Dr Stan Lalor is to take over from Dr Tom Kelly as director of knowledge transfer at Teagasc.
Up to now, Stan had been working with Grassland Agro as head of speciality business. Prior to his appointment at Grassland Agro, Lalor was a Teagasc researcher based at Johnstown Castle.
The Camross, Co Laois, native will have to pull hard in what will be a very challenging role. Stan will have the area managers and Teagasc specialist team reporting into him and will work closely with Frank O Mara, who heads up the research side of the house.
Stan has an inside line on how the national advisory operates, which obviously stood to him beating off stiff internal competition, as he recently co-authored peer review reports on the Teagasc advisory offerings around the country.
No white smoke yet on the other senior management role to replace the retiring Tom Doherty.
I have my name in for that as well.
Dr Stan Lalor takes over from Dr Tom Kelly.
What the computer can’t see
I heard a funny story this week about a farmer in BDGP.
He had a five-star bull on the farm but he went infertile and he sold him in the mart in May.
He forgot about replacing him before the 30 June deadline for BDGP.
He enquired as to what the fine was going to be but was told he had a “bull” that met the criteria. It ended up he had bought a castrated pedigree Charolais bull along with other weanlings in autumn 2019. He was genotyped and ticked the box. Happy days.
It seems the lads in Kildare Street will have to get a satellite to look under as well as over stock. The farmer quipped: “I wonder will his calves be four- or five-star!”
Big weight gains on the rushes
The Dealer is hearing of some super weight gains in cattle across the country in 2020.
Some would say a good grass year is the reason but some of the weight gains I’m hearing about have got to do with more than grass.
BEEP weighing is in full swing and its throwing up some gems. I heard of a midlands weighing last week where one particular spring-born bull calf was doing 3.9kg/day since birth – phenomenal performance.
When questioned, the farmer said: “Do you see with the ground being wet, we didn’t get the rushes cut this year and he might have been around a while before we copped him, but anyway what harm, he’ll come in under the 30 months a bit easier.”
More of those genetics please, and that’s the calf’s genetics, and not the owners!
Jockeys and commissioners at odds
The Dealer is not one for watching the horses in the morning, but I nearly choked on the nuts in my porridge the other day when I heard that elite jockeys are travelling in and out of EU countries going from racecourse to racecourse without a quarantine period.
One rule for jockeys and another for European Commissioners. Big Phil should have let on he was participating in Punchestown at the cross country trials – he’s about three times the size of most flat jockeys so he definitely wouldn’t have got away with saying he was riding out at Ballybrit.
Anyway, cross-country is far more stylish than becoming a European Commissioner.
Phil Hogan, former European Commissioner for Trade.
I hear that Tadhg Buckley is to become the new director of policy/chief economist at the IFA.
The Cork dairy farmer and Nuffield scholar is currently the head of agriculture at AIB. Buckley is seen as a heavy-hitting appointment for the farm organisation.
The IFA has also appointed Aine O’Connell as its new dairy executive to replace Catherine Lascurettes. O’Connell will be making the switch from the ICMSA to the IFA, swapping a Limerick HQ for Dublin HQ.
She previously worked as a farm programme adviser with Arrabawn, holds a PhD in dairy science and is dairying in Limerick.
Clarity on who is selling Sligo farm
Last week The Dealer noted the possible sale of the “Aurivo” farm in Sligo.
The Dealer is happy to clarify that the farm is owned by North Western Livestock Holdings of which Aurivo is one of seven shareholders in the company.
The Dealer understands that the move to bring the farm to market was a strategic decision taken by the board of
North Western Livestock Holdings.
New boss at Lee Strand in Kerry
I hear John O’Sullivan has retired as CEO of Lee Strand in Kerry. Lee Strand is a small milk co-op which employs about 100 people. Its main business is liquid milk in Kerry and west Limerick. Gearoid Kinnane is taking the reins after a role in University Hospital Kerry and before that – yes, you guessed it – Kerry plc. Lee Strand has a liquid milk pool of about 20m litres and deals mostly in branded Lee Strand milk – no “own” label for the Kerry lads.
