John Conroy, Dairy Advisor in Teagasc Nenagh, and Jim Delahunty, dairy farmer, join Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss closing the farm for 2025. John says it has been an exceptional year for the most part, in the area he covers, with people complaining about making bales at this stage which is a far cry from the situation experienced in 2024. However, the recent dry spell has reduced the building of grass having come from a very strong position in early to mid-August. John encourages people to continue to work on building the cover between here and the start of the last round. Jim says that he has grown well in the last week but his demand is high so he is considering housing cows by day in order to reduce demand to exploit growth over the next week or two to increase farm cover. He has also blanket spread the farm to drive growth once the rain came and this has helped close the gap. Jim also discusses how he is going to drop his stocking rate next year as he isn’t getting enough reseeding done at his current stocking rate. John and Jim then cover the targets of closing the farm to ensure that there is grass in the spring as this worth multiples to him more than it is in the autumn. Finally, John says to close the farm in the way you want to graze in the spring targeting the best, most accessible for the early grazing which means targeting these for grazing in the second half of October to have the right cover to acclimatise the cows to grazing again. 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, John Maher discusses current grazing management and advises using the higher grass growth now to build grass into the autumn as many farms are behind on grass supply. He also highlights this week’s feature farm, the O’Dea Farm Partnership, who are having a phenomenal grazing year with 14 tons DM/ha grown already with an input of 140 units N/acre and superb clover! Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:https://bit.ly/grass10-16thSeptember2025 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
Seamus Kearney, Teagasc Tirlán Joint Programme Co-ordinator, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss soil fertility actions that can still be taken despite the chemical fertiliser deadline passing for 2025. Firstly, Seamus outlines the reduction in chemical nitrogen in the last 9 years and these reductions are becoming more conspicuous where soil fertility isn’t on point. Seamus explains that lime is magic as it frees up 70-80kgs of N and frees up P and K that are locked up in the soil. With increased output and output value in 2025, farmers may be exposed to the higher rate of tax and every €1 invested in lime can generate a return of 7:1 and if you’re in that high tax bracket, there is another win in that you can reduce the tax exposure but get really good value from the spreading of it this year and for subsequent years also. Seamus also talks about K fertiliser applications and recommends that farmers apply 1 bag of Muriate of Potash (MOP) to increase the K levels as this will improve N utilisation and increase grass growth. Seamus discusses bringing soil samples to life either by having the map on the tractor or by some form of markings out in the paddocks that will quickly identify the paddocks that need the different nutrients Finally, Seamus says that people should keep things simple and by using protected urea and 18-6-12 and MOP for their fertiliser programme it is both environmentally friendly and €20/cow on current prices cheaper than other fertiliser regimes which can save €2000 for the average 100 cow 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
For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and as many farms are behind on grass supply, he advises using the higher grass growth now to build grass into the autumn. The featured farmer is Patrick O’Neill from Longford, who is having a good year with grazing and is on target! Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:https://bit.ly/Grass10-9thSeptember2025 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
Padraig O’Connor, technologist with Teagasc, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to outline how farmers should manage their herd somatic cell count this autumn, how to make best use of the milk recording information and what to do with identified problem cows. 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, John Maher discusses current grazing advice as some farms are dealing with low grass supply. He also talks about the featured farmer Mike Ahern, who is the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year, and who is opening his farm to the public on Tuesday Sept 9th at 11am , in Ballyduff Co. Waterford. For more go to:https://youtu.be/kbrAbDg7Hrc Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:https://bit.ly/Grass10-2ndSeptember2025 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
Ruth Fennell, Collaborative Farming Specialist, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the various collaborative farming options that exist. Ruth outlines the options that range from contract heifer rearing, nutrient sharing, machinery trading and land leasing to more commonly thought of collaborative farming options such as registered farm partnerships and share farming. Effectively, collaborative farming is of mutual benefit to both parties. Ruth then explains how the various options work in different scenarios and how different arrangements may be more appropriate for a given set of circumstances. The key to all of these arrangements are the people. If you have two people that work well together then you can decide the structure that suits their circumstances. Legal agreements need to be developed to protect everyone involved as, like any business, it could need to be dissolved for any number of reasons in years to come. If that situation arises, it is important that the structure can be dismantled relatively easily and this starts at the beginning with a clear exit strategy. There are financial incentives that are associated with some of the collaborative arrangements such as young farmer top-ups which should be accessed if appropriate but this will be case specific and what is right for you will depend on the circumstances. The availability of various grants should not be the sole reason for entering a registered farm partnership, especially if share farming is the more appropriate structure for your circumstances. Ruth finishes by outlining the planned Generational Renewal Week that will take place from 8-12thSeptember and people interested in viewing some of the webinars which will cover these arrangements, starting the conversation on succession and making a will as well as the taxes and reliefs available, can access the registration page by clicking here:https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e2st24BhQu6uJ1CdjETOGA#/registration 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, John Maher discusses current grass growth and predicted grass growth. Plus the featured farmer is Arthur Sweetman from county Wexford. Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:https://bit.ly/Grass10-26thAugust2025 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
George Ramsbottom, Head of the Teagasc Signpost Advisory Programme, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss how Irish dairy farmers can improve their farms’ carbon footprint. George outlines how there is a dedicated team of 21 climate advisors available through the Signpost Advisory Programme to offer farmers help and advice on how they can improve the environmental credentials of their own farms. 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, John Maher discusses current grazing advice as some farms are dealing with low grass supply. He also focuses on reviewing where fertiliser use needs to be. Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:https://bit.ly/Grass10-19thAugust2025 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
