 

After transporting the calf, electrolytes are given for its first feed and the calf is monitored. Tommy discusses the feeding regime and getting the rumen set up for the grazing season ahead. 

While ventilation is important in the calf shed it is critical to avoid any draughts.  Early diagnosis and disease prevention are important to the lifelong health of the calf. Tommy outlines a number of  protocols being carried out on farms. 

The welfare & safety of the farmer has to be addressed also and Tommy discusses ways to reduce labour and stress and increase safety in the system.

CalfCare Events

CalfCare events are held each January to keep farmers informed of best practice husbandry and management practices to deliver best performance from calves in their care. Rearing healthy calves has always been the focus of CalfCare events and 2024 will be no different, but for the first time, a new dimension will be introduced as beef farmers rearing dairy beef calves will host some of the events.

Both beef and dairy farm performance is built on the foundation of good calf rearing and all farmers rearing calves are encouraged to attend to prepare for 2024 rearing period.

Topics to be discussed include:

- Calf health management

- Managing calves for sale

- Optimal calf housing

- Pre-weaning nutrition

For further details visit: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/CalfCare-Events/

Upcoming DairyBeef 500 webinars

The first webinar is taking place on Tuesday, 16th January, and will focus on Preparation for Calf Rearing in 2024, while the second webinar, taking place on Tuesday, 30th January, will focus on Sourcing and Feeding Dairy Beef Calves in 2024.

For more, go to:

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

Teagasc Cattle Specialist Aidan Murray is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an insight into the outlook for the coming year and what farmers can expect.

Farmers have seen only a minor reduction in production costs in 2023 compared with 2022 and Aidan reviews the 2023 performance from the outlook conference and discusses the outlook for 2024.

Aidan highlights what’s expected in 2024 and explains some of the key requirements of SCEP and the actions farmers need to keep in mind this spring.

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 the final episode of 2023, Teagasc Researcher Peter Doyle is on this week’s Beef Edge to give a review of the Derrypatrick herd in Teagasc Grange in the past year.
 
Weaning started on the 9th October and the weanling performance this year was: Males = 326 kg (1.3 kg/day) and Females = 305 kg (1.2 kg/day). The weanlings remained outdoors for another month post-weaning and they received 1 kg concentrates/head/day.

The cows were body condition scored in December with an average body condition score of 3.0 and  live-weight of 650 kg.

Overall the 2023 breeding performance in Derrypatrick was very good. There was a 9 week breeding season with 87% of the cows scanned in calf. 85% of these are calving in the first 6 weeks.

Grassland management and performance in 2023 was very difficult. Grass was measured on a weekly basis and recorded on Pasturebase Ireland. It yielded 12 t DM/ha.
 
Peter also discussed the slaughter performance and explained that he will be establishing a grass clover group in the new year. For interested farmers, Peter can be contacted at [email protected].

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

Rupert Claxton, Livestock Director from GIRA Consultancy (UK), is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with his presentation from the Teagasc National Beef Conference giving an overview of the Global Beef Market and highlighting the likely trends for input prices as we move into 2024.

Rupert’s presentation is available at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/beefcon23/Rupert-Claxton/

Full conference details are here: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/beefcon23/

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