Latest news with #Agriland
Agriland
12 hours ago
- Business
- Agriland
all things tillage with Teagasc's Michael Hennessy
Listen: AgriFocus – all things tillage with Teagasc's Michael Hennessy June 3, 2025 5:00 pm On the latest episode of the AgriFocus podcast, brought to you by Agriland in association with Axa Insurance, Agriland editor Stella Meehan chats to head of Crops Knowledge Transfer Department with Teagasc, Michael Hennessy. They discuss how winter crops, as well as spring-sown cereals, are performing across the country. Hennessy outlines the tasks growers should be undertaking in the coming days and weeks as growth progress is monitored and pests and diseases are controlled. Michael Hennessy, Teagasc The Teagasc representative also explains how world grain markets are looking at the moment and what factors are impacting on returns.
Agriland
12 hours ago
- Business
- Agriland
Sheep trade: Eid festival fails to bring expected price rises
This week's sheep trade sees some of the stronger spring lamb, hogget and cull ewe prices reduced from last Monday's price offers as the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha on Friday, June 6, has failed to bring any factory price positivity. Speaking to Agriland, Tullow Mart's Eric Driver said that a change in the interpretation of a rule last year has had an impact on the live trade for Irish lambs going to mainland Europe. The mart manager said that this year, the export demand was only for lambs going direct to slaughter as opposed to previous years where lambs could go for further feeding. This, he said, reduced the window of the alternative-market opportunity to a shorter period of time. Driver said: 'A €10/head premium was available. The 47-53kg ram lambs were making €4.30/kg, that's €197 for 46kg. A 46kg ewe or ram lamb today, €186 would be a very good price. 'The most important point is we took away a little bit of independence from the meat industry for the last 10 days.' Sheep trade: Factory price offers This week, Kepak is quoting €9.00/kg for Quality Assured (QA) spring lambs up to 21kg. This is the same price offer here as last Monday. The Athleague, Co. Roscommon-based factory is quoting €7.40/kg for QA hoggets up to 23kg carcass weight. Kepak is quoting €5.00-5.10/kg for cull ewes. Irish Country Meats (ICM), which is currently running a competition for young sheep farmers, is quoting €8.80/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for spring lambs, leaving €9.00/kg on offer here up to 21kg carcass weight. This price is back €0.20c/kg from last Monday. The Navan, Co. Meath and Camolin, Co. Wexford-based factories are quoting €7.30/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus, leaving €7.50/kg on offer here for hoggets up to 23kg carcase weight. ICM is quoting €5:00/kg for cull ewes. Kildare Chilling has no official quotes for this week however, Agriland understands the outlet is paying farmers up to €9.00/kg for spring lambs, €7.20/kg for hoggets and €5.00/kg for cull ewes. Ballon Meats in Co. Carlow is quoting €8.80/kg for spring lambs and €5.30/kg for cull ewes. Sheep kill Sheep kill numbers continue to trend below last year, with the 2025 cumulative sheep kill down 17% or 161,000 head from the same time of last year. 33,000 sheep were slaughtered in week 20 this year, down 18% from the 41,000 sheep slaughtered in the same week of last year.
Agriland
17 hours ago
- Business
- Agriland
Factory quotes: Beef price offers drop 10c/kg this week
This week's factory quotes have seen beef price offers reduced by 10c/kg following the June Bank Holiday Monday. Several factories had their kill sheets for this week filled out since last week, with many of the cattle booked in for this week are in at the higher prices from last week. The move to reduce price offers has come as a surprise to most farmers as supplies of cattle are expected to be scarce for the coming few weeks. Factory procurement staff are telling Agriland that beef price needs to reduce further but, with tight supplies expected, it remains to be seen if further price cuts will materialise. Most factories had reduced their number of kill days to four due to the seasonal drop-off in cattle supplies in late May/and into June. Factory quotes: Heifers and steers This week, most outlets are quoting €7.40/kg on the grid for bullocks and €7.50/kg on the grid for heifers, but cattle booked in to many of the outlets since last week are in at rates 10c/kg higher than this. The Certified Irish Angus 30c/kg off-season breed bonus ended last week, and many factories have moved back to a 20c/kg Angus breed bonus for this week with others continuing to offer the higher Angus breed bonus for eligible cattle. The Irish Hereford Prime 25c/kg off-season breed bonus ended the previous week and most outlets are paying a 15-20c/kg Hereford Breed bonus for this week. Cow price This week continues with up to 20c/kg of a price difference between outlets for cows. Worth noting is Ashbourne Meats is running a cow carcass competition from June 30 to July 4, to celebrate 40 years of business with prizes of up to €500 available to farmers. Generally speaking, 'U' grade cows are being quoted at up to €7.40/kg this week with 'R' grade cows being quoted at approximately €7.10/kg. Click here to see the latest official data on cow prices paid by grade and factory. Better type, coloured 'O' grade cows are being quoted at up to €6.90/kg, while the plainer 'O' grade cows are being quoted at €6.70-6.80/kg. Fleshed 'P' grade cows are being quoted at€6.60-6.70/kg. Bulls Under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €7.60 and €7.50/kg for 'U' and 'R' grade bulls respectively. 'O' grade bulls are being quoted at €7.40/kg and 'P' grade bulls are being quoted at €7.30/kg. Under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €7.40/kg on the grid this week.
