The Beef Edge Teagasc

With the upcoming Irish Grassland Association National Beef walk taking place on Tuesday 11th June, suckler and sheep farmer Martin Shaughnessy from Co. Mayo, and the Irish Grassland Association Beef chairperson, Paddy Casey, are on this week’s Beef Edge to discuss Martin’s system and the upcoming open day.
 
Martin runs a suckler-to-weaning system while also lambing approximately 150 ewes – a typical suckler and sheep operation in the west of Ireland.
 
Martin now runs a herd of sixteen three-quarter-bred Limousin dams mated to Belgian Blue sires each year. Maiden heifers are crossed back to Limousin genetics while sexed semen was also introduced in 2023. Breeding season has gone very well with all cows inseminated.
 
The sheep enterprise consists of Suffolk and Texel-cross ewes – split lambing at the start of February and then again around St. Patrick’s day each year. The ewes are synchronised to leave the management during lambing easier. 
 
The suckler system is quite simple.  The cattle rotationally graze a 10-12 ac block on the home farm which is laid out in paddocks under a leader-follower system.
 
Martin is also involved in the Teagasc Agricultural Catchments Programme with the farm located in the Cregduff catchment, east of Ballinrobe town, Co. Mayo (Eircode F12PR23).
 
The farm walk is a free event and is very kindly sponsored by FBD Insurance. Flame grilled burgers will be available at 6pm sharp for those who wish to arrive early and the event will get underway at 6:30pm, finishing at 8:30pm.
 
For further details go to: 
https://www.irishgrassland.ie/event-detail/beef-walk-mayo/
 
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Future Beef farmer, Trevor Boland, who operates an autumn calving suckling system in county Sligo is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to give an update on the farm including harvesting of silage and management of grass in the coming weeks. 
 
With current weather conditions very changeable, Trever discusses how he has some first cut silage harvest and the rest will be made in the coming days.
 
There are currently four groups of stock on the farm grazing and he outlines the management of the various groups in the coming weeks. 
 
Silage quality is very important on the farm as Trevor avoids feeding concentrates to cows. He discusses his fertiliser programme on grazing and silage ground and the management of cows pre-calving
 
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

For this joint Beef Edge and Ovicast podcast with Catherine Egan and Ciaran Lynch,
Future Beef Farmer, Olivia Hynes from Roscommon, discusses how she is managing grass this year and how mixed grazing is working on her farm.
 
Olivia describes the farm system and how this spring has been on the farm. She is using 100% AI with breeding in full swing and she discusses various sires she has selected. 
 
Weanlings are targeted for the export sales and Olivia keeps 10-12 heifers as replacements annually.  Olivia complements the suckler enterprise with an early to mid-season ewe flock.   Scanning & weaning percentages are excellent with all lambs finished off grass to factory specification.
 
Over 90% of the farm is free draining brown acid soil, with moderate to good fertility. Olivia has been working on improving fertility for a number of years and liming is a priority to correct pH levels.  
 
Olivia also outlines the paddock system that she has put in and how it is working for her and she discusses her plan for managing grass in the summer, balancing the demand of the different groups of stock as priorities arise.
 
For further details go to: 
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/beef/demonstration-farms/future-beef-programme/farmers/olivia-hynes/
 
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Teagasc Researcher, David Kenny, is on this week’s Beef edge podcast to discuss how to deal with current breeding issues and the key tips to be aware of.
 
With extended housing this spring, David outlines the  impact this has had on suckler cow fertility and body condition. 
 
In some cases breeding season has been delayed by 2-3 weeks. With some cows only calved in the last 3 weeks, David discusses a plan for these cows with synchronisation programmes and timed AI. Further details can also be found here:
https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/beef/Oestrous-Synchronisation-or-Timed-Insemination-Tech-Note.pdf 
  
David says that stock bull fertility is a major concern with approximately 20% of bulls sub-fertile, and keeping records is essential. Carrying out a mid-season scan will allow any issues be detected early.
 
David discusses the research being carried out in Grange on breeding at the moment which will cover, AI, calving heifers at 24 months and breeding technologies at the BEEF 2024 Open Day taking place on Wednesday 26th June 2024 at Teagasc Grange, Co. Meath. 
 
For further details:
https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/news/2024/beef2024-openday-launched.php 
 
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

DairyBeef 500 advisor, Tommy Cox, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with an update on the programme farms, management tips for the coming weeks and he discusses the weaning process. 
 
It has been a challenging spring and Tommy outlines the targets on the farms up to weaning.  He describes the weaning process on the farms and the amount of concentrates fed to calves at grass. 
 
In a lot of cases weanlings were 30-40 kg behind target at housing last autumn and Tommy outlines the management plan for yearlings at grass to achieve compensatory growth. 
 
And in the coming weeks silage will be harvested on the programme farms and surplus heavy covers will be removed to help manage grass for the next rotation.
 
Calf health is critical too, with coccidiosis and worm burden being an issue in the coming weeks.
 
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com 

Margaret Brennan, Assistant Principal Officer over Beef Schemes with the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, is on the Beef Edge podcast to discuss the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) course. 
 
One of the eligibility conditions of SCEP participation requires that participants MUST complete the mandatory SCEP training course by 15 November 2024.
 
The Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, with the assistance of ICBF and Teagasc, and with contributions from Bord Bia and the Health & Safety Authority (HSA), have developed the mandatory SCEP training course consisting of seven modules. 
 
This online training course will help participants successfully implement the actions within SCEP and advise the best practices in farm safety and livestock handling. 
 
Participants  must complete all SCEP online training modules by 15 November 2024 to remain in the programme. This online course is now available to all SCEP participants on the website www.sceptraining.ie
 
A letter outlining the details on how to access the training, including the participants pin to use when activating your account, is available on Agfood account under the link for Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme
 
Failure to complete all modules of the online training course by 15 November 2024 will result in you being removed from SCEP and any monies paid under the programme plus the cost of your genomics tests will be recouped.
 
Screenshot instructions on the process of activating accounts, logging into the training and progressing through the training modules are included in the guide, which also covers frequently asked questions here:
https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/291585/cc968e73-db00-4f1a-b465-4ac1bf7cb4d3.pdf#page=null 
 
For any participants having technical difficulties or requiring assistance in logging into the training, help is available by email at support@sceptraining.ie or by phone at 074 9707756.
 
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com