Farm walks
Father and son, Cathal and Conor Casey of Cloughmills are looking forward to hosting an AgriSearch Research Challenge Fund farm walk starting at 11am on Halloween. The first of three such dairy farm walks planned for next week province wide.
NEXT week will see the results of a range of AgriSearch co-funded Dairy and Beef Research featured in a series of Beef Seminars and Research Challenge Fund Dairy Farm Walks being held in conjunction with AFBI and CAFRE.
The three dairy farm walks will be held on Wednesday 31st October on the farm of Cathal and Conor Casey, 15 Gruig Lane, Cloughmills, Ballymena, BT44 9JD, Thursday 1st November on the farm of Brian and Jonathan Matthews, 15 Lisnasure Road, Donacloney, Craigavon, BT66 7NN and Friday 2nd November on the farm of Adrian, Clarence and Aaron Houston, 15 Landahussey Road, Plumbridge, Omagh, BT79 8EQ. Each of these events, signposted from the nearest village, starts at 11am sharp and will finish with a complimentary light lunch,
The farm walks will feature the findings of a Research Challenge Fund project on transition cow management, as well as other topics including feed planning (dealing with issues of silage shortages and poor silage quality), recent AFBI research on winter feeding and improving efficiency by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In the interests of biosecurity those attending are asked to wear clean clothing not previously worn while in direct contact with their own animals. Outdoor work boots should not be worn. Protective overalls and footwear will be provided.
The two beef seminars are being held as part of the Greenmount Centenary celebrations. The seminars will be held at the CAFRE Enniskillen Campus on Tuesday 30th October and again at the CAFRE Greenmount Campus on Wednesday 31st October, both commencing at 7pm. The aim is to highlight how improvements in technical efficiency can improve profit on beef farms. The conference will focus on matters which are in control of beef producers, demonstrating how the adoption of new technologies can improve output and reduce cost on beef farms. Two of the key speakers are leading farmers Simon Frost and Sam Chesney.
Simon Frost is a beef and sheep farmer from Derbyshire and former Beef Focus farmer in the Farmers Weekly. Simon will outline how he produces calves which go on to achieve E grades and record breaking daily carcase gains of 1.22 kg/day.
Sam Chesney from Kircubbin, former Farmers Weekly Beef Farmer of the Year 2011 and current Ulster Grassland Farmer of the year, will give pointers on how to maximise output per hectare and the benefits he has achieved from calving replacement heifers at two years of age.
Other important areas which will be addressed are;
BovIS, with Dr Steven Morrison ABFI outlining how the BovIS database can be used by individual farmers to review and benchmark the reproductive performance of their suckler herd and the growth and carcase quality of slaughtered cattle from their herds.
Winter Feeding, with Dr Francis Lively AFBI considering options open to farmers who are faced with either a shortage of fodder or poor quality fodder in store.
Grassland Management, with Albert Johnston CAFRE reviewing the grazing techniques which worked for farmers during the difficult grazing season and planning for an early turnout to grass next spring.
Bull Selection, with Dr Norman Weatherup highlighting important EBVs when producing slaughter stock and replacement heifers.
To register, contact Technology Admin, CAFRE, 028 9442 6770 or email Rebecca.coalter@dardni.gov.uk.
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Weather for Belfast
Thursday 23 May 2013
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