All dairy farmers in the country have been advised by Teagasc to begin drawing up plans to convert to suckler farming on the back of recent record-breaking prices.

Making the announcement on Tuesday 1 April, director of Teagasc Frank O’Mara said “the west is awake” and added that the suckler sector is set to take over dairy’s traditional southern strongholds of Cork and Tipperary.

Moorepark - Teagasc’s dairy HQ where the shock change in the advisory body’s direction was announced - is set to be turned into ‘Ireland’s National Suckler Centre’, with lorries of beef cattle shipped on to the farm on 1 April.

O’Mara said Teagasc was making the snap decision ahead of breeding kicking off on most farms so cows and heifers could be put in-calf to beef breeds.

The Teagasc boss was vague on some of the exact details, but added that it could not be made compulsory as originally planned due to legal and constitutional stumbling blocks. However, Teagasc dairy advisers will no longer be available from 2026.

It is understood that part of the plan will tell dairy farmers making the change to use their parlour building as storage units.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said a new scheme will be available to dairy farmers converting to beef, incentivising them to breed cattle in line with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) indices – the Dairy to Dexter Conversion Scheme (DDCS).

Outrage

The Teagasc policy has unsurprisingly sparked outrage from co-ops across the country.

Industry sources said the milk processors are organising a protest outside the National Suckler Centre, formerly Moorepark, this Tuesday 1 April.

Processor head honchos are said to be in a state of shock and are calling on the Government to intervene.

Meanwhile, the tillage community has reacted positively to the news. Part of the Teagasc plan includes offsetting the downturn in liquid milk supply with homegrown oat and wheat juice.

To this effect, the Minister has announced another scheme – the Tillage Takeover Scheme (TTS).

Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) president Denis Drennan was unable to comment when contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal as he had fainted from the shock.