Grassroots Farm Magazine Mar/Apr 2015 by Grass Roots

FARM March / April 2015

F R EE

ma g a z i n e

CLAAS View Ai & Breeding

Animal Health

Know Your President

Q&A Liam Dunne

WELCOME

Contents NEWS 04. Forestry 05. News 10. Farm Safety Livestock 12. AI and Breeding 18. Bull Sales 21. Cattle Animal Health 24 Sheep Animal Health 25. Reseeding Tillage 28. Q & A Liam Dunne 30. Legislation and Greening Machinery 32. SIMA 34. FTMTA Show 35. Farm Models

elcome to Grassroots Farm. Like new life on a spring morning, a new farm focused publication is born. We are a free publication with a driven goal. To supply the reader with a quality read that is interesting, informative and has diverse content that you would normally expect to pay for. We also want to provide an opportunity for quality advertising that is accessible and affordable for small and medium enterprises to reach their target audience on both a print and online multimedia platform. This is a completely Irish publication and proud of it too. Produced and printed in Cork, designed in Mayo, contributors from Laois, Kildare and Limerick and finally distribution from Tipperary. I want to take this opportunity to thank the team behind this issue for their hard

Macra/Youth 36. Know Your President work, belief and enthusiasm. We hope you take time to relax with your copy of Grassroots Farm March/ April 2015 and enjoy it so that you look forward to picking up our future issues. It is a busy spring content, packed edition with AI, Breeding, Reseeeding, Machinery show reports, Macra President Candidate interviews, Liam Dunne IFA interview and so much more. If you want us to cover any issue or story, please feel free to contact us through any means of contact shown on this page. we would be delighted to hear from you. This publication comes to you free due to our advertisers. I want to take this time to encourage you to support them and mention love from Grassroots Farm. Now please take time from your busy schedule to sit back and enjoy Grassroots Farm. Until next time, Jason Webb, Editor

Next Issue Crop Sprays, Silage, Forage crops, Renewables/Energy. Out 29th April Grassroots Farm needs you! Please send us any stories, images or anything else that you might consider of interest to us: editorgrassroots@gmail.com Photo Competition Win your image in canvas print and see your work credited in print. Send your photographs to editorgrassroots@gmail.com subject ‘Photo Comp’

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Agri-Business 38. Dairy Processing

Correspondence Grassroots Media Ltd, Ballinoe Hse, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork. Editorial Editor: Jason Webb Email: editorgrassroots@gmail.com Tweets: twitter.com/Ed_GrassRoots Friend: facebook.com/ed.grassroots Advertising (086)4684411 advertgrassroots@gmail.com Advertising Consultant William Wills (086)4664488 Magazine Design Patrick Browne Design (086) 831 9322

Contributors Kate Cannon, Carly Dolan Scott Lovell, Dr. Mary McEvoy Photography Giuseppe Milo, Sara Moody, Robert Scarth, John West, David Wright, and Flickr (cc) Publisher Grassroots Media Ltd. Distribution Munster Advertising Distribution figure 15,000

Grassroots Magazine is published by Grassroots Media Ltd, Ballinoe Hse, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork. Tel 086 3871172 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any shape or form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocoping or otherwise without written permission of the publishers, Grassroots Media Ltd. Whilst every care is taken of submitted MSS, photographs, drawings and content, no responsibility can be accepted for their loss or damage. Grassroots Media Ltd does not accept responsibility for the quality or content of advertisements or articles supplied by, or compiled under instruction from a third party. Grassroots Media Ltd does not accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by opinion, tips and advice giving in this publication. Grassroots Media Ltd accepts no responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors and advertisers. In addition, while every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained in Grassroots Magazine, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or matters arising same. Copyright Grassroots Media Ltd

NEWS

Forestry Approval Boost

he forestry sector has seen a welcome boost with an investment of 482m euro which the Department of Agriculture secured State Aid approval for the new Forestry Programme covering the period 2014-2020. The new six-year Forestry Programme, approved by the Government last December, consists of 11 different measures and spending of €262m with a further €220m in future commitments, from 2020, mostly in relation to premium payments. The Forestry Programme is 100% funded from the exchequer and was therefore subjected to State Aid approval by the EU Commission before the new forestry programme could be formally adopted. The approval follows a long and detailed process of negotiation with the European Commission, culminating in a meeting between Minister Hayes and the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan to resolve the remaining issues. One of the principal drivers behind this investment decision is the huge potential that exists for expansion in the Forestry Sector. The annual GDP contribution by the sector is €2.3 billion and it employs 12,000 people. Welcoming the approval, Minister Hayes commented that “the new Forestry Programme will involve a commitment of €482 million, this scale of investment will have a real impact in rural communities right across Ireland and it will go a long way towards achieving the Government’s aim for balanced regional development.” IFA Farm Forestry Chairman, Michael Fleming has welcomed the EU approval for the Forestry Programme. “In our negotiations we pushed to secure the best deal possible for farmers”, said Mr. Fleming, “We secured a 5% increase in the Afforestation Grant and 14% increase in the Forest Road Grant, as well as a €5,000 special construction work grant for building on environmentally sensitive sites”. “In the new programme, forest premiums are paid for 15 years only, so it is more important than ever that the economic return for the timber crop is considered”, said Mr. Fleming. “If farmers are planting for commercial reasons, I would advise them to plant conifers, as the markets for broadleaves are limited and the returns are unknown.” “I would advise farmers to think carefully if planting under the new forestry schemes, Agro-Forestry and Forestry for Fibre, as they are obliged to replant and the land must remain in forestry indefinitely,” said Mr. Fleming.

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One of the programme aims is to plant 6,000 ha of new forests in 2015, increasing to 8,310 by 2020. The target is to plant 30% of broadleaves. This level of broadleaf planting will be achieved by the requirement to plant 10% broadleaves in all new plantations where the site permits. Higher grants and premiums are also on offer for planting broadleaves.

Highlights • 482m of new investment in forestry • 44,000ha of new forests, 700km of new forest roads • 20% Higher premium payments, 5% higher afforestation grants, 14% higher road grants • New species with rotations of 10-15 years • More native trees

NEWS

Approval Slow for GLAS Planners

arm advisors around the country have a busy few weeks ahead with the build up to the deadline of 30 April to complete a targeted 30,000 GLAS plans. GLAS stands for Green Low-Carbon AgriEnvironment Scheme.

There is the less than 400 GLAS planners who are approved by the Department of Agriculture at this stage. A total of 700, both Teagasc and independent, consultants attended the planner training courses and almost half are still waiting for approval. Minister Simon Coveney said “The remainder are being approved on an ongoing basis once all qualifying criteria has been met and all required documentation has been submitted. This includes evidence of professional indemnity cover, a requirement which has specifically been put in place to protect farmers in the event that they have a legitimate claim against an advisor.” An approved list of GLAS planners is available on the department website. The Minister stated “This list is updated as soon as additional advisors are approved and I am confident that there are enough advisors available to allow farmers to make an informed choice as to who to use for preparation of their GLAS applications.” It now leaves only six weeks for farmers to submit plans while at this stage they remain unsure of the possibility that their regular advisor may not gain approval. It is a situation viewed far from ideal by many on what is already a complicated scheme.

Phased Superlevy Payments Welcomed

he Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney welcomed the European Commission’s decision to implement a proposal which will facilitate phased repayment by farmers and processors of the 2015 milk superlevy fine. The Commission’s decision to proceed was taken after a meeting with Member States in Brussels where Ireland voted in favour of the proposal. Minister Coveney said “I welcome agreement of this proposal and would like to thank Commissioner Hogan for coming forward with this initiative. It’s regrettable over the last few years that we have not been able to agree measures at EU level to deliver the soft landing for our dairy sector we would have liked but this measure will certainly help to ease the cash flow burden of paying the full superlevy fine this year for Irish farmers and co-ops”. The proposal allows Member States certain flexibility

in terms of how they implement payment of the superlevy by instalments and the Department is at present examining the practicalities of implementing such a measure. The Department of Agriculture will be required to pay the superlevy fine in full to the European Commission by the standard deadline of 31 November 2015 with the terms of the scheme requiring farmers here to repay minimum one-third payment this year and next with the remainder in 2017. Minister Coveney concluded “My officials are now examining the practicalities of implementing the scheme as well as how the repayment mechanisms can be formalised. The announcement provides an important option to Member States and can help to reduce the burden on dairy farmers entering the postquota era in full readiness for the opportunity which

awaits. We are now in the final few days of the quota regime before they are gone forever and the Irish dairy sector can start to realise its full potential.” Mr. Pat McCormack, Deputy President and Chairperson of ICMSA’s Dairy Committee urged milk processors to “immediately inform all their suppliers of this option and pay back superlevy fines that have already been deducted where a farmer opts for the three year payment concession.” “While the concession announced by the Commissioner is certainly welcome, the fine still has to be paid and ICMSA will continue to lobby for further concessions including a butterfat adjustment to alleviate the pressures on farmers at a time of very high investment requirements on farms” concluded Mr. McCormack.

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NEWS

New Farm Organisation Set Up

new national farming organisation called the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has been officially set up. Since the draft Rural Development Program was sent to the European Commission on the 3rd of July 2014 by the Dept of Agriculture and broadly endorsed by the farming organisations, a passionate group of hill farmers and those farming designated lands including farmers with Hen Harrier sites have sustained a campaign to make changes to the RDP. The reasons for this was that commonage farmers could access the GLAS scheme as individuals and where Natura lands have been devalued by designation, that measures would be added to help keep those farms viable. Massive rallies were held in Westport (1700 farmers), Letterkenny (900 farmers), Maam Cross (1000 farmers) to highlight the unfairness of the proposals in the draft and culminating in a march for fairness by 2500 farmers in Castlebar. A number of delegations travelled to Brussels to meet officials within the commission dealing directly with Ireland’s submissions for both pillar one and pillar two schemes.