Emma-Louise Coffey, Programme Co-Ordinator for the Farm Manager Apprenticeship Programme, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss why young, skilled dairy farmers are important for the industry and what the farm apprenticeship course can offer both host farmers and aspiring young dairy farmers.For more information go to:https://teagasc.ie/education/apprenticeships/farm-manager/ 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, John Maher discusses current grazing advice as we approach autumn build-up of grass and while some farms, particularly in the southern coast, are very tight on grass supply. There is also a grazing update from Sean Phelan, from Kilkenny who is investing in grazing and currently on target for autumn build-up. Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:https://t.co/d7P7FYlZi5 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
John Maher, Teagasc Grass10 Programme Manager, joins Stuart Childs to discuss the current PastureBase figures and he explains the idea of autumn build-up and autumn grazing management. Firstly, John outlines the figures for the week explaining that on the majority of farms, there is currently way too much grass and that action needs to be taken to manage this situation sooner rather than later. He also talks about the impact of another spell of long rainfall on a proportion of farms along the south and east coast and what is happening there. Then he gets into the topic of autumn build-up and how to go about it:· Increase N application rates in August to increase supply· Remove young stock from the platform to reduce demand· Silage ground coming back increases supply· Reseeded ground coming back increases supply· Remove poor performing cull cows will reduce demand· Introduce supplementary feeding in the form of meal (may not be enough), silage, zero grazing etc. will lower the demand for grass thus giving it a chance to build The majority of people need to make autumn grazing management happen by doing something is the long and short of it and John recommends that people farm with ‘the head up’ to see what is happening and responding to it. For those that do and don’t measure, rotation length is a useful guide and the objective is to move to a 30 day rotation by Sept 1st. This is grazing 1/30th of the farm each day so 3 acres a day on a 90 acre platform for example. The objective is to build a wedge of grass to graze into in the autumn when growth eventually drops below herd demands which will normally start to happen in mid to late September. If you don’t have it then, you won’t be able to create it. John finishes by saying that the grazing season starts in the autumn not in the spring. The week’s Grass 10 newsletter features Cork dairy farmer Con Lehane and can be accessed at:https://sh1.sendinblue.com/3iqx0f848slpfe.html?t=1754411905519 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
It was another hugely successful Open Day at Moorepark this year with the theme of ‘Innovating for the Future’ showcasing the latest technology and insights into Irish dairy farming. For this bonus episode from the Dairy Edge, Stuart Childs and James Dunne used the opportunity to speak to some of those in attendance, including Denis Drennan from ICMSA, the IFA’s Francie Gorman and Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, as well as a number of dairy farmers to find out what they thought of the day and how their farming year has been. 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 current grazing advice as grass supply increases on farms and he has a grazing update from Chris Cahill, Co. Westmeath. Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:https://bit.ly/Grass10-29thJuly 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
Muireann Conneely, Teagasc dairy researcher who specialises in animal welfare, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge. Muireann discusses the impact of lameness on Irish dairy farms, detecting and dealing with lameness issues and putting prevention measures in place at farm level. 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 current grazing advice and he has a grazing update from Eoin Corrigan, Co. Meath. Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/Grass10-22ndJuly 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
Conor Hogan, Teagasc’s People in Dairy Programme Manager, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss share farming as an option for generational renewal. Conor discusses the importance of managing time to keep the length of the working day in check and also the importance of getting time off or away from the farm also. This can be helped by being structured in the way work is approached. This element of work organisation and the potential that it has to create a good working environment is critical to attracting the next generation of farmers into the fold. Generational renewal is a big ticket item now with people looking at their options and it can no longer be taken as a given that there is a natural successor that will be interested in taking over the farm. On the other hand there may also be people out there that are looking to farm but have no access to land. This creates opportunity and Conor goes on to discuss the idea of share farming as a solution to generational renewal in the absence of a natural successor. Conor says these arrangements can be win-win for both parties but that they are built on trust and communication. Conor highlights the importance of farms being well maintained ahead of the owner potentially stepping back in order to ensure there isn’t a mountain to climb in terms of investment in the business when the decision is made to take the next step. This can be a significant handicap to the young person coming in as it will undermine the technical efficiency of the business in the early years which is critical to driving the financial success of the arrangement. Finally, Conor says that people should try to get time off in the next few weeks and then look to the future in terms of what they can do on their own farms to reduce the hours that they have to work and what they need to put in place to facilitate them taking as much time off as they want or as they feel is necessary to allow them have a good balance in their own lives. The preliminary National Farm Survey report for 2024 can be accessing at:https://teagasc.ie/wp-content/uploads/uploads/NFS-Preliminary-Report-2024.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/ The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com
For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, as rainfall amounts start to increase, Joseph Dunphy discusses current grazing advice and he has a grazing update from Joe Morrissey, Co. Cork. Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: https://bit.ly/Grass10-15thJuly 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 dairy specialist, Pat Gowing, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss farmyard infrastructure and why good planning and design are key to ensuring good animal performance, ease of management and allow for future development. Teagasc are running a series of events looking at good farmyard design and investment and Pat outlines what will be discussed across these events nationally. For more information go to:https://teagasc.ie/rural-economy/farm-management/farm-buildings/events/ 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