Dr Stan Lalor is to take over from Dr Tom Kelly as director of knowledge transfer at Teagasc.
Up to now, Stan had been working with Grassland Agro as head of speciality business. Prior to his appointment at Grassland Agro, Lalor was a Teagasc researcher based at Johnstown Castle.
The Camross, Co Laois, native will have to pull hard in what will be a very challenging role. Stan will have the area managers and Teagasc specialist team reporting into him and will work closely with Frank O Mara, who heads up the research side of the house.
Stan has an inside line on how the national advisory operates, which obviously stood to him beating off stiff internal competition, as he recently co-authored peer review reports on the Teagasc advisory offerings around the country.
No white smoke yet on the other senior management role to replace the retiring Tom Doherty.
I have my name in for that as well.
Dr Stan Lalor takes over from Dr Tom Kelly.
What the computer can’t see
I heard a funny story this week about a farmer in BDGP.
He had a five-star bull on the farm but he went infertile and he sold him in the mart in May.
He forgot about replacing him before the 30 June deadline for BDGP.
He enquired as to what the fine was going to be but was told he had a “bull” that met the criteria. It ended up he had bought a castrated pedigree Charolais bull along with other weanlings in autumn 2019. He was genotyped and ticked the box. Happy days.
It seems the lads in Kildare Street will have to get a satellite to look under as well as over stock. The farmer quipped: “I wonder will his calves be four- or five-star!”
Big weight gains on the rushes
The Dealer is hearing of some super weight gains in cattle across the country in 2020.
Some would say a good grass year is the reason but some of the weight gains I’m hearing about have got to do with more than grass.
BEEP weighing is in full swing and its throwing up some gems. I heard of a midlands weighing last week where one particular spring-born bull calf was doing 3.9kg/day since birth – phenomenal performance.
When questioned, the farmer said: “Do you see with the ground being wet, we didn’t get the rushes cut this year and he might have been around a while before we copped him, but anyway what harm, he’ll come in under the 30 months a bit easier.”
More of those genetics please, and that’s the calf’s genetics, and not the owners!
Jockeys and commissioners at odds
The Dealer is not one for watching the horses in the morning, but I nearly choked on the nuts in my porridge the other day when I heard that elite jockeys are travelling in and out of EU countries going from racecourse to racecourse without a quarantine period.
One rule for jockeys and another for European Commissioners. Big Phil should have let on he was participating in Punchestown at the cross country trials – he’s about three times the size of most flat jockeys so he definitely wouldn’t have got away with saying he was riding out at Ballybrit.
Anyway, cross-country is far more stylish than becoming a European Commissioner.
Phil Hogan, former European Commissioner for Trade.
I hear that Tadhg Buckley is to become the new director of policy/chief economist at the IFA.
The Cork dairy farmer and Nuffield scholar is currently the head of agriculture at AIB. Buckley is seen as a heavy-hitting appointment for the farm organisation.
The IFA has also appointed Aine O’Connell as its new dairy executive to replace Catherine Lascurettes. O’Connell will be making the switch from the ICMSA to the IFA, swapping a Limerick HQ for Dublin HQ.
She previously worked as a farm programme adviser with Arrabawn, holds a PhD in dairy science and is dairying in Limerick.
Clarity on who is selling Sligo farm
Last week The Dealer noted the possible sale of the “Aurivo” farm in Sligo.
The Dealer is happy to clarify that the farm is owned by North Western Livestock Holdings of which Aurivo is one of seven shareholders in the company.
The Dealer understands that the move to bring the farm to market was a strategic decision taken by the board of
North Western Livestock Holdings.
New boss at Lee Strand in Kerry
I hear John O’Sullivan has retired as CEO of Lee Strand in Kerry. Lee Strand is a small milk co-op which employs about 100 people. Its main business is liquid milk in Kerry and west Limerick. Gearoid Kinnane is taking the reins after a role in University Hospital Kerry and before that – yes, you guessed it – Kerry plc. Lee Strand has a liquid milk pool of about 20m litres and deals mostly in branded Lee Strand milk – no “own” label for the Kerry lads.
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