Vivian Silke from Co. Galway has been appointed as a cattle knowledge transfer specialist with Teagasc.
The new addition to Teagasc’s team of beef specialists will cover the west and midlands region and he will be based at Teagasc’s Mellows Campus in Athenry, Co. Galway.
Silke will join a team led by Pearse Kelly; Teagasc’s team of cattle specialists also includes Aidan Murray, Karen Dukelow and Alan Dillon.
The Galway native will be working with the Teagasc’s business and technology drystock advisors, cattle farmers and the wider beef industry to “increase the adoption of technology at farm level to improve the physical and financial performance on farms”.
Vivian Silke has been appointed as a cattle knowledge transfer specialist with Teagasc
It is understood that Silke will work with Teagasc research teams in identifying and implementing relevant cattle research, as well as working with advisors to develop and expand the beef advisory programme in conjunction with the drystock specialist team.
Silke originally joined Teagasc in 2000 and was initially based in Athenry. Earlier in his career, he held the role of a discussion group facilitator on a joint programme between Teagasc, Galway livestock marts and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
He qualified with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science Degree from University College Dublin (UCD), before attaining a Masters of Agricultural Science and a Diploma in Financial Management from Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT).
It’s a challenging time at the moment for all cattle producers, who are facing pressures from the marketplace and high costs due to inclement weather, Silke said.
“However the 2016 e-Profit monitor analysis shows that achieving higher levels of technical performance, coupled with high stocking rates, is the best way for individual drystock farmers to protect their incomes,” he concluded.