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The major concern to the new organisation was the proposed added requirement for a stocking density or minimum activity for marginal land having already satisfied the definition of being an active farmer to claim the new Basic Payment Scheme. Organisation spokesperson Colm O’Donnell stated “We acknowledge that Minister Coveney has subsequently dropped this requirement.” Other areas of concern were the barriers for entry to GLAS for commonage farmers, in particular the proposal that required 50% of the active shareholders having to make a joint application to gain tier one access to the scheme. Also for farmers with shares in two or more commonages, joining GLAS would not be feasible because of the cost of drawing up three or more plans with a capping of €5,000. Another major concern highlighted was that Natura lands (designated lands) must qualify for GLAS plus where farmers managing these areas have higher transaction costs associated with prescribed actions within their GLAS plans and especially on designated farms greater than 42 Hectares. In a recent press release INHFA stated that “Minister Simon Coveney’s address to delegates at the AGM of IFA stated that ‘there is no collective agreement and no collective plan, there will be one CMP per commonage and each individual farmer will then apply to that plan’. This movement by the Minister is coming closer to the view we put forward in our 12 point plan that commonage farmers apply as individuals referring to the CMP. It is equally encouraging that the IFA are now not happy with the 50% collective agreement for commonage farmers to gain priority access into GLAS.” “We have always held the view that creating any percentage level of a collective agreement as a pre condition to entry was

unworkable and no guarantee of successful implementation of the objectives. Commonage farmers must now be allowed to apply individually for GLAS before the 15th of May and develop the CMPs in consultation with planners over the summer period.” “Our view is that the only way to start the process of developing a CMP is to have the Dept. of Agriculture commission the plans and appoint their agent or advisor under agreed terms (including methods of payment for plans) with all stakeholders.” “We have strongly emphasised to both the Department and to the EU the importance of adopting the correct definition for the propose of land eligibility in marginal and hill land. The flexibility is there under EU Regulation to define such lands as ‘Permanent Grasslands under Established Local Practices’. The adoption of this interpretation would ensure that the suckler and sheep farmers farming in these vulnerable areas could continue to do so in an environmentally positive manner while satisfying the objectives laid down by the EU.” “We have put together a project team comprising of farmers from many areas around the country with the goal of having the mechanics of the new organisation in place over the coming number of weeks. At that stage we will be holding public meetings where the grass roots of the new organisation will be encouraged to shape the policies and direction of its future.” The new association intend to become the voice for farmers living in the most rural areas of the country, their motto ‘every farmer counts’ has driven the group over the last seven months to the decision they have now taken to give themselves a strong platform to shape policy going forward.

NEWS

Hogan Wants EU Fair Price

uropean Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan has announced that he intends to introduce legislation to ensure that farmers get a fair share of the retail price of the food they produce and to protect them from unfair practices by large retailers.

ICSA president Patrick Kent has welcomed the announcement but also sounded a note of caution. “Bringing forward such legislation will require the power to scrutinise whether multi-national retailers are taking excessive margin from products like beef and lamb at the expense of the primary producer. In the past efforts to bring retailers into line have foundered due to a lack of real political will to grapple with this issue,” he warned. Mr Hogan referred to a precedent that the EU could learn a lot from, “The UK and Spain introduced legislation to impose a fine on retailers of 1% of turnover in cases where unfair trading practices have been found.” Meanwhile, MEP Mairead McGuinness warned “Getting any legislative changes in relation to the

food price chain through the EU parliament will be difficult because some countries have a very different attitude to the introduction of rules that could cause consumers to pay more for their food.”

New Corporate Identity for Irish Dairy Board Members of Irish Dairy Board Co-operative Limited (IDB) have voted in favour of changing IDB’s name to Ornua Co-operative Limited and have approved the adoption a new corporate identity, Ornua. IDB is the largest exporter of Irish dairy products. The new corporate identity will formally be unveiled on 31 March, which coincides with the eve of the removal of EU milk quotas. The change approved relates solely to the corporate identity. IDB’s corporate structure and portfolio of consumer brands including Kerrygold, Dubliner, Pilgrims Choice, Beo and MU will remain unaffected.

NZ Work Experience for Young Farmers

he Stephen Cullinan Scholarship, organised by Macra na Feirme, is now open for applications for 2015. Now in its 37th year, the scholarship will send two successful candidates who are interested in pursuing a full time career in agriculture to New Zealand to work and gain experience of New Zealand farming methods. The scholarship is open to any young farmer from the North or South of Ireland over 18 and under 30 years of age on 1 January 2015. The closing date

is the 9th April 2015. The scholarship winners will gain valuable experience and learn new skills while working on a farm for 6 months. They will get paid and return flights with travel and work insurance will be included. The scholarship was founded by the Agricultural Trust in memory of Stephen Cullinan, founder and first secretary of Macra na Feirme. The scholarship will start in July and the work placement will be for a minimum of 6 months, with flights valid for a year. Young farmers who are interested in applying should text “Macra” followed by their name and address to 51444 or visit www.macra.ie

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NEWS

Beefing up Business in US and China By Carly Dolan

reland’s beef sector has been given a major boost in the first two months of 2015, with the US and China lifting their bans after more than 15 years. Ireland is the first European country to have the bans lifted following cases of BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy or more commonly known as mad cow disease) that devastated Europe’s beef export industries in the late 1990s.

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The US lifted its ban on Irish beef in early January while China reached its agreement with Ireland at the end of February, and the industry is extremely excited about the prospects. Meanwhile, across the ocean, a number of countries have temporarily restricted Canadian beef products after its first case of BSE since 2011 was confirmed last month. Irish Farmers Association president Eddie Downey welcomed the news that the US and Chinese markets had opened back up to Ireland but said a lot of work still needed to be done in relation to entering the Chinese markets. “The opportunity to develop new markets for our vital beef sector is welcome,” he said. “The current beef supply shortage in the United States provides Ireland with a real

market opportunity, especially in the short term as the US is in the process of rebuilding its beef herd. “Like the US, farmers will judge the success of opening these (Chinese) markets in terms of securing sustainable prices that cover their costs and leave them a margin.” China is the world’s largest individual market, with a population of 1.35 billion people. The value of agri-food exports from Ireland to China (including Hong Kong) last year was in the region of €620 million, according to CSO trade statistics, which was an increase of nearly two-and-ahalf times the 2011 figure of €254 million. In the early 1980s, beef consumption registered at 0.32kg per capita in China. That increased to 5kg by 2009 and is expected to exceed 6kg per capita by 2025.

NEWS R-L: Minister Han Changfu and Minister Simon Coveney

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said beef consumption was currently estimated at approximately 6 million tonnes and was expected to grow by more than 1 million tonnes in the next five years. “This announcement follows on intensive political, technical and diplomatic engagement with the Chinese authorities over several years,” he said. “We made a significant breakthrough last November when I led a major trade mission to China, involving Irish leading beef companies. “My Chinese Agriculture counterpart, Minister Han Changfu and his colleague Minister Shi Zhuping, who is responsible for Inspection and Quarantine, agreed at that time to send a veterinary inspection team to Ireland. That inspection followed last December, and the Irish food safety control system passed with flying colours.” The next step in the process will involve a protocol agreement to determine a number of specifics, including which cuts of meat can be exported. There will also be a Chinese veterinary inspection to approve individual processing plants for export. Following the US’s lifting of its ban on Irish beef in January this year, Irish delegates last month visited three American states – New York, Boston and Washington D.C. – to promote Irish beef as a premium product. “Our research confirms that Irish beef fully meets the US consumer’s expectations of purity, simplicity and grass-fed, and is reinforced by our sustainable Irish beef story,” Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter said. “The US consumer

wants to ‘taste the difference’ and will pay more for Irish beef based on quality. Bord Bia colleagues in New York and Dublin have engaged intensively with targeted potential customers for the past two years.” The good news for Ireland comes as Canada deals with a new threat of BSE, with Peru, Belarus and Taiwan temporarily banning Canadian beef imports while Indonesia has put certain restrictions in place. It follows a confirmed case of mad cow disease at a farm in Alberta. The infected cow was born two years after the government imposed a tougher ban on animal feed to guard against the disease. Investigators are working to determine the cause and assess any potential risk factors.

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NEWS

Under 7 Tractor Ban is Nothing New: HSA by Carly Dolan

he law that children under seven are not allowed to be carried in tractor cabs has actually been in place for some time, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) told Grassroots Magazine. However, due to the number of deaths in the industry, the regulation is now being imposed with greater vigour.

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The HSA’s Code of Practice on Preventing Accidents to Children and Young Persons in Agriculture, which came into effect in September 2010, specified that only children over the age of seven were allowed to be carried in tractors if certain safety measures were in place. “Children under the age of 14 should be prohibited from riding on agricultural machines including agricultural trailers unless the risk assessment shows it to be safe to do so with the following exception – children between the ages of 7 and 16 may ride on a tractor provided the tractor is fitted with a properly designed and fitted passenger seat (with seat belts) inside a safety cab or frame,” the report said. The law was looked at again by the HSA following the worst year for farming fatalities in two decades. Thirty people were killed in workplace accidents in the agriculture sector in 2014 compared to 16 in 2013 – an increase of 87 per cent. The threat of legal action from January this year has been heavily debated in the last few months with those for the ban saying it will stop children from receiving brain damage or dying from a tractor fall. Those against say tractor cabs are far safer than the yard. If successfully prosecuted, farmers could face a fine of up to €5,000. Irish Farmers Association (IFA) social affairs chairwoman Maura Canning said the best way to improve farm safety was through education and training, not by threatening

prosecution. But the HSA defended the new rule, saying there were three situations where authorities would consider going straight to prosecution. They included farmers working with unguarded PTO assemblies, farmers working machinery while carrying children under the age of seven within the cabs, and farmers having open or unprotected slurry pits on the farm with risk of a person falling in. A statement from the HSA said the reason for the decision to make the cut-off age seven was because children under that age were more likely to be badly affected by a head injury due to the make-up of their skulls. “Children under seven are more likely to want to touch the controls of a tractor, whereas older children will be less likely to do so if told not to,” the statement read. “Once a young child is allowed into the cab of a tractor, it will encourage them to have another go. Every time they hear a tractor, they will be inclined to go towards the vehicle looking to get into the tractor. “All three matters are instances where a very high risk of serious injury or death can actually be reduced almost to zero at a very small cost. Compliance is simple and clearly has the potential to save many from injury and death. Also, it is important to note that farmers who are compliant with this will have absolutely nothing to fear from the inspection process, which will continue to be supportive, providing practical advice and guidance on farm safety matters.”

