This year’s annual Irish Grassland Association (IGA) dairy conference, due to take place on Wednesday January 10, 2024 has been titled ‘Focusing on our strengths’, and will follow on from a Gala dinner the night before.
The two day event, sponsored by Yara, will take place in the Charleville Park Hotel, Co. Cork.
The conference will have three sessions and eight different speakers to tell their stories.
The first session will focus on managing challenging milk prices. It will be chaired by IGA council member Patrick Gowing.
Chief economist with the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), Tadhg Buckley will look at international milk markets, and explain what is underpinning current milk prices. He will also offer expert advice on how to analyse variable and fixed costs on farms.
Dairy farmer, GD Young previously farmed in Scotland before moving to Ireland. He will join the session to compare and contrast his low cost grass-based system that he operates now with his former high output or high input type system that he operated in Scotland.
Session two will look at healthy herd and milk quality this spring. It will be chaired by Agriculture Science Association (ASA) president Niamh Bambrick.
During this session, Waterford vet, Ger Cusack will discuss the impact that cow lameness can have on the herd, and how to reduce it.
He will be joined by milk quality expert Don Crowley, who will focus on getting milk quality right from the start of lactation, controlling milk cell counts and reducing mastitis levels in the herd.
Meath dairy farmer Laura Hannon will speak about her farms approach to herd health and particularly calf health and calf rearing.
IGA council member Michael Egan will chair the final session, which will focus on managing systems to suit the business.
The panel will have three young farmers: David Dolan, Owen Ashton, and Mark Collins.
IGA social event
After what the IGA described as “positive feedback” to hold a social element to the dairy conference, it will return (Tuesday, January 9) the evening before the main annual event at 7.30p.m.
The evening will begin with a three course Gala dinner, followed by and interview by IGA’s Laurence Sexton with Professor of Public Health in University College Dublin (UCD), Dr. Paddy Wall.
Wall’s research areas include food safety, nutrition and managing lifestyle related disease through behavioural change.
Tickets for the Gala dinner cost €45 per person or a table of 10 people for €390, and must be purchased directly with the Charleville Park Hotel.