Farmers and beef industry personnel from across the country gathered at the Landmark Hotel, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim, on Tuesday evening, November 19, for the 2024 Teagasc National Beef Conference.
The event – which took place on International Men’s Day – was well attended with a range of topics relevant to beef farmers covered, from the use of red and white clover to staying resilient on the farm through stressful times of the year.
Research officer at Teagasc Grange, Co. Meath, Dr. Peter Doyle, delivered a presentation titled: ‘The impact of red and white clover on animal performance in suckler calf-to-beef production systems’.
The insightful presentation at the National Beef Conference detailed research demonstrating that the use of red and white clover reduces nitrogen (N) fertiliser requirements and improves animal performance by up to 18kg (carcass weight) in suckler calf to beef systems.
Doyle emphasised that management practices can impact the clover persistence in the sward and cautioned against compaction of red clover when spreading slurry and leaving heavy covers of grass on red clover fields over the winter.
Next up was senior research officer at Teagasc Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, Dr. Patrick Forrestal who delivered a presentation titled: ‘Nutrient management strategies that can reduce costs and address environmental pressures’.
The Teagasc researcher mentioned tools available to farmers such as lime application, protected urea, sulphur and plantain and the environmental benefits these can have on Irish farms.
He gave details on new research that shows how the use of plantain in swards can help to reduce nitrate leaching with sward yields remaining similar or slightly improved.
He also said that sulphur application can reduce nitrate leaching and also boost yield and N use efficiency – especially in free-draining soils.
Research officer at Teagasc Grange, John Donlon gave farmers advice on reducing the risk of pneumonia or Bovine Respiritory Disease (BRD) when weaning suckler-bred calves from their cows.
Session two heard from Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM’s) Eoin Ryan who explained the serious risks of bluetongue to the Irish farming industry and what can be done to reduce the risk of an outbreak in Ireland.
He warned farmers against importing livestock, semen or embryos and said that Ireland is the only country in north-western Europe with no confirmed bluetongue outbreak and detailed the major impacts an outbreak would have on the Irish cattle and sheep industries.
Teagasc’s Future Beef programme manager Martina Harrington detailed the management practices on the Future Beef suckler farms that are being implemented to help drive both economic and environmental sustainability.
The final speaker of the night was Shane Pearson from Design Your Life Coaching who gave an presentation titled: ‘Staying resilient on the farm through stressful times of the year’.
He explained that beef farming is a difficult job and stress is “inevitable” in the sector but detailed five areas farmers can work on to help build resilience to the stresses associated with beef farming.
Teagasc’s Laurence Shalloo drew the National Beef Conference to a close and thanked the large crowd who attended the event.