NEWS

Agriculture Most Fatal Industry in 2014

f the 55 people who were killed in workrelated accidents last year, 30 were in the agriculture sector, compared with a yearly average of 18. Five children under the age of 17 were included in that devastating figure, three of whom were under seven.

Agricultural fatalities increased by 87 per cent in 2014 compared to 2013. It was the fifth year in a row that the industry recorded the highest number of workplace fatalities, according to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). Irish Farmers Association Grain Chairman Liam Dunne said a major player in farm accidents in Ireland was low incomes. “There are some startling figures that came through recently about farm incomes and fatalities,” he said. “There’s only one country in Europe that’s in any position to say they have very few fatalities on farms and that’s Denmark, and when you look at the range of incomes in Europe, Denmark is at the top. They can afford to have more people employed on a farm in Denmark than they can anywhere else in Europe.” “To make ends meet, Irish farmers are working harder, working longer hours, are fatigued and make decisions to do things that they really shouldn’t and they’re rushing and they make mistakes. There are limits to what people can endure but farmers will try and sometimes pay with their lives.” The number of fatal accidents on farms in Ireland last

year was the highest in over 20 years. “In May of 2014 alone, there were five people killed. It is particularly tragic that five children lost their lives on Irish farms last year,” HSA CEO Martin O’Halloran said. “We are concerned at what is a significant increase in workplace fatalities and what is particularly alarming is that 54 per cent of fatalities involved vehicles in the workplace. This is up 13 per cent from the previous fiveyear average for 2009 to 2013 of 41 per cent. However, if we exclude agriculture, the overall fatal accident trend is downwards.” A study jointly conducted by Teagasc and the HSA found that a combination of farmer behaviour and ageing profile of the farm population were contributing factors to the rising farm deaths. Lead researcher Dr David Meredith of Teagasc’s Rural Economy Development Programme said the study examined farm workplace death patterns since 1993, including population, geography, primary causes of fatalities and the timing of deaths. “Whilst age is not a primary cause of fatalities, it does help explain some of the trends that have become more prominent in recent years,” Dr Meredith said.

Liam Dunne

HSA CEO Martin O’Halloran

Grass Roots March / April 2015 11

AI & Breeding

ICBF Active Dairy Bull List - Spring 2015

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AI & Breeding

Emerald Expo moves to Kildare Venue.

he Punchestown Event Centre in Co. Kildare is set to be the venue for the 2015 Emerald Expo which will take place on Saturday 11th of April. Emerald Expo is a leading All-Ireland Dairy Event organised in association with the Irish Holstein Friesian Association (IHFA), long standing major sponsor Alltech Ireland and new major sponsor FBD, where spectators are treated to quality judging of top quality dairy stock.

Speaking at the launch of Emerald Expo 2015, show director and IHFA Chairman Richard Whelan stated that there is something quite special about this years’ event. ‘The move to the Punchestown Event Centre allows us to increase the scope for patrons and the opportunities for our sponsors with top class facilities for exhibitors and visitors. We are deeply indebted to all our sponsors who have supported us over the past five years.’ Recognised as a top dairy show in Europe, CEO of the IHFA, Charles Gallagher, pointed to the fact that it is the first National Dairy event in the new post quota era. He stated, ‘the event will form a major part of the IHFA’s 50th Anniversary celebrations and special commemorative IHFA medallions for all class winners at

Emerald Expo will be presented on the day’. Now in its fifth year, this all-breeds dairy show of Holsteins, Irish Pure Friesians, Shorthorns and Jersey attracts visitors from both North and South and will be a one stop venue for dairy farmers. Cathal McCormack, country manager of Alltech Ireland, stressed the importance of the role that genetics plays in commercial dairy herds in terms of meeting management and nutrition targets into the future. Marc-Henri Guillaume, a sire analyst for Swiss Genetics, has been confirmed as the judge. Guillaume’s extensive knowledge of Holstein and Jersey cows goes back to his time spent working in North America, Madison and Toronto. He has also worked with some of the best cows in Switzerland and Europe.

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AI & Breeding

ABS Ireland Provides Balanced Breeding for the Dairy Herd

BS Ireland, part of ABS Global, the World Leader in Bovine Genetics, is following on the success stories of Morningview Legend (VGE) and Gran-J Oman McCormick (GJM) with the next generation of balanced breeding for Irish dairy herds.

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Ciarán O’Shea, Dairy Product Manager for ABS Ireland commented, “Bulls such as Morningview Levi (MWL) and Ardnasalem Bookem Pride (ABP) are now taking up the mantle to deliver high yielding, high component cows for the future. This is of particular relevance with the abolition of milk quotas in April 2015”. “Morningview Levi (MWL) is a Buckeye son, who delivers high volumes of milk with high kgs of milk solids and good %’s also. His international proof has stated this for a few years but it is now being backed up by Irish milking daughters. There is super farmer satisfaction from solid black coated cows with tidy udders and excellent locomotion”. Ciarán continues “It gives me great pleasure to say that in Ardnasalem Bookem Pride(ABP), a Bookem son backed

by 7 generations of VG/EX dams from Raven family, we have not only an exceptionally balanced bull for Type, Milk, Fertility and Components but also a sire with very high international demand, particularly in the UK and Germany. Coming from a Mascol dam and Oman grand dam this bull screams longevity and durability. His component figures of +0.07% Protein are backed by 3 generations of 3.6% Protein dams”. Ciarán concludes “The ABS Ireland stud possesses a strong dairy line-up with EBI’s up to €333 & fertility scores up to €212”. For details on great Spring offers or for a copy of the ABS Spring catalogue, please contact the Castletownroche office on 022 46030.”

AI & Breeding

built on solid foundations

urogene/LIC’s I2 Irish breeding program was launched with a clear vision - “to develop a successful bull-testing program that identifies the best grassland genetics from within Ireland”

Tom Baker, Breeding Manager, said “The I2 breeding program combines the best Irish cow families with top Irish, New Zealand & international sires thus doubling up on the use of a unique mix of proven grassland genetics.” “It also combines the formidable resources of both Eurogene and LIC utilising the latest technologies available from New Zealand.” “We believe that the tremendous cow families behind our I2 Bulls will deliver the extreme solids and fertility that the Irish farmer wants. This is what makes us different. We are confident that the exceptional back pedigrees behind these elite sires validates their high genomic numbers with successive generations of extreme solids and components with outstanding fertility!” Results so far have been extremely encouraging for Eurogene/LIC and with only a handful of sires tested initially, they are proud to say that they have had a remarkable hit rate to date with Lucky Whistler (WLY), Graiguebeg SUPER (SPG), Parkduv MAGNET (PKX) and Ballbride Prince (PRW) some of the top bulls on the current ICBF active list. Sires such as Frank (MJI), Bridepark O-Man (BQN), Bridepark Holly (BXH) and Garrymartin RXO (GYZ) have all come through as top proven sires well over €200 EBI. Even their X-Bred bull “Eurogene Kiwi” (EUW) has consistently improved and he is now one of the top Xbred sires available at €264 EBI. Tom also made mention of the very popular Radney LEVI 5 (YRY) which hails from a really consistent cow family just outside Newmarket in North Cork, the Odetta family. This great line of genetics behind Levi 5 (YRY) combines high production with components along with great fertility and outstanding type. The Ex93 Dam, Radney QUR Odetta, has a 7 Lactation Average of 9,428 kg Milk with 4.37% Fat and 3.86% Protein and delivering over 700 kg of solids per lactation. This same level of performance is evident right through the back pedigree of this fabulous cow Family which has been carefully developed by YRY’s Breeder; Mr. Henry O’Keeffe who has won many prizes in the Cork Holstein Friesian Club’s Herds Competition. The cow pictured above is Radney Mars Odetta 3, an Ex 94 full sister to the Grand dam and she is a recipient of the IHFA Diamond Award having given over 3000 kg of Protein lifetime, a another example of what this family is all about.

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AI & Breeding

World Wide Sires

hen looking at Global indexes, World Wide Sires genetics dominate the lists and they are very excited about the future in Ireland post-quota.

“History has shown the strength of product available from World Wide Sires and with 51,000 farmers responsible for the direction of the company, there is a consistent focus to produce bulls that work for dairy farmers throughout the world” states Conor Morley, General Manager at World Wide Sires Ireland.

an assurance that the top bulls are always available sexed. All bulls are ranked on a US semen fertility score (SCR), which is the benchmark of measurement for semen fertility. “We are seeing proven results with this figure in the field, with higher SCR bulls getting more cows pregnant and it should be used as a tool to reduce semen bills”.

Top EBI Mr. Numero Uno St. Louis (ZOL) debuts as No.3 on the Active Bull list. He is the No.1 bull available on Health subindex, Milk Kgs & Type. He is also available at 90% sexed semen and his semen fertility score (SCR) is exceptional at 3.2.

Genomic to Proven Tremendous accuracy is being observed with WWS genomic bulls achieving daughter proofs. A typical example would be the No.1 US sire Mogul, who has surpassed his genomic evaluation & now has 96% reliability on his proof. WWS believe strength in cow families’ play a large role in this, along with an un-rivaled focus on functional type traits. “Functional type traits e.g. legs & feet and udder will always be an important basis for a profitable cow”

Sexed Semen With 29 of the 55 catalogued bulls available sexed, there is

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AI & Breeding

Bull Sales C

hoosing the best stock bull now will help you improve and sustain long term health of your herd. The type of bull you select will determine the quality of cattle you produce over the next few years. When considering purchasing a new stock bull, ask yourself what do you need to improve your herd.

herd make sure to look for fertility, ease of calving and of course milk production. Docility will also be important as the animals will be handled frequently. Key points when buying a new bull Appearance Use your experience to make sure you like the look of the bull you are buying. The look of the animal alone will not tell you everything you need to know but it is a good starting point. Trust your experience and instincts. Don’t be shy to check the animal over completely before committing to a purchase.

