Analysis: Seasonal tips from The Beef Edge, the podcast bringing experts and their knowledge right into a farmer's home, tractor cab or jeep
The dynamics of beef farming in Ireland have changed. For many, a move away from full-time operations to more part-time enterprises has become the new norm. Farming activities niw compete with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, off-farm work commitments, family time, and leisure and social activities.
This move has provided challenges aplenty. Where the previous generation of farmers were once free to attend farm events, engage in peer-to-peer learning through discussion group participation or even meet their dedicated advisor during working hours, off-farm work commitments now take precedence for many of the next generation of Irish beef farmer. A visit to your local livestock mart during working hours will confirm this.
At the same time, there is an appetite amoung the beef farming community for technical information to improve the three P's of their business – performance, production and profitability - along with having access to the latest technical advice and scientific research to help Irish agriculture reach its environmental targets.
Who would have thought that a podcast on beef farming would be serving as a critical knowledge transfer tool?
Another 'P' has turned out to be a solution to this. Launched in December 2019, The Beef Edge podcast features the latest news, information and advice to improve beef farm performance. It's something which is accessible to farmers at a time that suits them, whether that be during their commute to off-farm work, walking their farms or even driving the tractor. Farmers across the country, and in fact the world, tune in weekly to hear from Teagasc and industry stakeholders. Who would have thought that a podcast on beef farming would be serving as a critical knowledge transfer tool?
Central to the success of the podcast is the ability to bring leading experts and their knowledge right into the farmer's home, tractor cab or jeep. Here, then, are five things every beef farmer needs to know this spring.
Nutrition
Although often a secondary concern of the beef farmer, nutrition plays an essential role in successful beef farming systems. Too often, farmers rely on over-the-counter advice at their local agri-merchant to find the solution, often resulting in an outlay in concentrate feeds. However, Teagasc has a dedicated nutritional arm, focused on sharing the right advice and promoting the correct practices to feed Irish ruminant animals as effectively – both in terms of performance and economics - as possible.
We need your consent to load this Spotify contentWe use Spotify to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Teagasc nutritionist Aisling Claffey highlighted the primary nutritional concerns around calving time on a recent podcast, from body condition score – the reserves of energy the cow holds – to metabolic or nutritional conditions. Overall, cows were in good condition in housing this winter, but cows should be fed 65-68 dry matter digestibility (DMD) silage to manage body condition during the dry period. Cows should be penned accordingly to ensure that thin cows are not bullied at the feed barrier and receive adequate feed. Aisling discusses the key ingredients in a pre-calving mineral to support foetal development and the variety of options for supplementing minerals.
Caring for the newborn calf
Spring is also a busy time in the working year for large animal vets, but their input, advice and understanding of the elements required to ensure a successful calving season and the newborn calf is cared for cannot be underestimated. Here, Teagasc researcher and vet John Donlon focuses on calving the suckler cow and discusses the essentials farmers can do to prepare, what items to have ready and the key steps when it comes to intervening when a cow is calving as well as different calf birthing presentations.
Donlon also explains how to care for the newborn calf. Colostrum is very important, especially 'the 1,2,3 of colostrum' in which you use the first milk (colostrum) from the cow; feed the calf colostrum within the first two hours of birth; and calves must be offered at least 3L of good quality colostrum. He also outlines the importance of dipping or spraying the calves navel to prevent infection. There are a number of ailments that can arise, in relation to calf scour and respiratory issues, and he explains the best ways to prevent and treat them.
Fertiliser do's and don'ts
As thoughts on farms move to fertiliser application, it is important for farmers to be up to date with the various rules and regulations surrounding nitrates. Teagasc specialist Tim Hyde outlines the open period for chemical fertiliser, farm yard manure and slurry across the different zones as well as the regulations around roadways, storing bales and buffer zones. Tim discusses the differences between various stocking rates and the rules that apply.
Mark Plunkett from the Teagasc Signpost programme outlines fertiliser application for the year ahead. Mark reviewed 2024 regarding fertiliser usage. 2024 proved to be a challenging grass growing year and was perhaps the reason for increased chemical Nitrogen use. He highlighted the importance of lime, especially as 65% of soils are deficient in lime; if lime was corrected on grazing ground there are multiple benefits.
Grassland management
The temperate Irish climate combined with plentiful rain fall contributes to a lengthy grazing season from spring to autumn/early winter, which means grazed grass is the cheapest feed for milk and meat production in Ireland. Teagasc Grass10 advisor, Niamh Doyle, has a monthly update discussing grass management tips for the month ahead. Good grazing management in the spring will ensure a long grazing season whilst getting as much quality grass into the animals' diet.
Calf care
As calves start to be born on dairy farms Teagasc DairyBeef 500 advisors, Fergal Maguire and Tommy Cox, discuss key tips around milk replacer and calf housing to maximise calf performance. Fergal explains the pros and cos around skim based or whey based milk replacer before outlining the concentrate of replacer and its components. Temperature of milk is very important, as well as consistency of feeding at the same time daily.
Fergal also discusses the feeding of calves once a day after 4 weeks of age and how a farmer can best manage this transition to avoid any setbacks in animal performance. Tommy explains that good ventilation, adequate space, good drainage and warm sheds that are clean and comfortable are essential. Good ventilation to ensure air is fresh and no draughts are important. Natural ventilation is used in the vast majority of calf houses. Calves spend about 80% of their time lying down so they need a dry bed. They perform best at 15 to 20 degrees Celsius and hygiene is obviously very important.
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
Catherine Egan is a Beef Specialist at the Teagasc Advisory & Training Centre. She is the presenter of the Beef Edge podcast
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
