I have got my opening round of fertiliser out. At the start of last week, I applied 20 units of protected urea per acre.

Calving has most definitely zoomed past the halfway mark this week - I reckon the ladies passed a memo around and told each other that we weren't busy enough, so they cranked it up another notch.

The beef processors have tightened their grip on the purse strings this week when it comes to buying finished cattle for slaughter as supply reaches a year-to-date high. "They've cut them.

Initially, Ken Flynn, farm manager and lecturer at Gurteen College, said he thought the only benefit of protected urea over CAN was getting more nitrogen for less money, now it's replaced 88% of the farm's CAN.

Paula reflects on a busy week on the farm and shares her secrets to surviving the madness of peak calving.

Things don't always go to plan on the farm at calving time, so it's crucial to know how to take early intervention. Farm vet Hazell Mullins shares her tips for emergency calf survival.

I ordered my protected urea for the early part of the year from Drinagh Co-op at the start of February, and it was delivered two days later. I had no issues in sourcing it so far, and I am aiming to continue using it throughout the grazing season.

Suppliers are adamant that they cannot continue in business at current prices.

As much as €25,000 an acre was paid for Irish agricultural land in 2022, a new report on land prices has revealed.

Lamb producers are feeling one certainty about the return from their enterprise, and it is a very definite "uncertainty" of the pay cheque.

Renewed focus on rural crime

Property near golf club has generous road and water frontage

The asking price of €800,000 (€17,600/acre) is a fair reflection of the particular package of elements the farm offers

Peadar milks 70 cows in Church Cross, Skibbereen - the home of our Olympic medal rowers - with help from his mother, Mary, who oversees calf-rearing, and brother, Conor, who lends a hand when he can.

'Farm Exam' readers will be happy to hear two Signpost favourites from 2022 are set to return. Tom and Fiona Barry from Mallow, and Darren and Rory Allen from Ballymaloe Farm, Co Cork, will continue their regular updates into 2023.

Nenagh based sheep and suckler farmer Des Powell is hoping to try the strategies that are the most practical for his business.

Running a busy teaching farm, it's important to farm manager Ken Flynn that sustainability is at the heart of Gurteen College's dairy unit.

All the lists have been done for calving, and everything is organised - the calm before the spring-calving storm, writes Aherla farmer Paula Hynes.

Don't worry, you haven't started going mad if you think you see a rave taking place in a busy dairy farm cattle shed - nor do you need to call the Guards just yet. Starlings have long been the scourge of many farms in winter.

In the world of agricultural land, tidier parcels of pasture are often the most desired as they draw interest from a wide variety of potential buyers.

Coming up for public auction on March 3 at the Carraig Hotel in Carrick-on-Suir in South Tipperary is a 123-acre farm located in adjacent to the village of Grangemockler.

Teagasc advisors expect that 2023 will bring better times for Irish pig producers following one of their most difficult years in a generation.

Because of a lack of capacity, 70 Irish students are now doing first-year veterinary medicine in Poland, while another 30 are undertaking such studies in Hungary.

The new farm business started in 2020 consists of three main parts: A premium beef brand, an activities business, and a campsite.

Opposition TDs have supported farmers’ calls for their land to be excluded from the residential zoned land tax.