The Dairy Edge Teagasc

There has been welcome improvement in both growth rates and grazing conditions over the last couple of weeks and much of the attention on farms now turns to correcting the impact the spring has had on grass quality and making sure herds meet their nutritional needs throughout the breeding season. 
 
For this week’s Dairy Edge podcast, Teagasc senior research officer, Dr Mike Dineen, joins James Dunne to highlight the true nutritional value of grazed grass and explain how farmers need to balance grass quality and quantity to maintain milk production through the summer months.
 
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, as growth rates increase, Joseph Dunphy is joined by dairy farmer Michael Doran from Co. Wexford to discuss the management decisions he is making this week on his farm.
 
Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:
https://bit.ly/Grass10-14thMay
 
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

Attracta Dooley from FRS Training and Chloe Walsh, a secondary school teacher who helps her husband Pat on their farm outside Durrow in Co. Laois, join Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to talk about the upcoming FRS Training Best Practice in Milking Courses which commence on May 22nd in Pallaskenry Agricultural college.
 
For Chloe, she wanted to learn more about the whole milking process which was her incentive to complete the course in October of last year, and she says that while she already knew how to milk, the course gave her much greater confidence in what she was doing, taught her skills that she didn’t have beforehand and has also helped her when it comes to training people who are new to their farm when they arrive.
 
Attracta and Chloe both agree that there is no shortage of work on dairy farms milking cows for people that are interested and that contrary to people’s perceptions, it is quite flexible work. There is also great earning potential for people who are willing to do it.
 
Finally, Attracta details the dates of the upcoming courses and gives details of how to book by going to: 
https://www.frstraining.com/sectors/agriculture-horticulture/
 
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

On this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, Joseph Dunphy discusses PastureBase data, Dry Matter % and Predicted grass growth, rainfall & soil temperatures for the week. 
 
As grass growth is finally predicted to increase Joseph also discusses grazing management and he has a grazing update from Sustainable GFOY nutrient management category joint winner, Killian Brennan, from county Cavan.
 
Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter:
https://bit.ly/Grass10-7thMay
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

With the difficult grazing conditions throughout the spring it’s no harm to reflect on the last number of months as to what worked well and what can be improved for the future. 
 
It’s maybe more important though to identify the priorities in order to get back on track with the least impact, and on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast, James Dunne is joined by Teagasc Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer, Dr Joe Patton.
 
Joe offers advice to farmers around pasture management to ensure a high level of milk performance throughout the summer months and how to best ensure sufficient feed reserves are secured for next winter.
 
 
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: 
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

On this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, Joseph Dunphy discusses PastureBase data, Dry Matter % and Predicted grass growth, rainfall & soil temperatures for the week. 
 
With grass growth stubborn to increase as we enter May, Joseph discusses grazing management and he has an update from Sustainable GFOY Nutrient management category winner, Michael Carroll from Co. Limerick.
 
Link to this week’s Grass10 newsletter: 
https://bit.ly/Grass10-30thApril
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com