New location for Teagasc's Newford herd
The Newford suckler demonstration farm was established by Teagasc and Dawn Meats in 2015 on 65 hectares of land in Athenry, Co Galway, with support from McDonald’s.
A new home has been found in Co Roscommon for the Newford suckler beef herd.
The Newford suckler demonstration farm was established by Teagasc and Dawn Meats in 2015 on 65 hectares of land in Athenry, Co Galway, with support from McDonald’s.
Teagasc provided the land, part of which was leased from the IDA.
In May 2023, the IDA announced they had secured a new tenant (Dexcom) for the Newford site and this meant the herd would need to vacate its existing location by November 2023.
A suitable 58-hectare farm has been selected in Co Roscommon and a seven-year lease on the property negotiated.
Over the years, the Newford farm has focused on demonstrating key Teagasc technologies such as a lighter dairy cross cow type, two-year-old calving of heifers, compact spring calving, 100% AI usage, increasing carcase weights through genetic selection, and more recently the inclusion of grass-clover swards.
In 2022, the farm began measuring methane using Greenfeed technology and installed a carbon flux tower to help with measurement of carbon sequestration.
The new farm identified in Co Roscommon "has extensive cattle wintering facilities and some of these will be used for the Newford suckler herd with the remaining facilities used as a specialised winter finishing beef unit", Teagasc said.
Teagasc and Dawn Meats have identified this sector as a "key component of the Irish beef industry exposed to significant business risk, and which has the potential to contribute significantly to achieving Ireland’s climate goals".
This will be through "focusing on key technologies that will help drive profitability by focusing on high-quality forage production, precision selection of cattle for slaughter, health and welfare of housed cattle, and all the while working to improve the carbon footprint".
"The Newford suckler herd will continue to focus on key areas of genetics of sires and dams, grassland management, mixed/clover swards, and improving the sustainability of the herd," Teagasc said.
"The Greenfeed measurement system and carbon flux tower will now also be situated on the Roscommon site."
