An event titled ‘Future proofing farmyards’ is set to take place on Friday (January 13) in Co. Tipperary.

Tips on farmyard design and minimising the storage required by farmers, along with the costs, design options and common problems found in yards will all be discussed.

The event is taking place on the dairy farm of Graham Harding in Borrisokane (Eircode E45vy58) and is set delve into common problems and find practical solutions for them.

Speaking on the day will be:

  • Patrick Gowing, dairy expansion specialist, Teagasc;
  • Fiona Doolan, sustainability advisor (ASSAP), Teagasc;
  • Gillian Delahunty, agricultural scientist, Tipperary County Council;

Organiser of this event, Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Masters student Róisín McManus, is carrying out research for the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP).

The title of her study is ‘Achieving improvements in water quality through targeted organic manure storage advice‘.

As part of the research, she is holding this event this Friday at 11:00a.m to discuss all things related to farmyards.

The event aims to inform farmers of the common problems found as a result of farmyard assessments, the implications of insufficient organic manure storage and to update and prepare farmers for future storage regulations.

About the host farm

The host dairy farm is situated between Borrisokane and Ballingarry. It is ran by Graham Harding, as mentioned above, who is a new entrant to dairy post-quotas.

Graham is milking 115 cows on a 64ha milking platform. Performance on the farm in 2022 was described as exceptional at 560kg milk solids/cow on 1.2t meal fed.

Graham’s yard is built into the side of a hill which creates issues with yard design and run-off from roadways. Slopes create problems on many yards and how to solve these issues will be addressed at the event.