• Check the legs and feet and ask to see the animal walk.

Do you need to improve… • Ease of calving • Conformation • Weanling weights • Fertility • Mothering ability • Milking ability • Prices for carcass When deciding on what breed you want to buy it is easier to make predictions based on buying a purebred bull as it will be easier to predict the traits related to the breed. There are some breeds which are adaptable for both dairy and beef production but most farmers will chose specifically for their operation. Beef farmers should be looking to improve conformation and muscling and look at growth rates of animals. Ease of care is also important for beef herds. Profit will come from improving the meat and breeding capacity of the herd while reducing the labour and health costs to the herd. Choosing a bull which will provide ease of calving, good fertility, and good conformation will provide a saving in the future. When looking for a bull to improve your dairy

• Avoid any animal with concerns of lameness.

• Look for muscularity in the shoulder loin and hind quarters.

• Try to get an idea of the temperament of the animal

• Avoid any bull that seems overly aggressive.

• Check the testicles as they should be large as sperm capacity is related to size.

• Make sure that the bull looks like what a

bull of that breed should be (ie true to type).

Age It’s best to buy a young bull, as there are fewer risks with health and physical problems. Older bulls tend to be more likely to have feet problems or be overweight. A yearling bull can be ideal, provided you put him with experienced older cows. It’s a good idea to put an older experienced bull with young heifers, provided he is not too heavy and may damage them when mating. A yearling will not be able to cover a large number of cows you will need an animal at

least 3-4 months older. If buying a Belgian Blue bull then go several months older again (18mths +) because they tend to be slightly slower than the other breeds to mature. If you use a good bull as a yearling, he will retain a lot of his value as a two-year-old if you want to sell him the next season. An older bull after use is more likely to be valued at factory price. Talk to the seller Make sure you get as much information as you can from the seller. They should be able to tell you who the dam and sire of the animal are. Check any breeding figures for a working bull. Ideally look for a bull that is doing well to above average for all the traits for their breed. Before you make your purchase do you homework, to see what the typical prices are for comparable animals. Before purchasing a bull you will need to find out: How the animal has been raised and what his diet is like. If he has had vaccinations, any previous injury or illness concerns? Study the animal passport for the bull before purchasing. Taking a bull home Once you have found a bull that fits your criteria and brought him home there are some practical steps you will need to take before putting him to work. When you have bought a bull give him a quiet journey home in his own pen. Be careful to avoid injury. Place him in a well fenced paddock within sight of other cattle and away from other bulls. When you let him in with the cows let nature take its course but keep an eye on things. Keep checking for lameness and check to see he is not getting exhausted, losing interest and not working. Remember that you should never trust a bull, and you should always have someone with you when handling bulls as they are unpredictable. Health and safety More than half of livestock related deaths on Irish Farms are

Grass Roots March / April 2015 17

AI & Breeding caused by bulls so you can never be too cautious especially when introducing a new bull to your herd. Make sure that the animal is ringed in the nose and check this to see that is secure. Animals tend to become more aggressive with age so aim to buy a younger animal. Prepare a secure bull pen before purchasing any new bull. The pen should be near to the farm and to other cattle. When the bull is being moved make sure there are at least two people available, and use suitable equipment such as head chains, poles and ropes. Treat the animal with respect and ensure that the bull learns to associate your presence with positive things such as being fed or exercised. Keep any field in which a bull is in securely fenced and gated. Aggressive bulls should be sent to slaughter. Management of the bull How you manage the bull will ultimately impact on the

return on your investment. Inbreeding should be avoided as it weakens your herd. It can be a problem in small herds where bulls are bred to their own daughters. To avoid this continually replace your bull every three years. Alternatively you can buy replacement heifers or cows unrelated to your bull. Nutrition is also an important factor. It is important to find out what the diet of the bull you purchase has been so that you can avoid rapid changes to the diet. If you make drastic changes to the diet of the animal it can affect overall and reproductive health. The bull will also be coming from an environment where it did not need much energy to a situation that it will need to run with the herd and will have a much increased need for food. Body condition is important for bulls for optimal performance they should be fit and not fat. For working bulls include a high protein concentrate in their diet, resting bulls will only require silage or grass and minerals. Always check what vaccinations the bull has received and when he has been last treated for

hoose and stomach worms, liver fluke and lice/mange. All young bulls should receive treatment for hoose and worms in their first year running with a herd. Diseases If you are thinking of buying a new stock bull one of the main things you need to watch for is that the bull does not introduce any diseases into your herd. A stock bull can still carry in disease even if it appears healthy at first glance. When buying a stock bull you must first establish the health status of the bull and the health status of his home herd. Ideally if you are introducing a new stock bull you should get a blood test for diseases when first bring the bull to your farm, keep the bull in isolation for about three to four weeks, and then blood sample the bull again before you introduce it to your herd. The three diseases which would cause most economic damage to your herd and should be screened for are:

• Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) • Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) • Johne’s Disease. Your own herd health is also important if infections are present in your herd a young bull could be at serious risk of contracting diseases. To avoid this vaccinate against any diseases which may be present. Bull health should be kept on the agenda with good housing and handing facilities. Poor housing will compromise fertility and can cause animals to become aggressive. Bull pens should allow the animal to have fresh air and exercise as well as adequate access to food and water. The bull should be able to view the herd from their pen. The health of any stock bull must be checked before introducing it is usually a good idea to keep the bull isolated from other animals for three weeks until the BVD status of the animal has been checked out. Pedigree animals that are involved in a performance test station will need to be checked for IBR before they can enter. Wait until the heifers or smaller cows are in proper heat before introducing the bull. Newly introduced bulls will need time to adjust to their surroundings before being let run with the herd. For larger herds make sure that the bull is not expected to run with all cows as this will mean not all animals are serviced. Ill health or infection will have an impact on fertility and overall fitness for the job. Infections can cause infertility in some cases for a short period only so keep any unwell animals away from the herd. Disease is always a concern when introducing a new animal to the herd. Bulls can carry reproductive diseases that affect fertility and cause abortions. One of these is Trichomoniasis or Trich. It is usually only older bulls that carry this disease. To avoid this problem don’t buy mature bulls. Lameness is a crucial aspect of bull health, without fit legs and feet the bull cannot do his job. It is also costly to be attending to an animal that has become lame. To avoid this ensure that the bull pen or other housing is kept clean and dry and keep the animal fed well. Bull fertility will need to be good for a successful breeding system. Keeping a close eye on what is happening at breeding time will indicate if there are any problems. if you have bought a young bull make sure that he is following cows and that he is physically able to serve the cows; record the first few cows that you see the bull serving and check them again in three weeks to make sure that there are not a high number of repeats.

18 Grass Roots March / April 2015

AI & Breeding

Traditional Breeds: Winners in Both Dairy and Beef Herds

raditional beef breeds have always thrived well when it came to calving and maternal cow traits. They have always been a favourite to cross back on the dairy herd because of the shorter gestation and ease of calving. The early finishing and meat quality make them winners for the beef farmers. Angus Angus is a very popular beef breed and have a good reputation as a high quality beef. However it is also one of the best breeds for maternal traits producing good milking cows which are fertile. Angus is the number one breed of beef sire in Irish dairy herds. One of the main reasons people choose Angus is for their ease of calving, they produce relatively small calves and these grow quickly and mature early. They are also a

hardy breed which adapts well to less favourable grazing conditions. They are a placid and easy to rear. They are also naturally polled and this passes on to offspring even when crossbred so there is no need to dehorn Angus cattle. They score high on docility and carcass weight with good breed calving intervals. Hereford Hereford are known for good meat quality, easy calving,

good fertility and temperament. Hereford Friesian crosses are very well sought after. Herefords are muscular and well developed in the areas of valuable cuts of meat. They are good foragers. Cows have good longevity and can produce calves for up to 15 years and bulls can also work for up to the age of 12. They are docile and fast growing animals suitable for beef herds. They have low wintering costs as they are a hardy breed and are also easy to care for which lowers labour costs.

The Weigh to Improved Herd Health

erd health is the key to profit on all farms. Managing and identifying health issues in your herd can save you valuable time

and money.

Weight is a very important indicator of herd health. Sudden increases or decreases in weight can signal the presence of disease. Regularly weighing your stock has many obvious benefits but with the correct system you can use it as a tool to:

• Manage herd health • Indicate of health problems early Tru-test weighing equipment has been available in Ireland from O’Donovan Engineering for over 25 years and is very much favoured by most Breeding Societies, Farm Advisory Services and a wide range of Dairy, Beef & Sheep Farmers. There are a wide range of systems available from the entry level economic units to the top of the range systems which act as a farm management tools allowing you to make decisions quickly and effectively. The 5000 series is the newest addition to the

20 Grass Roots March / April 2015

extensive range and has been designed to deliver the benefits of the traditional high spec units at an affordable price to Irish producers. The system can store individual animal information, so at every weighing session you have quick access to previous weights and animal information, allowing the producer to make informed decisions. Data can then be transferred to smart phone or computer for further analysis by Wi-Fi, which is transmitted by the indicator itself. “We were absolutely thrilled when Tru-test launched this system, we had been asking for many years for a system which was simple to operate, with the features that the Irish farmer would need to manage their stock. It is encouraging to see so many producers embracing the new technology and hearing how it has improved their on farm management processes”. Dermot Donovan, Sales Director. The full Tru-test product range is available from O’ Donovan Engineering, Co. Cork.

Dairy / Beef

Animal Health by Kate Cannon

t this time of year there are plenty of young animals that will need to have their health monitored so that they gain weight and become profitable. There is also movement of animals as preparations are in place for the breeding season. Any introduction of animals will cause potential risks for your herd health. Have a good working relationship with your vet so that you can have discussions about what areas of animal health you need to be planning ahead for. A livestock health plan is a good way to organise your yearly strategies for maintaining livestock health.

