The Dairy Edge

The breeding season is coming up and with cows in low body condition after a tough spring with poor grass growth and poor grazing conditions, on this episode of the Dairy Edge, we speak to fertility expert, Stephen Butler about how to get cows fit for breeding.

On this week's episode of The Dairy Edge podcast we're focusing on sire selection for the upcoming breeding season and speak to Dairy Specialist George Ramsbottom while Donal Patton from Ballyhaise fills us in on the upcoming event at Ballyhaise Agricultural College.

On this week's episode of The Dairy Edge podcast we're finding out how to deal with the current grassland situation on dairy farms across Ireland after the recent challenging weather conditions. We speak to grassland researcher, Michael Egan, who advises each farmer to assess their own situation by completing a grass cover and updating their feed budget. John Maher also tells us about an upcoming Grass 10 event at Tim Crowley's farm in Bandon, Co. Cork. Tim was winner in the Young Farmer category of the Grassland Farmer of the Year competition for 2017 and the farm walk is being held on March 29th. For more information: Teagasc.ie

On this week's episode of The Dairy Edge podcast we speak to calf expert Emer Kennedy. Emer talks us through labour saving techniques around the calf rearing process from now until weaning. She explains that once-a-day calf feeding will reduce the labour input around calf care by one-third. Research has shown there is no difference in average daily gain between calves fed once-a-day or twice-a-day but there was a significant reduction in labour. For more information: https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2017/Section3-Milk-feeding.pdf https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2018/CalfcareeventBooklet.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyhwegNyjls

On this week's show we focus on the recovery on dairy farms after Storm Emma. Aidan Lawless, farm manager from Teagasc Johnstown Castle, explains how they are coping with the heavy snow. Aidan gives an insight into the change in diet of the spring and autumn calving cows in the last week, with the spring calving cows shifting from a grazed grass and concentrate diet to silage and concentrate indoors. He also mentioned the implications of rehousing cows, such as cases of mastitis. Joe Kelleher, dairy advisor from Newcastle West, gives advice on how to manage the dairy cow and grassland as conditions remains challenging on a lot of farms in the aftermath of the storm. Where cows are housed Joe emphasises the importance of practices to maintain high milk quality; keeping cubicles scrapped and limed, and stripping teats prior to milking. Joe recommends getting out with nitrogen to drive grass growth, Urea between now and St Patrick's Day and 18-6-12 from then on to provide a source of phosphorus and potassium to the growing grass plant.

On this week's show we focus on udder health. Don Crowley, mastitis expert and dairy advisor based at Teagasc Clonakilty, talks through the common strains of mastitis identified in Ireland and the declining trend of somatic cell count (SCC) in the national dairy herd. According to Don, good milking procedure will contribute to lower SCC in early lactation. Furthermore, research has shown elevated somatic cell count leads to lower profitability, resulting from lower milk production, higher culling rates and veterinary treatment costs. For more information: teagasc.ie

On this week’s show we focus on dairy breeding. We hear from Morgan O’Sullivan, PhD researcher from Teagasc, who explains the differences he has observed between dairy cows with elite and average EBI. Morgan talks through the differences in milk production, fertility and longevity of elite and average dairy cows, and the consequences for profitability.

On this week’s show we're focusing on spring grassland management with Michael Egan, Grassland Research Officer from Teagasc and Micheal O’Leary, Co-ordinator of PastureBase Ireland also explains what is involved in the PastureBase/Agrinet merger. For more information: teagasc.ie

This week’s episode of The Dairy Edge podcast focuses on feeding dairy cows in early lactation. Brian Garry, Nutrition Specialist from Teagasc Moorepark, explains the rapidly increasing energy requirements of dairy cows after calving, the intake capacity of freshly calved cows and the ideal diet to maximise energy intake. Aidan Lawless, Farm Manager of the Teagasc Johnstown Castle Dairy Herd gives a breakdown of the mixed calving dairy herd at Johnstown Castle. He talks us through the diet and milk production of the autumn calving herd and gives an insight into how their breeding season is going so far. Further information on the topics discussed on this week’s show include: Feeding the Dairy Cow https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/dairy/FeedingDiaryCow.pdf

On this week's show Emma-Louise Coffey gets expert advice on caring for newborn calves from Teagasc's Emer Kennedy including the 1-2-3 of proper colostrum management. For more: teagasc.ie

On this week's show, we focus on labour and grassland management. Pat Clarke from Teagasc Athenry has tips on how to reduce the heavy spring workload. He also outlines a labour survey that includes over 1,000 dairy farms (75 discussion groups), explaining the differences in work practices between the average and top 5% farmers included in the study. Kieran Kelleher from Curtin's Research Farm, Teagasc Moorepark, explains what preparation is being put in place for the upcoming calving season. At Curtin's Farm, 150 cows will calf this spring, with 130 cows (86%) of the herd calving in the first 6 weeks of the calving season. And John Maher, Campaign Manager of Grass 10, explains the initiative and sets out practical steps that famers can take to reach the Grass 10 objectives of 10 tonne grass DM per ha/year utilised and 10 grazings per paddocks/year. For more: teagasc.ie

On the first Dairy Edge podcast the focus is on spring fertiliser and fodder. Guests include Brian Garry, nutrition expert from Teagasc, Moore Park, dairy farmer, John Leahy and David Wall, research officer from Johnstown Castle. For more information go to Teagasc.ie