Teagasc and the Heritage Council are today, Friday, 22 August, launching National Hedgerow Week 2025 – an initiative to raise awareness of the value of hedgerows in our landscapes – with a series of free events highlighting the benefits hedgerows provide to our rural landscape. Events run from Friday, 29...
Farming
EU Commission co-funding of €3.46m towards new Bord Bia campaign
EU Commission co-funding of €3.46m towards new Bord Bia campaign
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon welcomed the EU Commission award, from the Commission’s reserve list, of co-funding of €3.46m towards the new Bord Bia information and promotional Sustainable European Beef and Lamb – Trusted Tradition, Technical Excellence campaign. The campaign, due to...
90% of farms expect to have sufficient feed in place for winter Teagasc Fodder Survey Update
90% of farms expect to have sufficient feed in place for winter Teagasc Fodder Survey Update
Based on data from approximately 300 farms nationwide, Teagasc recently updated the National Fodder Survey across dairy and drystock farms. Nationally, 90% of farms expect to have sufficient feed in place for the winter ahead, but approximately 5% of farms expect to face fodder deficits of 20% or greater. Compared to...
Waterford bottom of list for Farm Building Heritage funding
Waterford bottom of list for Farm Building Heritage funding
Waterford received one of the lowest allocations in the country under the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme last year, according to figures released in a parliamentary response to a Dáil question from Waterford TD Conor D. McGuinness, working with Lismore LEA Cllr. Donnchadh Mulcahy. The figures showed...
Minister must use delay to rethink antiparasitic prescription rules
Minister must use delay to rethink antiparasitic prescription rules
ICSA Animal Health and Welfare chair John Barron has said the delay in introducing prescription-only rules for antiparasitic medicines until 1 December, 2025 must not be wasted. He is calling on Minister Heydon to use the extra time to completely rethink how the regulation is being rolled out. “Tweaking the...
Macra calls for the protection of the family farm model
Macra calls for the protection of the family farm model
There is a potential avalanche of developments on the horizon for derogation farmers following the events of the last week, particularly the layering of the Habitats Directive on top of the Nitrates and Water Framework Directives as part of the process of securing Ireland's next nitrates derogation. Macra...
Sustainable pasture progress
Sustainable pasture progress
There has been sizeable progress made in pasture management, clover establishment and environmental footprint over the last eight years of the Grass10 campaign. Managing grassland with less nitrogen fertiliser inputs and with greater reliance on biological nitrogen from clover can reduce cost of production, increase...
Free training courses for farming families
Free training courses for farming families
FRS Co-Op is offering free farm safety training to 300 families this year as part of an ongoing initiative designed to improve safety and wellbeing on Irish farms. Supported by funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the farm safety training initiative will provide a cost-effective and...
Closing date extended for the Teagasc forest photography competition
Closing date extended for the Teagasc forest photography competition
The Teagasc Forestry Development Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine have announced an extension to the closing date for the current forest photo competition, which highlights the multiple benefits of ‘Trees in our Lives’. Due to popular demand, photos for this diverse photo...
Falling cattle numbers should be a wake-up call for policy makers
Falling cattle numbers should be a wake-up call for policy makers
ICSA Beef chair John Cleary has said that the 3.8% drop in the national cattle herd – amounting to more than 276,000 head in just 12 months – is the thin edge of the wedge and has warned that the decline could double next year if current trends continue. “These numbers are not a surprise to farmers...
Farmers at their wits’ end over Department treatment
Farmers at their wits’ end over Department treatment
ICSA president Sean McNamara has said that the association is increasingly alarmed by the growing number of farmers who feel powerless and distressed in their dealings with the Department of Agriculture. “We in ICSA are getting more and more reports from farmers who are at their wits’ end over how they...
Tirlán June milk price 49.08 cpl
Tirlán June milk price 49.08 cpl
Tirlán will pay a total of 49.08 cent per litre (cpl) (including VAT) for June creamery milk supplies at 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein. The June milk price consists of the following: Base milk price of 48.58 cpl (including VAT), unchanged from May; Sustainability Action Payment of 0.5 cpl (including VAT) to...