Cattle health The key areas to plan for in terms of cattle health this spring are dosing cattle before moving out to grass, taking care of late calvers and preparing for breeding. Any movement of animals can be linked to disease outbreaks as animals are under stress. Adding to your existing herd at any time of the year can also introduce diseases so remain vigilant by isolating and testing any new animals before mixing them. The key areas for cattle health at the moment are:

• • • •

Calf health Mastitis Grass tetany Preparing for optimum fertility

Calf health If you are still calving on your farm one of the main risks to health is excess body condition which can cause difficult calving and milk fever. To avoid this restrict access to quality silage until the week before calving and feed 10g CalMag to each cow.

Colostrum and feeding Colostrum contains essential antibodies from the cow so making sure that a calf receives enough colostrum in the first few hours of life is a vital step in reducing the risk of calf disease and death. Always aim to use the calf’s mother’s colostrums and if thats not possible then use colostrums from a healthy animal. Colostrum will keep for at least 6 months in the freezer. Store colostrum that is a day old as this is the most valuable. Keep it in small packs of about 1 litre so that it can be defrosted as needed. Gently thaw frozen packs with warm water do not microwave as this will destroy some of the proteins. Calf feeding recommendations have changed to increase the amount of milk or milk replacer fed to calves. The current guideline is to feed 13 – 15% of calf birthweight about 6 litres of whole milk or high quality milk replacer. Calves can be fed once daily from four weeks of age but should be fed twice daily until that age. Scour Calves are very susceptible to scour and can become

Grass Roots March / April 2015 21

Dairy / Beef dehydrated very rapidly. It is the most common cause of death for calves under two months of age. Scour can be caused by an infection or by inadequate feeding. Scour in calves can be controlled by taking the following steps:

• Disinfect - keep the calving box and area •

• • • • Mastitis can be kept in check. Image by Sara Moody

22 Grass Roots March / April 2015

where calves are reared clean, disinfect between calves. Colostrum - make sure all calves receive at least 10% of bodyweight as colostrum within the first 12 hours of life. Ideally they should then be fed by their mother for at least three weeks or have colostrum mixed in with their milk to keep up protection by antibodies. Isolation - keep any infected animals away from the herd and isolate any animals you want to introduce to make sure they are disease free before mixing them. Vaccinate - some vaccinations can be helpful if there are problems with a particular infecton e.g. Ecoli. Feeding - avoid irregular feeds, having milk too cold and milk replacer not properly dissolved. Treatment - use an electrolyte solution to rehydrate and keep feeding the calf its usual milk or milk replacer if it will take it to keep its energy levels up.

Mastitis Mastitis reduces milk yields and affected cows produce poorer quality milk, treatment is an added cost so as with all other conditions management and prevention is essential. A test showing high somatic cell counts (SCC) indicates mastitis is present. Research undertaken by Teagasc has shown that the average dairy farmer can improve their net profits by at least 1 per cent by reducing their SCC. Mastitis is difficult to avoid but it can be kept in check by not giving the bacteria that cause it a chance to infect animals. The two main ways that the bacteria that cause mastits are spread is thorugh other cows and the environment.

• • • • •

Only milk clean cows, Clip tails and udders, Wash teats. Wear clean gloves, apron and overall Keep the parlour and concrete yards clean

Cell Check is the national mastitis control programme and there are full guidelines for the management of mastitis available from Animal Health Ireland. You can now record mastits by text message to the ICBF text service if your herd is registered with the ICBF database. Grass tetany Grass tetany can occur in cows and calves going out to grass at this time of year. The best way to avoid this is to

Dairy / Beef supplement the diet with magnesium.A daily intake of 20-30g of Magnesium is needed by cows to keep healthy. There are a number of ways to supplement cows with Mg:

• Water supply - add Magnesium salt to the water, this is suitable If your animals are drinking from a trough only

• Dust pastures with cal/mag at a rate of 15-17kg/ha. This should be done on damp grass.

• Use a magnesium lick – it can be difficult to make sure all cows are using it

• Magnesium bolus gives four weeks protection but are sometimes regurgitated and can be labour intensive

• Extra forage or a 50:50 Calmag molasses solution. If using the

soloution place in a tub and this should be stirred twice a day to stop calmag separating

Fertility challenges: Farmers should be planning ahead for the reproductive health of their herd at this time of year. Diseases which can cause reproductive problems including abortions include IBR, BVD, Leptospirosis, Salmonella; Neospora and Johne’s Disease. Many of these can be avoided by animal management and vaccines. Your herd may be at risk of one or more of these diseases. Vets can test a sample of the pooled milk or blood samples from your herd. This will flag a problem in the herd as a whole but not in any individual animals. If there is evidence of a disease present then the Vet will advise on a vaccination or treatment programme. Johne’s Disease Johne’s disease is being tackled by a national control programme which was initiated in 2013. The control programme participation involves a risk assessment where a vet visits the farm to look at any potential ways that the disease can be introduced or spread on the farm. This visit by a vet will look at the animal movement history, calf management, heifer management, cow management and management of the calving cow. Once any on-farm risks have been noted the veterinary practitioner and farmer agree steps to take to avoid Johne’s disease. Johne’s disease in cows is casused by a bacteria and it usually strikes calves who get it through infected milk or food, calves can be born with the infection if their mother has a severe infection. The infection up to 18 months to show symptoms which include diarrhoea and excessive loss of body condition. Infection can happen through introducing an infected animal to the herd, by slurry which contains the bacteria being spread or by infected colostrum being fed to calves. If any animal is diagnosed with Johne’s Disease they should be removed from the herd. Pooling colostrums increases the risk of transmission as if even one cow has the disease all calves taking the pooled colostrom could be infected. Once infection is present on a farm it is important to limit the exposure of calves to the bacteria that cause the disease through removing the sources of infection and maintaining excellent calf hygiene standards. BVD BVD is caused by a virus and symptoms include scour, coughing, mouth ulcers, infertility and poor calve health. However many animals that are infected show no symptoms. Persistently infected (PI) animals are born infected with BVD virus and will die infected with BVD virus. They can appear normal but they spread the disease to other animals. Identifying and removing PI animals is essential to ensure herds remain free of BVD. Testing is through ear tags and is now compulsory for all farmers since 2013. Some herds with more than three years of negative tests in have been awarded Negative Herd Status (NHS) from the end of last year. If a herd is awarded NHS it means that they have had at least three years testing, and have no animals with BVD in the last year. Supports are available for any farmers with PI animals. Beef herds receive €140 for each PI born in a suckler herd that is shown to be disposed of to a knackery within 5 weeks of the first test, only €90 is given if there is a delay in disposing of the animal within 7 weeks. Dairy herds receive €100 for a PI heifer calf born in a dairy herd that is shown to be disposed to a knackery within 5 weeks of the first test this is reduced to €50 wham calves are disposed of to a knackery within 7 weeks of the first test. Liver fluke Animals do not build up any significant immunity to liver fluke and should be treated after housing. Any cattle that were housed last winter should have been dosed for liver fluke and they should be dosed again now that they are back grazing outside where they can pick up new infections of liver fluke. Dosage requirements can be checked with your Vet. Treatment of dairy cows for liver fluke should be carried out after drying off and not during lactation.

Grass Roots March / April 2015 23

sheep

Image by Giuseppe Milo

Sheep and Lamb Health

The key concerns for maintaining healthy sheep and lambs for March and April are:

â&#x20AC;˘ Healthy Lambing â&#x20AC;˘ Grass Tetany Lambing There are many considerations at lambing but two steps you can take to reduce risks to lambs are good hygiene and feeding colostrum. Clean out and disinfect lambing pens after each time they are used and use plenty of clean straw. . This becomes more important later in the season as there could be a build up of sources of infection. Lambs born in a clean dry environment have a much better chance of being healthy. Risks from poor hygiene include watery mouth disease (E. coli scour) and naval infections. Colostrum will provide lambs with essential antibodies to help fight infections. Give lambs 50ml of colostrum per kg body weight in the first hour (250ml for a five kg lamb). After lambing, check that each ewe has a good supply. If she has not, or if the lamb is not able to suck, the lamb should be fed using a stomach tube, preferably with colostrum taken from freshly lambed ewes. A store of this in the freezer would be very useful. Coccidiosis Coccidiosis is a serious problem for lambs. It is a parasite

24 Grass Roots March / April 2015

which is passed on to lambs suckling where the udders are contaminated with faeces containing the parasite. Outbreaks occur mainly in lambs 4 - 8 weeks of age. Symptoms include diarrhoea and failure to thrive. Lambs may be weakened and will not grow as normal and sever outbreaks can cause fatalities. Lambs should be treated to avoid losses and to improve overall lamb health and growth rates. Grass tetany Grass tetany is one of the biggest killers of lactating ewes at grass. It occurs when there is fast grass growth with poor weather and high soil potassium levels. It can be prevented by ensuring ewes receive enough magnesium, a target of 5g magnesium each day for a ewe. Magnesium can be taken via high magnesium nuts, mineral buckets, bullets or pasture dusting. The nuts and bullets are the most expensive options but will be easier to gauge how much magnesium is being ingested, the mineral buckets can mean a variable intake and dusting is not suitable if grass is short. Magnesium should never be fed to male sheep. Liver fluke Sheep should be dosed now especially on those farms with a history of liver fluke. Prevention is also important to control Liver fluke, this can be achieved by killing snails using moluscides and by keeping animals off wet land where snails and the liver fluke parasite thrive.

reseeding

The Question Of Reseeding

Grass Reseeding to increase profits • Grass reseeding is one of the best paying investments available to livestock farmers. • Reseeded swards deliver higher grass dry matter yields and increased grass quality. • Each extra tonne of grass dry matter utilised can increase farm profit by €160. • To maximise grass production and utilisation target a reseeding rate of 10% of the farm area each year. • Get the basics right when reseeding; herbicides, lime, fertiliser, cultivation, sowing and most importantly choose the best grass mixture for the particular field. Choosing the best grass mixture

• Choose a grass mixture with the best grass •

eseeding has now well and truly been proven as a well worthwhile investment on all farms. Many management factors affect the success of newly sown swards. We look for the answers to the questions of reseeding.

