Excellent attendances at fertility workshops
Chatting at the Breeding workshop on the McCracken farm: Conail Keown, DARD, Newtownards; Kieran Maginn, NMR and Paddy Doherty, Kircubbin
AI Services (Northern Ireland) Ltd has confirmed a tremendous turnout for its two ‘Breeding Work Shops’, which focussed on the use of New Zealand Friesian and Jersey genetics in spring calving herds. The host farmers for the recent events were the McCracken family, from Newtownards and Leslie Beggs, from Omagh.
Both farm walks provided those in attendance with an insight into the potential for spring calving dairy herds in Northern Ireland. Also attending each farm walk were Mark Ryder and Linda O’Neill from the New Zealand-based breeding company Livestock Improvement Genetics (LIC). Ai Services distributes the company’s semen in Northern Ireland. Both Mark and Linda offered the farmers in attendance at both events a detailed insight into LIC’s current breeding programmes.
“There is an undoubted potential to produce milk from grazed grass in Northern Ireland,” confirmed Ai Services’ David Dunlop.
“The fundamental reality is that grass remains our cheapest feed and courtesy of the genetics available from LIC, it is possible to breed the cows that can make best use of this resource.”
He continued: “I would like to thank both the McCracken family and Leslie Beggs for hosting the recent farm walks. They demonstrated that it is feasible to develop a successful dairy farming business model in Northern Ireland based on maximising milk output from grazed grass. And at a time when input costs remain so challenging they are giving other dairy farmers across Northern Ireland significant food for thought.”
For further information on the range of LIC sires now available from Ai Services (Northern Ireland), telephone (028) 90833123.
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Weather for Belfast
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
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