A new joint farm development programme between Dairygold Co-op and Teagasc was launched by the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed on Friday.

It aims to provide Dairygold members up-to-date information to maximise profitability and sustainability at farm-level.

Labour efficiency

The programme runs to 2021 and follows on from the previous programme that saw over 8,500 people attend events held over the three-year period up to 2017.

The programme will focus specifically on labour efficiency, lean farm practices, biodiversity, water quality and herd health, with an increased collaboration with Munster AI.

A number of key performance indicators have been set out. These include:

  • Soil fertility improvements.
  • Grass utilisation.
  • EBI increase.
  • Carbon footprint reduction.
  • Milk solids increase.
  • Financial management improvements.
  • Milk quality scorecard gains.
  • “I’m hugely encouraged to see that this programme has taken a holistic approach to providing Dairygold members of all scale and development with the tools required to achieve efficiency and profitability in a sustainable manner,” Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said at the launch on the farm of John Keane, Macroom.

    Together Towards 2021 brings the total amount invested by the Dairygold in knowledge transfer events to €7m since its collaboration with Teagasc began in 1993, it said in a statement on Friday.

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