Michael O’Donovan, Head of the Grassland Science Department at Teagasc Moorepark joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge.

Michael discusses the grassland performance on Irish dairy farms over the last number of years, how farmers can increase the amount of pasture grown on farm and outlines key decisions that need to be made over the coming weeks to ensure high levels of animal performance over the coming months.

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 LastCastMedia.com

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, as AFC drops with the excellent grazing conditions, Joseph Dunphy discusses feeding the cow appropriately, plus he has a grazing update from Eoin Corrigan, Co. Meath.

Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: 

https://bit.ly/Grass10-25thMarch

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 LastCastMedia.com

Sean Coughlan, CEO of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss Irish dairy, dairy beef breeding and everything in between.

Sean discusses the National Genotyping Programme, the changes that they have made to improve for 2025 and how they have even more herds taken into the programme and will be looking to recruit more later on this year with the long term view to have a fully genotyped national herd in the future.

Sean highlights what he feels might be a lost opportunity in that we're not able to filter some of the surplus replacements from the top EBI herds to the lower genetic merit herds. He would love to see the top herds breed the replacements for the bottom herds as it is just too much of a mountain to climb for those lower genetic merit herds and the performance levels that those top herds are actually achieving is so good: 500 litres more milk; producing 53 kilos more milk solids per cow; 16 days better calving interval which is translating into a 12% better 6 week calving rate, and low CO2 emissions.

Sean also spoke about the potential of dairy beef by choosing easy calving sires that have more carcass weight than the easy calving bull as was often the choice in the past – no extra calving difficulty but significantly better beef merit calves.

Sean then outlines some changes that are on the cards for the EBI this year such as a review of the economic values used in the index and a base change to reflect better the cows that are now in the country.

Sean finishes by outlining how the benefits of genomics in terms of its ability to identify lethal genes such as HH3 which results in embryonic death. Identifying the carriers and using sire advice to avoid the breeding of positive cows and bulls can eliminate this negative embryonic death which is a major issue for seasonal calving systems. 

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 LastCastMedia.com

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, Joseph Dunphy discusses managing the remaining grazing area on the 1st rotation and he has a grazing update from Shane Seymour, Co. Tipperary.

Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:

https://bit.ly/Grass10-18thMarch

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 LastCastMedia.com

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, and with the great grazing conditions, Joseph Dunphy discusses reviewing grazing progress throughout March and he has a grazing update from Dara Killeen, Co. Galway.

Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: 

https://bit.ly/Grass10-11thMarch

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 LastCastMedia.com

Teagasc/Tírlan Future Farm programme farmer, David Fennelly, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss how the busy calving period is progressing, and he outlines his grazing management to date. 

David also explains how he will manage the coming weeks to ensure success as the herd heads towards peak production.  

Plus, programme advisor, Sandra Hayes, highlights where the programme farmers are at with regards to grazing and nutrient management this spring. 

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 LastCastMedia.com

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, Joseph Dunphy discusses reviewing your AFC in early March and he has a grazing update from the O’Callaghan family in Cork.

Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: 

https://bit.ly/Grass10-4thMarch

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 LastCastMedia.com

Tommy Cox, Teagasc Dairy Beef500 Programme Advisor, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss calf sales this spring.

Tommy outlines what farmers should do from the moment the calf hits the ground in order to have them as fit and healthy as they can when it comes to sale time.

He discusses the important relationships that farmers are forging around the sale of calves in the last few years and how it is important that these are maintained for the good of both.

While prices are strong presently, compared to previous years, Tommy argues that there is a value in the relationships that have been developed over the years and that people need to factor this in when setting the prices of calves. The price paid is a significant factor in the profitability at the end of the day and that is important for the future sustainability of the calf-beef farms.

Tommy also explains that when buying a calf, a farmer should be looking for a healthy calf, a calf of known parentage, otherwise you are buying an unknown animal, and finally, to have a price that you can give for the calf but not to compromise on the health or the genetics of the calf in order to meet that price.   

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 LastCastMedia.com

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, and with the challenging week's weather, Joseph Dunphy discusses getting one grazing per day and he has a grazing update from Ben and Robin Mooney, Co. Wicklow.

Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:

https://bit.ly/Grass10-25thFebruary

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 LastCastMedia.com

Shane Leane, technical sales manager with Progressive Genetics, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the importance of milk recording.  He also outlines how to ensure efficiency and accuracy throughout the process. 

Plus, Shane discusses how to use to data to maximise the benefit to your herd. 

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 LastCastMedia.com