Brian McDonnell

Brian McDonnell Profile Picture

Brian McDonnell is from Raheny, Co. Dublin. He has an honours degree in Sustainable Agriculture from Dundalk IT. He has worked on dairy and beef farms in both Ireland and the UK, including Teagasc Grange and a large-scale 650-cow dairy farm which also had a 1,200 animal youngstock-rearing farm in Scotland. He has a keen interest in agriculture and particularly the dairy sector and in his spare time is active in local rugby and golf.

Making bales: Killing two birds with one stone
Making bales: Killing two birds with one stone

Silage bales have a vital role to play on farms, not only for feeding in the winter, but for maintaining...

Dairy Focus: Robotic milking complementing a tillage operation
Dairy Focus: Robotic milking complementing a tillage operation

For this week’s Dairy Focus, Agriland made the trip to Co. Laois to meet with James Brennan on his dairy farm in...

Grass growth: Focus needs to be placed on quality
Grass growth: Focus needs to be placed on quality

The last few weeks have seen an improvement in both grass growth and grazing conditions across the country. While moisture...

Have we comprised cow health for fertility?
Have we comprised cow health for fertility?

The latest economic breeding evaluations have been released by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and after some analysis, it...

Dairy advice: Ensuring cows have access to water
Dairy advice: Ensuring cows have access to water

Summer appears to have arrived as temperatures are starting to rise, which means that ensuring that cows have access to...

Breeding season: Don’t turn out the stockbull too early
Breeding season: Don’t turn out the stockbull too early

The breeding season is underway on dairy farms, which means that the workload on farms has once again increased for...

Breeding season: Assessing the first three weeks
Breeding season: Assessing the first three weeks

The majority of spring-calving herds have now passed week three of the breeding season and are at a good time...

Dairy advice: BCS and SDCT for autumn-calving cows
Dairy advice: BCS and SDCT for autumn-calving cows

It is now time to start looking at the body condition score (BCS) of autumn-calving cows. Many autumn-calving herds will...

Breeding season: Preventing embryo loss in cows
Breeding season: Preventing embryo loss in cows

Most farms are hitting the three-week mark of the breeding season and ideally, 90% of cows and 100% of heifers...

Dairy advice: Keeping on top of grass quality
Dairy advice: Keeping on top of grass quality

Having high-quality grass in front of cows is vital to allow for the production of high-quality milk on dairy farms....

In pictures: Tomacork production sale in Carnew
In pictures: Tomacork production sale in Carnew

Carnew Mart conducted the production sale of Hughes family’s Tomacork herd on Wednesday (May 17), with 96 lots on offer...

Dairy advice for the busy month of May
Dairy advice for the busy month of May

In general, farms are a busy place, and during the month of May in particular they are often at their...

Grass growth: High growth rates have arrived
Grass growth: High growth rates have arrived

The weather looks to have improved and along with that, a boost in grass growth has finally arrived for most....

Proper management of clover swards post-sowing
Proper management of clover swards post-sowing

Clover has a major role to play in the agriculture sector’s efforts to achieve its emission reduction targets, while also...

‘Rising Stars’ head for new Charolais calf show
‘Rising Stars’ head for new Charolais calf show

The North Eastern Charolais Club is set to host a new ‘Rising Stars Calf Show’ for pedigree Charolais calves. The...

Lely Atlantic to host robotic milking event
Lely Atlantic to host robotic milking event

Lely Atlantic is offering farmers interested in hearing more about robotic milking a chance to hear from three farmers milking...

MTU to host dairy policy seminar next week
MTU to host dairy policy seminar next week

The agricultural sector as a whole is facing a number of challenges, which include some significant changes to dairy policy....

Breeding season: The importance of monitoring submission rates
Breeding season: The importance of monitoring submission rates

As the breeding season gets underway on farms it is important that submission rates are monitored to ensure that targets...