Teagasc has appointed a new team of advisers to lead the Future Beef programme - sustainable cattle production.

The programme manager is cattle specialist Martina Harrington and she is joined by Future Beef advisers Gabriel Trayers and Aisling Molloy.

Martina Harrington is a Teagasc cattle specialist with over 20 years’ experience as a Teagasc adviser, working closely with beef farmers in the southeast.

She has a BAgrSc and has completed a masters in rural environment conservation management.

Gabriel Trayers is a Teagasc business and technology (B&T) drystock adviser based in the Teagasc office in Tuam, Co Galway.

He has 27 years’ experience as an adviser, has facilitated a number of different beef discussion groups and established a contract heifer-rearing group in Galway.

He completed the Teagasc leadership development programme at the IMI, Sandyford.

Aisling Molloy has been working as a B&T drystock adviser in the Teagasc office in Kanturk, Co Cork.

She completed a masters in agricultural science as a Walsh scholar in 2016. She recently graduated with a UCC diploma in leadership for the agri-food sector, in conjunction with Macra Agricultural Skillnet.

She has worked at Teagasc Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford, and has facilitated a number of different beef discussion groups and a successful grass group in east Cork.

Programme aims

The Future Beef programme involves 23 farms and is also part of the Teagasc Signpost programme, ‘Farmers for Climate Action’.

Teagasc has said the aim of Future Beef is to demonstrate to beef farmers how they can produce a quality product as efficiently as possible and to make beef farming more profitable, while also making it more environmentally and socially sustainable.

The Future Beef programme is supported through Meat Industry Ireland by 10 meat processing companies.

The programme is predominantly based around suckler beef production.

For more details, see here.