Teagasc have announced a new series of breeding seminars, which will be held online starting next Monday (April 20th) until Thursday (April 23rd).
The webinars will be broadcast via Zoom, with the first starting at 10am on Monday.
Breeding management
Tom O’Dwyer, head of dairy knowledge transfer, said: “Normally at this time of year, we organise farm walks around the country outlining the best practices for dairy breeding. Given the current restrictions, we have moved to offer a series of four free webinars as we approach the start of the dairy breeding season for most dairy farmers.”
“We hope that these webinars will provide the latest information and give an opportunity for dairy farmers to have their questions answered by Teagasc experts.”
Pat Dillon, Head of the Teagasc Animal and Grassland, Research and Innovation programme, highlighted the importance of decision making during the breeding season.
“Improvements in both herd fertility performance and future herd production can be achieved through the application of an optimum breeding management plan, including optimum herd nutrition and the use of high EBI (Economic Breeding Index) and DBI (Dairy Beef Index) genetics.”
“In addition, sexed semen is a new technology which can have a role to play on many dairy farms. All of the topics are covered during the webinar series.”
The four topics to be covered are:
| Date | Topic | Presenter | Contributor | Facilitator |
| Monday, April 20th | Getting more cows in-calf during the first three weeks of the breeding season. | Stephen Moore | Donal Patton | Stuart Childs |
| Tuesday, April 21st | Tips to maximise conception rate to sexed semen. | Stephen Butler | Farmer | Stuart Childs |
| Wednesday, April 22nd | Selecting your bull team | Donagh Berry | Richard O’Brien | Stuart Childs |
| Thursday, April 23rd | Increasing the value of your 2021 calf crop: using the Dairy Beef Index | Siobhán Ring, ICBF | Noirin McHugh | Stuart Childs |
