14 min listen
Key Learnings from the Heavy Soils Programme
FromThe Dairy Edge
ratings:
Length:
24 minutes
Released:
Oct 31, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Pat Tuohy, Programme Coordinator of the Heavy Soils Programme, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge podcast, to speak about the findings from the last ten years that have helped to develop a blueprint for resilient dairy farms on heavy soils across the country. Pat started by revisiting the wet years of 2009 and 2012 which were the catalyst for the commencement of the programme and explained that while, the initial focus on the programme was on drainage, after the first few years, the levels of soil fertility came to the fore and became a key focus area for all the farms. As a result of significant improvements made in this area, along with better farm infrastructure, large increases in grass utilisation have been achieved. Pat says that being good at all aspects of dairy farming from herd genetics and breeding management, as well as the grassland management, is important and that in the reality, the only difference between the heavy soils’ farms and other farms is the soil type and that the way the farmers on the programme manage all aspects of their operation is key to them running profitable operations in spite of their soil type. 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
Released:
Oct 31, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Udder Health: 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 nationa by The Dairy Edge