Do you need to reseed? Many farms in Ireland have swards that can not grow enough grass during the year especially in spring and autumn. This is mainly due to the absence of a sufficient quantity of perennial ryegrass in pastures. What are the beneficial reasons for reseeding perennial ryegrass pastures? • It will provide more grass in the shoulder periods (early spring and late autumn). • They are 25% more responsive to nitrogen compared to old permanent pasture. • They will have higher feeding quality • There will be faster re-growth. • It will support higher stocking rates. • Is planning important? A major issue on farms is the lack of reseeding planning, farmers should be able to pin point the paddocks that are

not performing and target those for reseeding. At the start of each year a proportion of the lower producing paddocks should be planned to be reseeded in that year. Grass measuring has proven useful on many well managed grazing units as a means of identifying fields which would benefit from reseeding. What is the expected turnaround time? The target turnaround time in which to get a reseed back into production should be 60 days. Generally farmers are slow to reseed pastures because they think that paddocks are out of production for too long. The time that the sward is out of production can be minimised by cultivating 7-10 days after spraying the old grass off – a major failing at farm level is to wait too long after spray off. Obviously prevailing weather conditions dictate this, but the objective must be to minimise the non-productive period. Weather conditions in spring are generally more stable and predictable than in autumn. What about after reseeding? The timing of weed control is crucial and has a major effect on weed contributions to the established sward, weed control needs to place at the two leaf stage- with a firm focus on controlling seedling docks. Why is it important to do it right? When putting in a new sward, it will probably last 10 -12 years, which could represent 20% of a career as a grassland farmer, reseeding is an important job that needs to be done correctly.

varieties available as they are likely to be in the ground for 10 years or more. All perennial ryegrass and clover varieties must be from the Irish Recommended List; tried and tested in Ireland Give preference to varieties with good performance in animal feed trials at Teagasc.

Grazing Mixture for normal/dry Land • Most important traits: High spring and autumn growth, high digestibility, high palatability, good sward density. • Tetraploid content: 40-50%. • Clover: Medium leaf clover for cows/cattle and small leaf clovers for sheep. • Top Varieties include: Glenveagh, Astonenergy, Majestic, Glenroyal. Grazing Mixture for heavy land and / or high rainfall areas • Most important traits: Very high sward density, high total yield, high digestibility, high palatability. • Tetraploid content: 20-30%. • Clover: Medium leaf clover for cows/cattle and small leaf clovers for sheep. • Top Varieties include: Glenveagh, Majestic, Piccadilly, Aspect, Twymax. Silage Mixture for 2 silage cuts • Most important traits: High silage yield especially for the first cut (data on the recommended list), keep the spread of heading dates at 5 days or less, good sward density. • Tetraploid content: 35-40%. • Clover: None. • Top Varieties include: Solomon, Rosetta, Boyne, Carraig, Magician. For more information, contact goldcrop on 021 488 2800 or check the company website www.goldcrop.Ie

Grass Roots March / April 2015 25

reseeding

Grass Quality: The Most Valuable Trait

rass quality is increasingly being recognised as a critical trait to focus on when selecting grass varieties. Teagasc has highlighted that each 1% increase in grass quality is worth 0.33 litres of milk per cow per day. Perennial ryegrass is an extremely digestible, high quality feed and will result in much greater animal performance (milk production, liveweight gains) etc compared to old permanent pasture. So it is worth ensuring your swards contain a high proportion of perennial ryegrass. Other factors which will influence sward quality are: soil pH and fertility status, grazing management, pre and post-grazing residuals, good soil structure ensuring a high proportion of desirable perennial ryegrasses in your sward.

varieties with the highest quality value (AberGain) and the lowest quality value (Boyne) is 114 euro per ha/year in quality terms alone. This is highly significant in terms of how each variety can contribute to animal performance, whether milk production or liveweight gains. AberGain and Dunluce, both tetraploids, are the highest ranked varieties on the PPI for quality, and they are also the highest ranked varieties overall â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in terms of their total PPI value at 208 euro and 194 euro per ha/year. AberChoice and Drumbo are the top ranked late diploids on the PPI list, in terms of both quality and total PPI value. The Graph below shows the relationship between Total DM yield and quality on the 2015 Teagasc Pasture Profit Index. It is clear from this that those varieties which perform better in terms of quality within the sub-indices are also the highest performing in terms of Total PPI value. Quality is a key trait driving profit at farm level and it must be considered carefully when choosing varieties for reseeding in 2015 to maximise animal performance and farm profitability.

There are large differences between varieties of perennial ryegrass in terms of digestibility. The new Teagasc Pasture Profit Index (PPI), has for the first time, highlighted these differences in economic terms (euro per ha/year). The PPI quantifies the economic

merit of individual perennial ryegrass varieties by determining the performance of varieties across a number of key traits: spring, summer and autumn DM yield, Silage, Persistency, and Quality. In the quality sub-indices of the PPI, the difference between the

Grass Roots March / April 2015 27

TILLAGE NEWS

rassroots Farm reporter CARLY DOLAN speaks to Irish Farmers Association Grain Chairman LIAM DUNNE about how the CAP reform, greening and fertiliser prices are affecting Irish tillage farmers… Irish Farmers Association Grain Chairman Liam Dunne

Q&A How has last year’s CAP reform affected Irish tillage farmers? CAP reform came into effect on the 1st January so farmers are only dealers with the different parts of that now. Some farmers have had to change their cropping program. That’s causing some difficulties and overall, it’s causing a bigger effect in our national production – it could cause some concerns if we have an oversupply of something – the price could be affected, but we don’t know what the final figures are going to be yet. It’s going to take a full season for that to kick in to see exactly what people are doing. What sort of changes are farmers having to make? There are also a lot putting in protein crops – beans. How successful that’s going to be, we don’t know yet. A lot of people are growing them because the regulations stipulate that you have to grow something different to meet the requirement of three crops. It’s not a very good position for people to be in. Farmers should be growing what they know best to grow. If they want to try something new, they should try it out with a small crop first. With all these new crops, the market might not be able to cater for them. Greening seems to be one of the main issues in relation to the CAP reform – how will it affect Irish farmers? Two thirds of Irish tillage farmers would have satisfied the three crop regulations already but one third has to change. If a third of the farmers have to make changes, that’s quite significant. In relation to the 5 per cent ecological focus areas, we have worked very hard with the department to try and get the classification of different things for ecological focus because farmers will tell you very quickly, Ireland’s green enough – it doesn’t need any more greening. We’ve tried

28 Grass Roots March / April 2015

to explain to people, it has to be a Brussels shade of green and you have to try and fit things within certain parameters. The department have worked very well with us and worked with Brussels as well. Most people should have very little problems in satisfying that particular requirement. What would you say is the most troublesome part of the CAP reform for tillage farmers? Most tillage farmers are going to find their single farm payments cut because of convergence. It does mean that productive farmers in Ireland are finding themselves losing payments. So money that tillage farmers are getting has reduced and at the same time, there are more environmental regulations that have to be met, and there is always a cost to meeting those environmental measures. Do you have any advice for farmers dealing with the changes? We advise people to look after the detail on your own farm and make sure you understand the new system because it is quite complicated. We have more options in Ireland than they do in a lot of other countries so you have to examine all the options and see what works best for your individual farm, because farms are very different. A farm in the south of Ireland, east of Ireland, west of Ireland are all going to be very different and we’ve tried out best to have measures there that are going to suit all of them. We’re also saying to people to look into the GLAS scheme. There is a maximum of €5,000 to be had – it might make up the difference in the money that they’re losing – it’s not going to make it all up but it will make some of the difference. What are the positives to have come out of the CAP deal? The only positive we can say is that the deal that was

TILLAGE eventually done is much better than the original proposals. The original would have cut payments by a lot more. What are prices like at the moment for tillage farming in Ireland? Cereal prices are lower than they have been in a number of years so farmers are finding it hard to make a profit on what they produce. A lot are relying on their payments to make a living. Employment in agriculture has dropped somewhat and it doesn’t surprise me because there’s less money around in farming than there was even two or three years ago. People haven’t got money to invest at the moment and we have a very average farm income. It is going to go backwards unless we can get the international prices to rise. The CAP reform across Europe – the crop diversification – it is affecting every country in Europe and what the knock-on effect of that is, we don’t know yet. Fertiliser prices are linked to diesel prices but when the diesel price dropped, fertiliser prices didn’t. What impact has this had on the sector? It was a welcome drop in the price of diesel, of course. That’s very useful because they have been too high. However, the single biggest cost on every tillage farm is

fertiliser and this isn’t an Irish problem – it’s a European problem – a very serious one. We’ve been talking to the Irish commissioner about trying to get the competitions commissioner in Brussels to start an official investigation into what’s going on. There has been a reduction of about one third of the fertiliser plants in Europe, so production capacity has reduced in the last five years. Gas and crude oil prices are coming back so it has been very obvious to everybody that the problem here is not the material, it is the fact that there are only four major players in fertiliser manufacturing in Europe. With grain prices down where they are at the moment, for a lot of people it’s getting very iffy as to whether it’s economically viable at all. We would estimate that the cost of producing a tonne of grain last year was about €135. It was a struggle for a lot of people to get €135 a tonne for the grain that they produced.

top. Farm incomes per labour unit in Denmark are far higher than anywhere else in Europe. They can afford to have more people employed on a farm in Denmark than they can anywhere else in Europe. Irish farmers spend a lot of hours working. Farmers have falling income and are trying to put in more time as a result, trying to cut your costs, trying to do more things yourself because you can’t afford to bring somebody else in to work. There are limits to what people can endure but farmers will try and sometimes pay with their lives.

There was a huge increase in farm accidents and fatalities in Ireland last year. How should it be addressed? There are some startling figures that came through recently about farm incomes and fatalities. There’s only one country in Europe that’s in any position to say they have very few fatalities on farms and that’s Denmark, and when you look at the range of farm incomes in Europe, Denmark is the

Grass Roots March / April 2015 29

TILLAGE

Legislation and Greening By Scott Lovell Technical Manager, Dairygold Agri Business

ightly or wrongly paperwork has become increasingly important on farms and even more so on tillage farms. Recent additional legislation and ‘greening’ measures will add to this burden in 2015. With significant payments from Europe and penalties for non-compliance, it is critical you know the rules and ensure you comply with them. In this article I will attempt to lay out legislation and greening requirements in as straightforward a manner as possible.

