The annual Irish Grassland Association’s 2015 Dairy Conference with a theme of ‘pathways to success post quota’ is almost sold out.
Sponsored by Yara the conference will take place on Thursday, January 8 in Cork, and organisers say few tickets remain.
This year’s event has a line up of speakers covering a range of topics, while the conference will focus on dealing with the last three months of quota, growing more grass, pathways into dairying and valuable lessons learned from New Zealand.
Getting the balance right between pre-grazing herbage mass, grass quality and grass growth impacts on the productivity and utilisation of grazed grass on farm, will be tackled while Dr Brian McCarthy, Teagasc Moorepark, will outline research findings in terms of growing more grass using different perennial ryegrass cultivars and white clover.
Donal Patton, Teagasc Ballyhaise, will share his experiences of using high stocking rates to utilise more grass. Michael Doran, dairy farmer, Co. Wexford will tell delegates how he manages his grass to grow 16 t DM/ha in a newly developed dairy enterprise.
As cow numbers have increased over the past few years many farmers may be over quota by April 1. The first three months of 2015 will be critical to reduce potential super levy fines and Matt Ryan, Dairy Consultant, will explore options to manage the last few months of quota and minimise superlevy costs.
Austin Finn, The Land Mobility Service, will give his recommendations on how to deal with the fears, needs, wants and expectations of different people considering collaborative faming and what they will need to enter an arrangement.
Tom Curran, Teagasc, will give an overview of collaborative farming options and the structures which need to be put in place.
The morning’s breakfast gathering which will be addressed by Prof. Paddy Wall has sold out and according to organisers of the Grassland conference few tickets remain for the main conference. These are still available to buy online through the Grassland Association website.