26 September 2008

2 minute read

Europe

Twelve suckler beef producers from around the country have been selected to participate in the first phase of the BETTER Farm Beef programme, which is a joint initiative between Teagasc and the Farmers Journal with financial support from industry.

Speaking at the launch, Teagasc director, Professor Gerry Boyle said; ”The BETTER Farm Beef programme is designed specifically to help farmers use available and new technologies to improve profits and ultimately incomes from beef farming. It is built around maximizing the growth and utilization of grazed grass in producing high quality beef from better bred animals with superior genetics.”

Teagasc advisers and researchers will be working with the selected farmers to look at all areas of their production system and by implementing the latest technologies and research, ensure that maximum efficiency is achieved. These farms will become information hubs for transferring knowledge out onto other beef farms and will set the benchmarks for efficient production. Through farm walks and open days, discussion groups and individual farmers will benefit enormously from this new initiative. This new approach will also give farmers a central role in research extension and will quickly identify areas needing further research.

Aidan Murray, Teagasc Beef advisory specialist, will manage the programme jointly with Paul Crosson, Teagasc researcher, Grange, and with Justin McCarthy, Livestock Editor in the Irish Farmers Journal. Performance monitoring will be a key cornerstone of this initiative. The current physical and financial performance on farms will be assessed and recorded. Development plans for each of the twelve farms will be drawn to improve animal performance and financial returns.

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