Professional User Training From 26th November 2015, growers that spray crops and/or use a knapsack sprayer themselves will be required to be trained in boom and/or knapsack use. If you did a sprayer course in the past it may be acceptable-check with your local Teagasc office. Registration Once you have your training requirements sorted, you must register as a PU by logging into: www.agfood.agriculture.gov.ie/ssoauthagfood/individual.jsp Sprayer Testing All boom sprayers (>3m wide) must be tested by a registered inspector by 26th November 2016.

Legislation Action points A number of legally binding rules are now in force in relation to pesticides that may directly affect you.

Summary of Rules likely to affect Growers Topic

date

action

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

In force since 1st January 2014

Maintain records in accordance with IPM

Professional User (PU) Training

Required before 26th November 2015

1. Establish if you have the required training 2A. If you have, register 2B. If not, enrol and complete courses, then register

Sprayer Testing

Required before 26th November 2016

Have your sprayer tested by a registered inspector

How do you prove that you are farming to the general principles of IPM? 1. If using a chemical (plant protection product) to control a pest, the reason for using the chemical should be recorded in the user’s pesticide application record sheet. 2. A “tick box” worksheet has been designed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to enable farmers to demonstrate how they are adopting the general principles of IPM. Templates of these record sheets are available for download at: www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie

30 Grass Roots March / April 2015

Greening Greening accounts for 30% of the available payment under the new scheme replacing the Single Farm Payment (SFP). Most livestock farmers are ‘Green by Definition’, and therefore are not subject to the requirements of Greening.

TILLAGE

Are you ‘Green by Definition’?

01.

Do you farm less than 10 hectares (25 acres) of arable land?

Yes You are ‘Green by Definition’ and exempt from Greening measures No Proceed to question 2

02.

Greater than 75% of your eligible land is grassland (either temporary or permanent grassland) and less than 30 hectares (75 acres) of arable land? Yes You are ‘Green by Definition’ and exempt from Greening measures No You must comply with Greening measures (see below)

must have at least 5% EFAs in 2015. The area deemed eligible as an EFA depends on the feature as outlined in the table below.

EFA Conversion and Weighting Factors Features

Conversion Factor

Weighting Ecological Factor Focus Area (if both factors are applied)

Hedges

1 liner m = 10 m2

Drains

1 liner m = 6 m2

Buffer strips

1 liner m = 9 m2

Land lying fallow

N/A

1 ha

Catch crop/green cover

N/A

0.3 ha

Nitrogen fixing crops

N/A

0.7 ha

Short rotation coppice

N/A

0.3 ha

Group of trees/filed copses

N/A

1.0 m2 = 1.5 m2

Sps eligible forestry

N/A

1 ha

Farmers will receive maps of the arable parcels they submitted in 2014 with the EFA features mapped out and a total EFA calculated on the basis of the 2014 application. It is important for all farmers to check the accuracy of this information and to amend where necessary as it may not all be 100% correct.

If you are not ‘Green by Definition’, in practise there are two areas you need to comply with; Crop Diversification. Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs). Crop Diversification Crop diversification is designed to encourage a diversity of crops on holdings with arable land. Farmers with less than 10 hectares (25 acres) are exempt. Requirements for those with an arable area between 10 and 30 hectares (25-75 acres) or greater than 30 hectares (75 acres) are outlined in the table below.

Summary of Crop Diversification Requirements Area of Arable Land

Number of Crops Required

Additional Requirements

<10 hectares

N/A

10-30 hectares

Main crop max 75% area

>30 hectares

Main crop max 75% area Largest 2 crops max 95% area

Grassy banks, like the one in the photo, will not qualify as an EFA area and should be carefully examined on the maps. Where there is insufficient EFAs from the hedges, buffer strips and drains farmers can opt to increase their EFA area by leaving land fallow (must have grown an arable crop in 1 of the previous 5 years), sow a catch crop before September 15th and leave till the 1st of December or plant a nitrogen fixing crop. Greening is worth 30% of the new scheme replacing the SFP. Make sure you comply with crop diversification and EFAs rules-make an early appointment with your advisor/consultant and have all calculations done before you plant.

December 31st Winter and spring cereals are considered separate crops but sowing date, not variety, determines whether a crop is considered to be a winter or spring crop. The 31st of December sowing date is the date that is used to distinguish between winter and spring crops. Temporary grass (grass planted after tillage within the last five years) is also considered a crop for crop diversification. Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) Farmers with less than 15 hectares (37.5 acres) of arable land are exempt from this measure while farmers with more than 15 hectares of arable land

As a nitrogen fixing crop beans will qualify for 0.7Ha of EFA for every Ha planted, can be counted as an additional crop and will also attract the €250 / Ha protein payment.

Grass Roots March / April 2015 31

Machinery

CLAAS view wins SIMA Gold

he completely new PANORAMIC cab concept on the CLAAS ARION 400 tractor, which was launched in 2014 and reached the final round of the “Tractor of the Year 2015” competition, was the recipient of one of two gold medal winners of the SIMA Innovation Awards 2015. The new cab structure offers an optimal view of the front loader and/ or front lift, thanks to a wide continuous 90° field of vision. The main characteristic is that it has successfully eliminated the upper horizontal crosspiece, which until now has been essential for successfully passing regulatory tests for protection against falling objects. From the floor to the roof, the large windscreen of 2.41 m² provides optimal visibility from the driver’s seat. No blind angles obstruct the driver’s visibility of his/her loader, making it possible to be always seated in the most comfortable position. All of the repetitive movements causing cervical and lumbar fatigue are therefore eliminated, as is the resulting backache. Félix Garrad, Product Manager of the ARION 400 model series at CLAAS Tractor, explained the special challenges encountered during development of the PANORAMIC cab: “The PANORAMIC cab is ideal for working with a front loader. We needed a solution which, on the one hand, ensured safety and reliability while, on the other hand, doing away with components like the upper crossbar which limits visibility.” The jury found this to be a remarkable development in the areas of prevention, safety, comfort and productivity. The SIMA Innovation Awards are awarded every two years to recognise innovations in agricultural technology and agricultural services. This time, two gold medals, three silver medals and 18 special mentions were awarded. CLAAS also won a special mention award for their new VARIO cutterbar which is designed for flexibility to master modern harvesting process difficulties due to more regular crop rotation.

32 Grass Roots March / April 2015

Machinery

SIMA Innovation First

he slogan for the 2015 SIMA agricultural show in Paris this year was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Innovation Firstâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The show features all aspects of farming from livestock to forestry but it was the machinery section that lived up to its slogan the best.

Results of SIMA Innovation Awards 2015: SIMA Gold medals Claas: Panoramic cab John Deere: High-speed precision seed drill SIMA Silver medals Berthoud: Secure pesticide-products intake John Deere: Fully-automated connection system Kverneland Group: Non-stop combined press-baler While CLAAS took home one gold, John Deere secured the other one for their high-speed precision seed drill. The ExactEmerge seed drill is a pneumatic seed drill fitted with a vertical conveyor system for placing the seeds at the base of

the furrow with a nil horizontal speed. This system allows high working speeds (up to 20 km/h) while providing precision and quality of work that is better than that of conventional single-seed drills. There was Irish interest in the Special Mention list of winners with McHale scoping an award. This was for their new press-baler with plastic-film binding system. The McHale Fusion 3 Plus press-baler uses a new binding system that can apply several layers of plastic film in the pressing chamber instead of string or thread. The binding film is stretched much more than thread or string, which provides bales that are denser and so the process of fermentation starts quicker, for better fodder quality.

John Deere: High-speed precision seed drill

New RB5 Premium Round Baler

McHale Fusion 3 Plus Press Bailer

Case IH Tractors have proven themselves worldwide in every horsepower range for more than 170 years. They have now introduced a new range of Round Balers proven in the field for the 2015 season. The new RB5 Premium Round Baler range low profile design lets the pickup float over ground contours, gently gathering the swards. It features auto oil/greaser, drop floor, 5 bar high speed pick up making it a high output baler. Contact Lynch & McCarthy Ltd for more details.

Grass Roots March / April 2015 33

Machinery

Record attendance at this year’s FTMTA Show

cold spell in the weather couldn’t keep away a record crowd of nearly 19,000 at Ireland’s premier farm machinery event – the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) Farm Machinery Show.

34 Grass Roots March / April 2015

The three-day event, held in Punchestown, County Kildare, ran from February 5th to 7th, and included a huge outdoor display area, trade stands and three exhibition pavilions. Exhibitors included leading farm machinery manufacturers from Ireland and around the world. “Despite very cold weather during the preparation weeks, conditions on the show days, while still cold, were pleasant and allowed visitors to spend more time viewing the much increased displays,” FTMTA’s chief executive Gary Ryan said. “A record attendance of 18,750 people visited the show with a huge crowd of some 7,500 on the Saturday.” “Exhibitors reported good interest across all lines of machinery with a feeling that the pessimistic outlook around agricultural commodity pricing in late-2014 has eased somewhat and farmers and contractors will continue

to make the required investment in the mechanisation operations of their businesses.” Machinery businesses from Canada, Sweden, Germany, France and Holland attended the show under an Inward Buyer Visit initiative organised by Enterprise Ireland. The idea was for the group to meet Irish manufacturers and visit two dairy farms in the locality. During his opening speech, FTMTA President Donal Fitzpatrick highlighted the association’s ongoing advocacy of farm safety, particularly in relation to machinery use. Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority had a farm safety display at the show this year for the first time. The FTMTA was formed more than 100 years ago by a group of farm machinery dealers. There are currently over 200 members in the association and it is managed by a group of 17 voluntary executive council members, who work in the industry.

Machinery

Tipperary’s Second Diecast Show

uilding on the success of last year’s event, the organisers are working hard on the final preparations for Tipperary’s Diecast Model and Diorama Show. The show returns to the Clonmel Park Conference Leisure & Spa Hotel on Sunday, 22nd March. At time of press, space at the show was almost booked out and the team behind the event expect it to be fully subscribed. This is testament to the increasing popularity of events like this.

