In the fourth and final episode of season two of Agriland's limited series 'The Dairy Trail', technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to dairy farmer Joe Healy's farm in Athboy, Co. Meath.

Joe Healy is milking 97 pedigree Holstein Friesian cows, where the use of American Holstein genetics, embryo transfers and intensive breeding selection is driving his herd towards 700kg of milk solids/cow.

Joe is hugely enthusiastic about breeding and genetics as he started off milking cows with a strong base of Economic Breeding Index in 2020, and is now driving towards more type, more milk and cows that he enjoys milking twice a day.

Joe keeps his three children involved on the farm as they are proud members of the Irish Holstein Friesian Association young members association and Joe's long term goal is to make the farm more attractive for the next generation.

Joe also talks about current cow performance, managing rapid grass growth rates and improving his farm business through genetics, infrastructure and lifestyle.

Mike Clohessy is milking 75 black and white cows in Fedamore, Co. Limerick where one Lely A4 robot and a strict breeding routine is paving the way for high solids and good work/life balance.

Mike also has a full-time job off farm as the director of the genetic company, Bullwise CRV and is able to manage dairy farming with his job with the help of the robot.

Mike talks about his breeding programme and how he wants to breed a cow with good capacity, with an ability to intake large quantities of grass and can convert this to 600kg of milk solids a year.

The Limerick man discusses the grassland management on the farm through an ABC robotic grazing system, time-off, plans for the future and a potential increase in cow numbers and robots.

In the second episode of season two of Agriland's limited series 'The Dairy Trail', technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to dairy farmer Sam and Henry Dudley's farm in Co. Tipperary.

Sam Dudley is a third year agricultural science student in UCC, currently doing his work placement in Dovea Genetics and working away on the farm with his father Henry at every chance he gets.

The father and son duo are milking 82 pedigree British Friesian cows, known as the Dekeana herd across a 20ha milking platform with the rest of the land being fragmented into six blocks for silage, heifer rearing, and the pedigree Angus and Shorthorn cattle.

In this podcast, Sam talks about how the pure British Friesian herd are pumping out solids for them, his love for genetics and breeding, his future plans and future investments as well as growth rates and grazing management.

In the first episode of season two of Agriland's limited series 'The Dairy Trail', technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to dairy farmer Eugene Lawler's farm in Co. Kildare.

Eugene is farming alongside his son Eoin and his family in Ballitore, Co. Kildare where a simple grazing system is proving very effective for them.

Eugene Lawler was a new entrant into dairy in 2015 after moving from sucklers to dairy cows and has built his herd up to be a well balanced Holstein Friesian with a small bit of Jersey running through them to keep down size.

At this time of the year, Eugene aim to "keep quality grass in front of them [the cows], keep grass in the diet and keep the meal lorry out of the yard."

In the fourth episode of Agriland’s latest limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’, technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to Hanbidge’s dairy farm in Kiltegan, Co. Wicklow.

Linda Hanbidge is farming in partnership with her brother Gordon, her mother, Rosemary, and her father, Alan, where they all together seamlessly.

The Hanbidges are aiming to milk 130 montbeliarde cows at peak this year, which will be the most cows they have ever run on the farm.

The brand new limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’ takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

In the second episode of Agriland's latest limited podcast series 'The Dairy Trail', technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to Larry Hannon's dairy farm in Ballitore, Co. Kildare.

Larry Hannon has 235 cows to calve down this spring and has over 70% of the herd calved. The aim is to have 220 cows milking strong at the peak of the lactation.

The focus on the farm is to get the cows out to grass for a few hours every day and to maximise the cow's dry matter intake in the early lactation.

In the episode, Larry explains how he has been managing his calving season from colostrum feeding to the dietary requirements of the cow.

Larry goes through how he went from having about 20% of his herd calving down in the autumn and filling his winter milk contract, to going to a fully spring-calving herd.

The brand new limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’ takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

In the second episode of Agriland’s latest limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’, technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to Eoin Kennedy’s dairy farm in Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

Eoin Kennedy has 170 Jersey-cross cows to calve down this spring where his focus is top get them out grass at every given opportunity.

In the episode, Eoin explains how he has been managing his calving season from colostrum feeding to the dietary requirements of the cow.

The brand new limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’ takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

In the first episode of Agriland's latest limited series 'The Dairy Trail', technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to Brian Rushe’s dairy farm in Derrinturn, Co. Kildare.

Brian Rushe who is also the former deputy president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is set to be milking over 360 cows on two milking platforms in 2025.

In the episode, Brian explains how he is managing his calving season as he has over 130 cows calved down to date.

Agriland's brand new limited podcast series 'The Dairy Trail' takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

Listeners will get to hear how other farm systems operate, how different genetics perform, how different land types grow grass and how each farmer puts milk in the tank and money in their pocket in their own unique way.