BEEF2026: welcome to BEEF2026

I am delighted to invite you to attend our major national open day BEEF2026 at Teagasc Grange on Wednesday 1 July, commencing at 9am.

The theme of our beef open day is “Driving Sustainable Performance”.

This year’s event will focus on the big issues facing beef farmers today, including: profitability on beef farms; dealing with volatility in beef prices; labour, work-life balance and succession; the environment; and how farmers can keep improving the performance of their herds and farms.

Since our last beef open day in 2024, a lot has changed. Beef prices and market conditions improved strongly in 2025, leading to a very welcome improvement in family farm income on beef farms. As we all know, there have been recent declines in beef prices and some input costs have risen this year, which will reduce profitability compared to last year.

Nevertheless, incomes on many Irish beef farms are in a stronger position and this gives beef farmers a real opportunity to look at the areas that will make their farms more productive, more profitable and more sustainable into the future.

Grass-based systems are at the heart of beef farming in Ireland.

At BEEF2026, there will be a strong focus on operating systems that exploit our potential to grow high yields of top-quality and low-cost grazed pasture.

Grassland management is of course key to this, but operating productive suckler herds and achieving optimal performance from growing and finishing cattle is also essential. In this regard, calf-rearing, animal health and welfare, and genetics are essential components and the latest Teagasc research, and advice on these topics will be addressed at BEEF2026. This is your chance to talk directly to Teagasc researchers, advisers and education staff.

The event will be very practical, with demonstrations, live displays, discussion forums and interactive exhibits in the technology villages throughout the day.

There will also be live displays on low-emissions slurry-spreading, grazing management, health and safety, protected urea fertiliser, spreader calibration and farm infrastructure.

Cow simulators will be used to show safe calving practices and safe ways to handle livestock. Cattle from the suckler and dairy-beef research work at Grange will also be on display.

There is more focus now than ever on how food is produced and the environmental performance of farming. Irish beef farmers have a really positive story to tell because of our natural pasture-based systems, but there is still room to improve and research continues to provide new information for the farm sector. The good news is that many of the steps farmers can take to improve profit, tend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the environment.

Better use of grass, reducing finishing age with lower emissions per kilo of carcase, keeping animals healthier and getting more output from each livestock unit can all help to improve both farm income and environmental performance.

The theme, “Driving Sustainable Performance”, is about finding the right balance on beef farms; producing cattle efficiently, making a profit, protecting the environment and having a system that works for the farmer and the family.

Making the best use of time and labour is very important on beef farms. Many farmers are running their beef enterprise while also working off-farm, so the systems of the future must be profitable, practical and manageable.

These issues will be covered at BEEF2026 through live demonstrations, technology villages and discussion forums. There will be a strong focus on the main drivers of profit in suckler farming, including improving efficiency on the farm, getting more output from each livestock unit and keeping costs under control.

Dairy-beef systems will also be an important part of the day. Choosing the right dairy-beef system for your own farm is very important, and BEEF2026 will demonstrate practical ways to improve efficiency and profit in dairy-beef steer and heifer systems.

There will be a number of panel discussions during the day in the “Beef Pulse” discussion arena. These will cover important topics across suckler, dairy-beef and other beef production systems. Farmers will have the chance to hear about the main opportunities and challenges facing beef farming. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet with beef farmers from around the country who are participating in Teagasc programmes, and to engage with key industry stakeholders and partners in the Ag-Tech and Industry Villages.

Industry representatives, including the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, Animal Health Ireland, Bord Bia, Meat Industry Ireland, Meat Technology Ireland and the Health and Safety Authority, will also participate in the open day.

I would also like to thank our sponsors FBD Insurance for their generous support.