The Dairy Edge

Continuing the daily episodes as part of Nutrient Management Week, today John Maher talks about timing of applications to maximise their return, the rates to apply to find the balance between driving growth and mitigating potential environmental losses and how getting soil fertility right improves the return from applied nutrients thus being an important factor in minimising potential nutrient loss also.
 
Plus he speaks to Mike Ahern who is farming near Ballyduff, Co. Waterford. Mike was the winner of the Nutrient Management category as well as the overall winner of that Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition in 2024.
Join us on the Dairy Edge each day of Nutrient Management Week for special episodes from farmers and experts and for more go to:
https://teagasc.ie/news--events/news/grass10-nutrient-management-week-2026/
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

As part of Nutrient Management Week, Grass10’s, John Maher, speaks to Michael Carroll from Co. Limerick.
 
Michael was one of the joint winners of the Nutrient Management category at the 2023 Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year awards. 
 
He won this award for his understanding of managing slurry on his farm to drive grass growth and reduce his chemical N inputs and today he shares his way of looking at and managing slurry to reduce his chemical N input without compromising on the growth required to feed his herd as much grass as possible.
Join us on the Dairy Edge each day of Nutrient Management Week for special episodes from farmers and experts and for more go to:
https://teagasc.ie/news--events/news/grass10-nutrient-management-week-2026/
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

Philip Murphy, Co-ordinator of the Blackwater Catchment Programme, and Pat Tuohy, Senior Researcher at Teagasc, join Stuart Childs to discuss effective use of nutrients and avoiding losses.
 
Pat discusses recent research across 100 farms that he has completed on behalf of the Dept. of Agriculture that is showing slurry production rates are about 20% higher than the current regulatory assumptions (≈0.4 m³/cow/week vs 0.33m3).
 
This means many farms that may currently be compliant on the basis of the current regulations, do not have sufficient physical storage, leading to pressure to spread slurry at less than ideal times.
 
Both Pat and Philip talk about how this situation is forcing poor nutrient management decisions as when storage runs tight, farmers end up spreading slurry in poor weather/soil conditions. 
 
The return for these applied nutrients are lower and the risk of nutrient loss to water can also be greater so increased storage capacities would help take away pressure but also improve nutrient recovery subsequently.
 
Philip speaks about the role of buffer zones for protected waterways and says that expanded buffer zone requirements (e.g. 10 m near waterways early/late in the spreading season vs 5 m for the rest of the year), risky fields, and wet soil conditions can remove 10–25% of land area from safe spreading. Storage capacity is therefore essential to provide flexibility.
 
Both emphasise that adequate and indeed excess storage, allows slurry to be applied at the right time, rate, and place, improving nutrient efficiency, protecting water quality, avoiding soil damage from heavy machinery, and maximising the value of home-produced nutrients.
 
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

For the first Grass10 grazing management update of the year, John Maher highlights key practices to get grazing in 2026 off to a good start and he discusses the upcoming Nutrient Management Week which runs from Mon 19th-Fri 23rd January.
 
Read more from this week’s Grass10 newsletter and subscribe for weekly updates at:
http://bit.ly/13thJanuary2026
 
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

Michelle McGrath, Calf Care Programme Manager with Animal Health Ireland, joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the importance of good calf care and management as we move towards the busy calving period on farms. 
 
Michelle highlights best practice regarding colostrum management, calf rearing and weaning whilst also outlining what farmers can learn from the current Teagasc/Animal Health Ireland Calf Care events which are happening across the country. 
 
To find out more visit:
https://teagasc.ie/corporate-events/calfcare-events/
 
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
 
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com