Dairy Technical
Grass utilisation on farms remains the key driver of farm profitability and sustainability on Irish dairy farms.
Dairy News
The Teagasc National Dairy Conference returned to an in-person event this year, with the first of two days taking place in Cork.
The cost of production of dairy farms is significantly higher than previous years, with the increased cost of inputs the main reason.
The National Dairy Conferences are set to return as in-person events in early December, it has been announced today (Thursday, November 3).
Yesterday (Tuesday November 23) marked the first day of the Teagasc National Dairy Conference, which is being held virtually.
Dairy
Dairy farmers urged to look inside their farmgate, to see where efficiency gains can be made, before considering further expansion.
If we were to switch half our CAN fertiliser over to protected urea, it would be the equivalent to the emissions of a 100,000 dairy cows.
Since the expansion period began in Ireland for dairy, many people are concerned that too much debt is being put on the industry.
About two-thirds of the extra milk solids produced has come from greater efficiency on farms or produced from the same amount of land.
While the abolishment of milk quotas has brought many positives to the sector, we must avoid a 'system drift'.
The clock is ticking until farmers from across the country will begin flocking to the 2019 Teagasc National Dairy Conference.
The objectives of the conference will be to examine the opportunities for Irish grass-fed dairy products.
Mastitis can be a costly problem. A straight forward, clinical case case costs around €150-200, without taking into account the loss of milk over the remainder of the lactation.
Europe must move to sell some of the skimmed milk powder stocks currently held in intervention, Michael Hanley, CEO of Lakeland Dairies, has warned.
There's huge potential to increase the amount of grass grown on dairy farms, delegates at the Teagasc National Dairy Conference heard.
There's a real risk in the new milk production environment that many dairy farmers will drift into higher cost open systems to feed expanded dairy herds.
The first half of 2016 will be critical for Irish dairy farmers, due to likely liquidity issues on farmers
Dairy farms in Ireland are entering a new era of expansion and growth and some may have to employ additional labour.
Restricting dairy cows access to grass silage during the day has been proven to reduce the number of cows calving at night time.
Breeding the right type of cow and breed selection causes much debate among dairy farmers.
