With the festive period kicking off, Agriland has decided to revisit some of the most popular articles from the 2022 Dairy Focus series, in a new Dairy throwback series.
In 2022, Agriland travelled the length and breadth of the country to visit dairy farmers and learn about their systems.
The Dairy throwback series will begin on Christmas Eve and run until January 2, with farmers from counties Kerry, Offaly, Cork and Sligo featuring in throwback series.
2022 has been a challenging year for dairy farmers, with input cost reaching all-time highs and adverse weather conditions leading to inconsistent grass growth.
However, due to strong milk prices, it has been a fairly good financial year for dairy farmers.
Forecasts for 2023 show decreasing milk prices and continual rising costs on farms. And with changes to the nitrates and the introduction of banding, some challenges can be expected over the coming months.
Dairy Focus articles will continue in 2023 and Agriland will be obtaining insight into how farmers are dealing with these challenges.
Dairy throwback
The series will contain five revisits – including a visit to a dairy farmer and YouTuber in Kerry and a dairy and pig farmer in Cork and more – giving a look back at a range of different systems being operated on Irish farms.
The other throwbacks include a young dairy farmer in Sligo farming on a leased farm, a young female farmer continuing the winter milk tradition on her farm and a farm in Kerry producing pedigree Holstein heifers.
Unfortunately, we could not include all of our 2022 Dairy Focus articles in the series.
Some other notable visits not included are:
- Dairy Focus: A return to cows in Co. Tipperary;
- Dairy Focus: Milking 150 British Friesian cows in Co. Wexford;
- Dairy Focus: ‘Winter milk is a system that’s not working’.
There are many more, all of which can be seen on the Agriland Dairy Focus page, or by clicking here.
Dairy farmers across Ireland who enjoy the Agriland Dairy Focus series and would like to feature in it can contact: [email protected].
And finally, myself, Brian McDonnell, and all the team at Agriland would like to wish all of our readers a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.