Improving profitability from beef while achieving work-life balance

The first session, titled ‘Driving Performance and Profit from Birth to Slaughter', will explore how suckler farmers can increase profitability by €600 per cow

The event will take place on Monday, November 30, at 5pm in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, Co Roscommon. 

The Teagasc National Beef Conference brings together leading industry experts, researchers and farmers to ask how stock keepers can improve their profitability while also achieving better work-life balance.

The event will take place on Monday, November 30, at 5pm in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, Co Roscommon. 

With the theme ‘Profitable Beef Farming, Balanced Lifestyle’, this year’s conference will focus on practical strategies to improve beef farm profitability, maximise performance from birth to slaughter, and help farmers achieve a better balance between their farming responsibilities and family life.

It will bring together progressive beef farmers to share the latest research, practical advice and real-life experiences from the sector. Opening the conference, Teagasc director Professor Frank O’Mara will address attendees on the main challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

The first session, titled ‘Driving Performance and Profit from Birth to Slaughter', will include Teagasc cattle specialist Martina Harrington, who will explore how suckler farmers can increase profitability by €600 per cow. 

Dr Paul Smith, from the Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation centre, Grange, will examine how to maximise animal performance from weaning through to slaughter, drawing on the latest findings from the Beef Quest research project.

A panel discussion will follow, examining opportunities to maximise output and performance throughout the beef production system. The panel will include Teagasc ruminant nutritionist Dr Aisling Claffey, University College Dublin's Dr Marijke Beltman, MRCVS, and Brian Jordan of Castle Forbes Estate, Co Longford, along with Martina Harrington and Dr Paul Smith.

The second session, ‘Better Beef, Better Balance’, is chaired by TV presenter Helen Carroll, and will explore how farmers can make beef farming work alongside family and other commitments. 

Suckler beef farmer Aonghusa Fahy, from Ardrahan, Co Galway, will share his experience of teaching full-time while farming part-time, highlighting how to make the beef farm fit around family life.

The discussion, ‘Making Time for Better Beef Farming’, will include Aonghusa Fahy, suckler and sheep farmer Olivia Hynes from Co Roscommon, dairy calf-to-beef farmer Colin Callanan from Co Galway, Teagasc Schemes Support Unit specialist Seamus Nolan, and Ger Hartnett of the Health and Safety Authority.  

Speaking in advance of the conference, Pearse Kelly, head of Drystock Knowledge Transfer in Teagasc, said: “The conference promises to deliver valuable insights for beef farmers looking to improve the technical and financial performance of their enterprises, while making time for family, health and life outside the farm gate. I would encourage all cattle farmers to attend this important event on Monday, November 30.”