CAFRE dairy farm walks are underway

The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) is hosting a series of four farm walks for dairy farmers this month addressing challenges and opportunities currently facing the local dairy industry.

This is a challenging year for dairy farmers. Escalating costs are causing concern among the farming community. It is essential that farmers maximise the use of grass and silage and try to reduce the reliance on purchased feeds. These events offer the opportunity to see at first-hand how local farmers are coping in this difficult year.

On Tuesday 7^th June, there was a large turnout at the first farm walk which took place at Geoffrey Malcomson’s farm in Newry.

A farmer who attended the farm walk in Newry said: “I enjoyed the farm walk with informative discussions with the CAFRE advisers and Geoffrey, the host farmer. I was able to see how Geoffrey maximised the use of grass and reduce reliance on purchased feeds thus saving costs. There was focus on how to maximise grass growth, better utilisation and reseeding, with particular emphasis on improving soil fertility. I was able to take away a lot of information that I can apply on my own farm. I would recommend the farm walks to all dairy farmers.”

There is still an opportunity to attend farm walks in Aughnacloy on Tuesday 14^th June and in Newtownstewart on Wednesday 15^th June. The events are open to all farmers. You can attend each farm at two time slots, 11.00am and 1:00pm. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, visit the CAFRE website.

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