Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Future Beef programme farmer, John Dunne, from Co.Offaly is on the Beef Edge podcast this week to give an update into his suckler beef and dairy beef finishing systems, the breeding season, their grassland management and the upcoming National Beef Open Day taking place on 5th June.
John farms alongside his son James just outside Portarlington, operating a highly profitable and progressive beef system, combining 79 suckler cows with a dairy calf-to-beef enterprise where 140 dairy calves are purchased annually and brought right through to finish or stores under 24 months of age .
John discusses breeding season and the use of AI on the farm and the difficulty of managing grass in the current weather conditions.
Silage will be harvested this week on the farm and John outlines the management of the dairy beef calves up to weaning and the importance of visually assessing calf health in addition to the management of health and nutrition on farm.
The farm borders the River Barrow catchment area and John explains the range of key measures being adopted on the farm to improve water quality.
The Future Beef National Open Day takes place on Friday 5th June @ 6:30p and fo further details go to:
https://teagasc.ie/event/futurebeef-farm-walk-john-and-james-dunne/
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge
Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com (lastcastmedia.com/)
Future Beef programme farmer, John Dunne, from Co.Offaly is on the Beef Edge podcast this week to give an update into his suckler beef and dairy beef finishing systems, the breeding season, their grassland management and the upcoming National Beef Open Day taking place on 5th June.
John farms alongside his son James just outside Portarlington, operating a highly profitable and progressive beef system, combining 79 suckler cows with a dairy calf-to-beef enterprise where 140 dairy calves are purchased annually and brought right through to finish or stores under 24 months of age .
John discusses breeding season and the use of AI on the farm and the difficulty of managing grass in the current weather conditions.
Silage will be harvested this week on the farm and John outlines the management of the dairy beef calves up to weaning and the importance of visually assessing calf health in addition to the management of health and nutrition on farm.
The farm borders the River Barrow catchment area and John explains the range of key measures being adopted on the farm to improve water quality.
The Future Beef National Open Day takes place on Friday 5th June @ 6:30p and fo further details go to:
https://teagasc.ie/event/futurebeef-farm-walk-john-and-james-dunne/
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge
Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com (lastcastmedia.com/)