Agriland
2 days ago
- Business
- Agriland
Agriland to launch new limited series The Beef Brief podcast
Agriland is set to launch a new limited podcast series this Wednesday (June 4) where we travel around the country talking to beef farmers about the challenges they currently face and how they run their farm. Produced by Agriland, The Beef Brief will be a four-part podcast series that will go behind the scenes and find out what works for some beef farmers and what makes the difference. In the new podcast series our technical beef journalist, Breifne O'Brien, meets up with one Co. Cavan farmer to find out exactly what 'sustainability' means to him and why this approach has made him an award-winning farmer. The new podcast will also feature insights from two Co. Meath based brothers who not only farm, but also have a butcher shop. They share their personal experiences of what it takes to deliver the farm to fork experience first hand and why they are committed to producing the very best produce for their customers. Agriland podcast The podcast will also meet up with a pedigree breeder and beef farmer in Navan to hear why she took part in the World Angus Forum in Australia last month and is also planning to travel to Kansas this year with the Hereford YDP. Agriland also hears from a Co. Waterford based farmer who shares the secrets of his success when it comes to grass management on a beef farm and how to achieve improved performance in a store to beef system. One other key consumer trend that the podcast will explore is why meat fans are enjoying being able to purchase boxed beef online – we find out how that works in practice for the producer. With beef prices hitting a record during the first few months of the year and trade remaining positive, what do beef farmers currently make of 2025? You can hear directly from farmers about this and more in new The Beef Brief podcast, which will be available on the Agriland platform and all streaming platforms on Wednesday (June 4) with a new episode becoming available each Wednesday for the next four weeks.
Agriland
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Agriland
Land ownership has ‘led to violence' in Irish families
When it comes to land, there is an edge to how Irish people think about what is theirs, or maybe what they believe is theirs which seems to come up in different forms again and again. That is according to Luke Murphy, dance artist and choreographer of Attic Projects, who has created a large-scale dance 'Scorched Earth', which will be staged at the Black Box Theatre, Galway city, from July 15-19 as part of Galway International Arts Festival. Murphy told Agriland: 'Of course the country has a history where defending what's yours became a really powerful and important message, but that fear and that steeliness can get romanticised too. 'Wanting, owning, and keeping land has led to violence in families and communities over and over again, so you have to question the cost.' Inspired by John B Keane's seminal work, The Field, 'Scorched Earth' is Murphy's biggest work to date. It invites the audience into the stark world of an interrogation room in a garda station as a detective and suspect dredge through the ghosts of an unsolved murder, long thought forgotten. Part crime drama, part psychological thriller, the fast-paced show mixes spoken word, theatre, dance, and music, to pierce into a dark but fundamental part of the Irish psyche. Reopening a cold case 12 years after the incident, stories are revisited and old wounds are opened as the detective and suspect fall into a world of memory, fantasy, ambition, and resentment. 'Scorched Earth' by Luke Murphy. Source: Marcin Lewandowski, soundofphotography. The show blurs the lines of dance and theatre, where Murphy weaves a tapestry of story, striking visuals, and visceral movement through which the cast of international performers sear a picture of wanting, striving, deserving, and resenting. Murphy, whose family have a house and land at Sheep's Head peninsula in West Cork, has created and produced over 12 dance theatre works for stage, film, installation and site-specific/immersive contexts. His pieces have been presented throughout Ireland, the UK, the US, and Germany. According to Murphy, this production of 'Scorched Earth' is a key turning point in both his and Attic Projects' careers, being their biggest show to date. Having premiered on the Abbey Theatre's main stage in May. 'Scorched Earth' is brought to life by the same team that created Murphy's multi award-winning production 'Volcano' in 2021. Murphy said: 'Today's Ireland is ever more concerned with development and progress, and this progress is ever more defined as built infrastructure. 'While the pandemic upended common expectations around where Irish citizens work, live, and interact, how the land is used retains its almost gravitational significance.'
