The spotlight will be on suckler farming, dairy expansion, and beekeeping in this week’s episode of Ear to the Ground.
The second part of the new series will air on RTÉ 1 on Thursday, October 29th at 8:30 pm.
Weanling heifer sale
Last February, Helen Carroll spent the day on Tateetra Farm in Co. Louth as manager John Kingham was in the middle of a busy calving season.
John focuses on breeding high-quality progeny and believed that if there was to be a future in the Irish beef sector, these calves would need to achieve a strong price.
Now, 8 months later, Helen is back with John on the day those calves go under the hammer at Carnaross Mart. Will John achieve the prices he needs, or will it all have been for nothing?
Dairy expansion
Since the end of EU quotas on milk production, Ireland’s dairy herd has grown dramatically.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the Co. Cork, where there are now nearly 400,000 dairy cows.
Scientists, who are carrying out research on a proliferation of green algae-enriched tides around Clonakilty and Courtmacsherry, believe these blooms may be linked to that significant increase in cow numbers.
Ella Mc Sweeney goes to west Cork to talk with a local dairy farmer and the scientists from NUIG Galway as they gather samples.
Bee bed man
Connemara beekeeper David Geoghegan has spent years perfecting his craft of keeping hives and producing honey.
Noticing the soothing melody made by his bees as they worked one evening, David decided to try something new. With an eye on mindfulness and meditation, he built himself a ‘Beebed’ – a structure designed for him to relax and drift off while surrounded by the musical hum.
Darragh McCullough heads off to Oughterard in Co. Galway to see if 60,000 native Irish Black bees will help him manage his stress.
