The Dairy Edge

Latest Episodes:

Let's Talk Dairy Bonus Episode: Dairy Farm Financial Outlook and Management Advice for 2020 Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

With the current lockdown restrictions in place, Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available afterwards as a bonus podcast episode. This week’s webinar discusses dairy farm financial outlook and management advice for 2020 with Patrick Gowing, Teagasc and Tadgh Buckley, AIB. For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Grass 10 Champion Bryan Daniels on running a sustainable and profitable dairy farm Jun 15, 2020

Show notes

Dairy farmer and Grass 10 champion Bryan Daniels joins Emma-Louise Coffey to give his insights into running a sustainable and profitable dairy farm. Bryan considers the key elements of sustainable dairy farming and to him this equates to a stocking rate of approximately 2.5 cows per ha on his farm, incorporating white clover, maintaining high levels of soil fertility, spreading 220 kg N and feeding a maximum of 400 kg concentrate supplementation per cow. Additionally, Bryan wants to have a farm that is an attractive place to work and changes to infrastructure such as the installation of a rotary milking parlour has halved milking time. Finally, Bryan gives an insight into the efforts to maintain and restore biodiversity including hedgerows and explains that the farm has actively engaged in environmental initiatives including REPS and GLAS. For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Let's Talk Dairy Bonus Episode: Sustainable Dairy Farming with the Fennelly Farmers Jun 12, 2020

Show notes

With the current lockdown restrictions in place, Teagasc is running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available afterwards as a bonus podcast episode. On this webinar, Richard O'Brien, Teagasc was joined by Teagasc/Glanbia Future Farm participants Tom & David Fennelly from Co. Laois to discuss how they are farming in an environmentally friendly way. This was followed by a social media takeover by the Fennellys on Teagasc Twitter & Instagram. For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Getting to grips with a cash shortfall Jun 08, 2020

Show notes

Firstly, John gives a view on the current agri-sector outlook from a banking perspective. On the supply side, he acknowledges that milk production across the world is up year-on-year in 2020 while the supermarket consumption of dairy products has not compensated for the significant drop in demand food service industry.

In terms of family farm incomes, Patrick explains the many dynamics at play including a reduction in milk price, potential loss of off-farm income and increased costs resulting from the current drought conditions.

John emphasises that the banks are open and willing to help farmers, offering increased overdraft facilities, interest-only loans and payment breaks including Agriflex which extend for up to 12 months.

Patrick recommends that farmers firstly establish the cashflow situation for the farm, establishing the revenue for milk and stock sales for the year as well as the costs incurred.

Looking to the remaining 7 months of 2020, Patrick recommends looking back to 2019 costs to get an accurate picture of costs for the business.

Both Patrick and John recommend that farmers should act fast to deal with any potential shortfalls in cash and re-iterated that there is help available within Teagasc and from your bank.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2018/Cash-Flow-and-Financial-Management-on-Dairy-Farms.pdf

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Tips to reduce the parasite challenge in replacement stock Jun 02, 2020

Show notes

Niamh explains that calves have no immunity to parasites when they are turned out to grass.

Gutworms and Lungworms are the main parasites the challenge calves at grass.

Symptoms of a gutworm burden include loose faeces, ill thrift and low growth rates. Niamh recommends that farmers alternate calf paddocks from year to year because gutworm eggs can survive over winter.

Symptoms of a gutworm burden include coughing and in severe cases pneumonia.

Niamh recommends that farmer carry out faecal sampling to monitor the number of eggs (gutworm) and larvae (lungworm) and consult with your local vet to identify the appropriate product and rate of treamtents.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2020/top-5-tips-to-reduce-parasite-issues-with-dairy-calves.php

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Let's Talk Dairy Bonus Episode: Using Beef Bulls on the Dairy Herd May 29, 2020

Show notes

With the current lockdown restrictions in place, Teagasc are running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available afterwards as a bonus podcast episode.
This week’s webinar discussed using beef bulls on the dairy herd and staying safe around the stock bull.
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Young Farmer of the Year Liam Hanrahan and achieving top performance on a heavy farm May 25, 2020

Show notes

Young Farmer of the Year Liam Hanrahan joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge to give an insight into his farming career, his research findings and future plans.

Liam farms in milking 180 dairy cows in partnership with his parents Willie and Catherine in Doonbeg, Co Clare. Liam describes the performance of the farm in 2019, producing 512 kg milk solids per cow, high fertility with an 82% 6 week calving rate and 14 tonne DM grass production.

Despite growing a lot of grass, Liam explains that farming on heavy clay and peaty soil combined with high rainfall presents challenging grazing conditions, allowing for a shorter grazing season from mid-March to late October.

Notwithstanding this, Liam credits grassland management as the key driver of the production performance achieved and emphasise the importance of measurement. Liam completed 40 measurements in 2019, including 2 measurements per week during peak growth.

Liam also provides information on the dairy economics research he carried out during his time completing research at Moorepark. Liam identified grass utilisation as the key driver of profit, for every additional 1 tonne of grass utilised profit increases by €173 per hectare.

Looking to the future, Liam explains they have reached optimal cow numbers on their milking platform and they are striving to hit high efficiency across all key performance indicators metrics on the farm.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Nutrition for peak milk production May 18, 2020

Show notes

Dairy specialist Joe Patton joins Emma-Louise Coffey on the latest Dairy Edge to discuss the nutrition requirements of dairy cows at peak milk production.

Joe quantifies peak milk production on spring calving dairy farms at 2.0-2.3 kg MS per day and identifies genetics as the factor that creates the potential for milk production whilst a tight calving pattern, increased herd maturity and diet and intake of the cow are the factors that contribute to peak.

At peak, Joe expects protein requirements are sufficiently at peak lactation where a grass makes up the majority of the diet.

Energy is the limiting factor and Joe explains that the quality of grass, and more specifically the proportion of fibre (stem) in grass will limit the intake and therefore, the energy intake.

Joe reminds us to ensure that mineral requirements of dairy cows are met in the form of minerals in meal or through water systems. Some of the important minerals include Calcium, Phosphorus, Salt, Magnesium, Selenium, Iodine and Cobalt.

For more information: https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/dairy/FeedingDiaryCow.pdf

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Let's Talk Dairy Bonus Episode: Protected Urea & Weaning Calves May 15, 2020

Show notes

With the current lockdown restrictions in place, Teagasc are running a weekly Let's Talk Dairy webinar series which is also being made available afterwards as a bonus podcast episode.

On this first webinar, Stuart Childs spoke to Patrick Forrestal about protected urea and Emer Kennedy about weaning calves.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Minimising the spread of mastitis in mid-lactation May 11, 2020

Show notes

Milk quality specialist Don Crowley joins Emma-Louise Coffey to discuss how to minimise the spread of mastitis in mid-lactation.

Staph aureus is the main source of mastitis and high SCC in dairy herds during mid-lactation. Don explains that this is a chronic mastitis in cows that existed in previous lactation and was masked in early lactation following dry cow therapy treatment. The risk associated with Staph aureus is the cross-contamination to other cows and cure consists of drying the high quarter or culling the cow.

Don recommends that farmers continue to milk record this year and to use the figures to make decisions around controlling SCC and longer-term decisions around maintaining a healthy and profitable cows.

Don emphasises the value and importance of milk recording in terms of the information it offers your herd. Where the service of a recorder is not currently available, farmers should consider DIY milk recording during the COVID-19 challenge.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

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