Organic specialist Joe Kelleher joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge podcast to discuss organic dairy and consider whether it has a role within the context of Irish milk production systems.

Joe differentiates the income in organics compared with conventional dairy which include:
- Lower stocking rate (average 1.5 LU/ha)
- No chemical Nitrogen application
- Greater integration of white clover, red clover and multi species in grazing swards
- Higher concentrate price (double the cost of non-organic meals per tonne)
- Higher milk price (7-9 c/litre above conventional price)
- Organic payment scheme

With the advent of reduced chemical fertiliser allowances as well as inflated fertiliser costs, Joe draws on some key principles that conventional dairy farmers can adopt from organic farmers including more targeted use of slurry to get true value from the N-P-K, use of lime and integration of clover and multi-species to fix Nitrogen.

For more information:
https://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/organics/

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