More Teagasc advisers needed to deliver results on beef farm study

A PROGRAMME that led to a doubling of profits on 16 beef farms could help ease the moratorium on public sector recruitment to ensure the lessons of the trial are not lost.

Minister of State for Food, Horticulure and Food Safety, Sean McEntee, said he agreed with the view that additional Teagasc advisers could be needed to deliver an effective on-farm programme on foot of the profit-creating success of the Teagasc and Irish Farmers Journal Better Beef Programme.

Speaking at yesterday’s Teagasc National Beef Conference 2011 in Kilkenny, Teagasc beef specialist Aidan Murray outlined how profits of €386 and €563 per hectare were achieved in the first two years of the three-year trial. This 45% growth rate is even more impressive set against the -7% average losses sustained by the industry nationally. Speaking at the Kilkenny conference, IFA president John Bryan said that on-farm Teagasc advisers were the people best equipped to impart the lessons from the programme.