The idea of the Teagasc Green Acres Calf to Beef Programme is to share information from the 14 participating farms with beef producers across the country to help farmers improve the performance of their businesses.
The programme will follow the progress made over the next three years by 14 beef farmers who are all buying and finishing dairy-bred calves.
It follows on from the first successful phase of the programme that ended in 2018.
The programme’s manager – Teagasc’s Alan Dillon and two dedicated full-time programme advisors, David Argue and Seán Cummins – will work closely with each of the 14 farmers.
- Better grassland management;
- Calf rearing skills;
- Animal health;
- Financial management;
- Overall farm planning.
As part of the programme, best practice will be demonstrated at farm level on the sustainable rearing, growing and finishing of purchased dairy-bred calves through to beef.
Also, regional groups of drystock farmers will meet regularly on each of the demonstration farms and the physical and financial progress / results from the programme will be available to the wider beef community.
While AgriLand has already profiled some of the farmers involved in the programme over the past number of weeks, here’s a closer look at the participants and the systems they will be operating over the next three years.
The farms are located in: Mayo; Westmeath; Longford/Galway; Kildare; Roscommon; Louth; Carlow; Wexford; Tipperary; Limerick; Cork; Kilkenny; Waterford; and Meath.
To follow all the coverage of the programme, just click here