On the day there will be traders, displayers and dioramas of tractors, trucks, cars, construction, doll houses and lots more.

JOSKIN go Horizontal

JOSKIN have produced a new range of muck spreaders that incorporate horizontal beaters with a spreading table to join their existing range of vertical beater muck spreaders. The Ferti-SPACE HORIZON advantages is that it crumbles and shreds very well, it is particularly suited for dry poultry manure, compost, but also lime and organic wastes. The new range is available in 7 versions from 15,5 to 25,75m2 (manure volume before door). These volumes can be increased with higher body ends (1.4m) and/or extensions.

Grass Roots March / April 2015 35

macra NEWS / youth

Know Your President

he Macra Na Feirme Presidental Campaign is in full swing as the candidates tour the countryside looking for the Macra members votes. The ballot closes at 1pm on Tuesday, April 7th. Grassroots Farm Magazine decided to get to know a little more about the four candidates running for election this term. We found out the race contains a Rodney from Only Fools and Horses, a determined Michelle, Patricia (as Paddy was known to his primary school teacher) and Seán the maths geek. Have a read for yourself and decide who you think should be the next Macra President.

Michelle O’CallaghaN

Paddy Delaney

Occupation: Quality Assurance Chemist with Pfizer and partner in our family farm partnership.

Occupation: Beef, sheep and tillage farmer/malting barley plant supervisor.

Describe yourself in three words? Leader, determined, and sociable.

Describe yourself in three words? Where to start???

definitely “Patricia is attentive and studious. She should do well in second level”.

Sum up your campaign policies in the least amount of words possible? Representing rural youth and young farmers. Achieving actual and sustainable growth for the organisation.

What is better about rural living as opposed to urban living? The fact that you can shout the place down and not worry about the neighbours hearing you. The scenery is a plus too.

From: Knockraha, Co. Cork

Sum up your campaign policies in the least amount of words possible? My campaign policies are based on the foundation of our organisation: the development of our members, and to support rural youth and young farmers. If you were to talk to yourself in the mirror what advice would you give? Be yourself and don’t lose your individuality - its your individuality that makes you unique. If you were to do one job on a farm, what job would it be and why? Definitely milking cows - ‘white gold’ If a movie was made about your life, what actor would play you and why? Whoopi Goldberg - a determined actress that challenged the acting world. What is the worst thing that was written about you in a school report? Michelle is a bit of daydreamer.

36 Grass Roots March / April 2015

What is better about rural living as opposed to urban living? Each has its benefits, but being from a rural area all my life I believe there is no better environment to live in. With beautiful natural countryside, and with family and friends nearby as well as a few characters living over the road, there is never a day that you wouldn’t appreciate where you are from. What is your greatest achievement in Macra? I have had many highlights and its hard to pick just one - winning the Macra na Feirme National Leadership award as an individual was a great highlight , but chairing the Macra Rally Committee was a great achievement working with a team where we all pulled together to organise a memorable weekend. What would happen if you ruled the world? It would be an equal opportunities world where everyone’s knowledge and experience would be valued. Everyone would appreciate the farm to fork concept and of course world peace. Describe your perfect day Waking up as the National Macra na Feirme President, surrounded by friends and family.

From: Timahoe, Portlaoise

If you were to talk to yourself in the mirror what advice would you give? Don’t listen to images of yourself! If you were to do one job on a farm, what job would it be and why? Any tractor work that involves breaking the soil always seems very satisfying. If a movie was made about your life, what actor would play you and why? Leonardo DiCaprio. He might finally win an Oscar. What is the worst thing that was written about you in a school report? I’m not sure about worst but the strangest is

What is your greatest achievement in Macra? Winning Club of the Year in 2010. A proud day to be a Portlaoise Macra member. What would happen if you ruled the world? Every country would be driving on the left, motorways would have a tractor only lane and food prices would reflect production costs in first world countries. Describe your perfect day Any day when the sun is shining, the temperature is above 20 degrees and I’ve remembered to put suncream on.

macra / youth

Seán Finan

Eamon Cassells

Occupation: Beef farmer & construction project manager with Sisk.

Occupation: Lab Technician at the National Cattle Breeding Centre and part-time suckler farmer.

Describe yourself in three words? Positive, Hardworking and Communicator

Describe yourself in three words? Competitive, Progressive, Open-minded

Sum up your campaign policies in the least amount of words possible? I will ensure Macra na Feirme remains the representative body for young farmers and rural youth by advocating and lobbing on the issues that impact on them. If elected president I will encourage more people to get involved in our organisation and through social interaction and participation in our six key programme areas of activity (agriculture, sport, travel, performing arts, public speaking and community involvement) that they will develop as people and leaders.

Sum up your campaign policies in the least amount of words possible? Improved interaction with the general public on agricultural issues- to be an ambassador for Irish farming. Continue to build on Macra’s land mobility policy. Greater emphasis on our competitions - our strongest recruitment tool. Greater interaction with Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster, especially through competitions. Introduction of a Sexual Health Policy. A Testicular Cancer awareness program, introduction of Mental Health Officers to counties, and greater interaction with our past members

If you were to talk to yourself in the mirror what advice would you give? Keep up the hard work and enjoy every second.

If you were to talk to yourself in the mirror what advice would you give? Any job worth doing is worth doing well.

If you were to do one job on a farm, what job would it be and why? Any job I do when I do it safely it’s a job well done.

If you were to do one job on a farm, what job would it be and why? Calving. There is great satisfaction in bringing new life to the world especially with a hard calving where your actions were the difference between life and death,

From: Castlerea, Co. Roscommon

If a movie was made about your life, what actor would play you and why? Chris O Dowd - A young talented actor and comedian with good Roscommon heritage and he would no doubt do a great job in portraying me! What is the worst thing that was written about you in a school report? “Seán needs to slow down and stop going ahead of the class in his maths” What is better about rural living as opposed to urban living? There is a stronger and greater sense of community in rural areas with people working together and helping each other. What is your greatest achievement in Macra? Being elected Vice president in 2013, as this has given me the opportunity to meet members and to work with them to develop the Macra na Feirme organisation.

From: Athboy, Co. Meath

If a movie was made about your life, what actor would play you and why? I’m told that there is a similarity between me and Nicholas Lyndhurst who played Rodney in Only Fools and Horses. Considering my Greek God-like body I would have thought Channing Tatum would be more suitable personally! What is the worst thing that was written about you in a school report? Must try harder What is better about rural living as opposed to urban living? Having done both I think for all the people that live in a city its actually quite lonely. You don’t know your neighbours and you are just another face in the crowd. Oh and traffic! I hate traffic.

What would happen if you ruled the world? It would become a better place!

What is your greatest achievement in Macra? My National Leadership Award last year. That meant an awful lot to me. My first Debating title is something very special to me too.

Describe your perfect day A perfect day for me would be when I look back at the end of the day and know I have made a difference to the lives of others by doing my best.

What would happen if you ruled the world? Farmers would receive a fair percentage of the final consumer price, Reality TV would be banned and every child would get to visit a farm at least once a year. Describe your perfect day Late June, sun high in the sky, smell of hay being turned in the air. Grass is leaping out of the ground. Cattle sunning themselves and getting fat. No unexpected mishaps, everything going to plan on the farm. Finish up at a reasonable hour and fill the car with friends and head off to a macra event. Yep, that sounds like heaven to me!

Grass Roots March / April 2015 37

Agri Business

The Cream of Ireland’s Economic Recovery By Carly Dolan

undreds of millions of euros are being poured into the country’s dairy sector, and with EU quotas being removed in a matter of weeks, Ireland is set to become a world leader in production and innovation. That is on top of a number of individual company investments, including Glanbia’s €185 million dairy facility in Kilkenny, Dairygold’s €117 million investment in its Mallow and Mitchelstown sites, and Lakeland’s €36 million milk processing plant expansion. Glanbia Ingredients officially launched its infantformula-grade greenfield nutritional ingredients plant in Belview, County Kilkenny, on March 5. It is the largest single dairy investment in Ireland’s history and will supply markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America. Lakeland Dairies last month began a €36 million expansion of its milk processing plant in Bailieboro,

38 Grass Roots March / April 2015

County Cavan. The overall development will create 81 jobs over a five-year period along with up to 180 construction jobs during the building, installation and commissioning phases. The expansion will include a new seven-tonne per hour milk drying facility, with milk powder production capacity increasing to 19 tonnes per hour. Lakeland’s milk powder production will increase from 80,000 tonnes per year to 130,000 tonnes when the new processing facilities are completed next year. Dairygold’s €117 million expansion in its two Cork dairy processing facilities will accommodate the co-op’s 3,000 suppliers expected milk output growth of 60 per cent by 2020. The project includes an €83 million ‘regeneration’ of the co-op’s milk processing site in Mallow and a €33.5 million upgrade of its Castlefarm Dairy Processing Complex in Mitchelstown. Along with these individual company and co-op investments, there is a joint government-industry initiative taking place, which will ensure Ireland stays at the forefront of dairy technology and innovation. The €35 million investment will go towards two projects – a €25 million Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC) at the University of Limerick, and

a €10 million investment by Teagasc and the dairy industry shareholders in the expansion of the Moorepark Technology Ltd pilot plant facility in Fermoy, Co. Cork. “Ultimately, this kind of investment can build the kind of reputation for excellence in all things dairy that creates a platform not only for export growth, but also for inward investment by major global players in the food industry,” agriculture minister Simon Coveney said. “Investing in product and process innovation makes sense for a host of reasons. It ensures that value is added to high quality raw materials in Ireland and maximises the contribution of the dairy sector to employment creation and the Irish economy generally.” An impressive co-op of 10 major dairy companies is investing in one or both of the initiatives. They include Arrabawn Co-Op, Aurivo, Carbery, Dairygold, Glanbia, Kerry, Tipperary Co-Op, Lakeland Dairies, the Irish Dairy Board and North Cork Co-Op. “The two key outputs of the DPTC will be knowledge and people – both with be absorbed by the industry and used to deliver more efficient processes and better products and ingredients,” DPTC CEO Padraig McPhillips said. “The DPTC is like adding a new software engine to the dairy sector.”

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