LATEST ARTICLES
Machinery
Roscommon contractor celebrates 50 years of lime spreading
Peter Thomas Keaveney
Peter Thomas Keaveney travelled to Elphin in Co Roscommon to catch up with Padraig Berine who was busy spreading lime, now his 50th year at the job.
12 March 2025 News
Setting up the spreader: understanding the difference between urea and compounds
Peter Thomas Keaveney looks at the main steps involved in checking over the fertiliser spreader, and outlines the importance of adjusting the spreader depending on the type of fertiliser being spread.
19 February 2025 News
'Variable application rate of a different kind'
Fergal O'Sullivan takes a closer look at how best to setup ATV/UTV ground drive fertiliser spreaders to utilise both spreader and fertiliser performance and avoid the potential pitfalls.
TAMS III grant aid for greater GPS accuracy
Gary Abbott looks at the grant aid available under TAMS III for GPS-controlled fertiliser spreaders, the factors to consider and how such machines achieve pin-point accuracy.
5 February 2025 Farm machinery
French spreading perfection with Sulky
During the summer, Peter Thomas Keaveney put the French-built, high-tech Sulky X40+ Econov mounted fertiliser spreader through its paces.
5 February 2025 Farm machinery
Quality of protected urea key to even spreading - Teagasc
Protected urea can be spread evenly provided that the physical quality is okay, Dermot Forristal from Teagasc has said.
5 February 2025 News
TB reactors jump 44% to over 41,000
The latest Irish Farmers Journal analysis found that the 12-month herd incident rate for TB ended the year at exactly 6%.
22 January 2025 News
Dairy Management: CBV, calving preparation and slurry
Martin Merrick discusses some of the talk around calf quality and CBV at this years IGA conference, as well as calving prep and spreading slurry in the open period.
15 January 2025 Management
‘A 3,000-gallon tanker 70% full of slurry and 30% full of foam is not efficient’
Fergal O’Sullivan talks to David Whelehan of Vogelsang Ireland about rotary lobe pumps — are they a smarter and more-efficient choice over the traditional vacuum pump method on tankers?
8 January 2025 Farm machinery
Don't get bogged down with slurry-spreading calculations this spring
When applying slurry through LESS systems, the working width is typically reduced versus the splash plate, and an increased forward speed is required to achieve the same application rate
8 January 2025 Farm machinery
Improving slurry application accuracy by retro-fitting a flow metre
One year ago, Peter Thomas Keaveney retrofitted a flow metre to an umbilical system, and offers his thoughts on the system and why every contractor should consider doing so.
8 January 2025 Farm machinery
Refurbishing a sluggish vacuum pump
With the slurry spreading season just around the corner, Gary Abbott looks at what is involved when it comes to refurbishing a tired vacuum pump.
8 January 2025 News