FarmElevate programme announced to support Tirlán family farms
From left: director of Teagasc Professor Frank O’Mara; Tirlán chairperson John Murphy; chair of the Teagasc Authority Liam Herlihy; and Tirlán chief ESG officer Dr Lisa Koep at the announcement of the FarmElevate programme. Picture: Finbarr O’Rourke.
A new innovative large-scale knowledge transfer programme called ‘FarmElevate’ has been launched by Tirlán Co-Op in partnership with Teagasc.
The programme is designed to support Tirlán farm families in enhancing on-farm productivity, sustainability and long-term resilience.
FarmElevate will focus on key priority areas, including productivity, animal health, climate action, farm costs and sustainability, supporting farmers to adopt best practices and new technologies across their businesses.
Tirlán chairperson, John Murphy, said: “Tirlán farm families continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience and ambition in growing and developing their farm businesses.
"FarmElevate is a knowledge transfer programme, delivered in collaboration with Teagasc, which will support our members to maximise farm profitability and the adoption of new technologies to increase productivity and sustainability.”
The programme will showcase seven “Lighthouse Farms” across the Tirlán catchment area, selected for strong farm management practices. Learnings from these farms will be shared with fellow farmers through webinars, farm walks and talks, discussion groups and regular updates to support practical knowledge transfer across the co-op.
In addition, these Lighthouse Farms will be complemented by a dedicated new farm support service for development farms, with a focus on areas such as nutrient management, clover establishment, feed-planning, breeding, business planning, and labour management.
Frank O’Mara, director of Teagasc, said: “Teagasc is delighted to extend its partnership with Tirlán through the new FarmElevate programme. This continues a long history of over 30 years of collaboration with Tirlán in joint advisory programmes for the benefit of dairy farmers who are supplying the co-op.
In this programme, we aim to translate research and advisory expertise into practical action at the farm level. Working in partnership with Tirlán, this programme will support farmers to improve efficiency, sustainability and decision making, helping to future-proof farm businesses.”
Further details on FarmElevate, including participation and next steps, will be shared with Tirlán Members in the coming weeks.
