An event is coming to Thurles on April 26 that will be of great interest to dairy farmers.
‘Dairying in Tipperary – opportunities and challenges’ is a free-to-attend event taking place at Mid-Tipp Mart, Thurles on Thursday 26th April at 7:30 pm.
Register now.
There is an optimistic view of dairy farming in Ireland. Many dairy farms are becoming large-scale businesses and need to be treated as such.
This event will examine how to grow a dairy farm in a sustainable way, the finance available to farmers, the opportunities within the sector and the challenges that may arise and how to prepare for them.
Speakers include Patrick Gowing, the specialist dairy advisor with the Teagasc Dairy expansion service; Sean Farrell, head of agriculture with Bank of Ireland; and Jack Kennedy, dairy editor of the Farmer’s Journal.
Optimistic about dairy
“We are seeing more development loan applications from customers looking to grow their dairy farms than from any other farming sector,” says Sean Farrell, head of agriculture, Bank of Ireland.
“Given the relative profitability of dairying, we expect this trend to continue and we want to play a big part in the growth of the sector.
“We see price volatility and weather events as some of the challenges farmers face when they are expanding. We want to encourage farmers to invest time developing a business plan that considers various future scenarios, be that a drop in milk price, or the impact of Brexit. Famers need to know how they can deal with these events.”  
The event is free to attend but registration is required. Register here.
Refreshments will be served.
 

Gavin Dunne is a pioneer. He has created a new food from olive ‘waste’ for the Wagyu beef market, the most expensive beef in the world.
Olive oil is a vital component of the Mediterranean diet and perceived by many as a natural health-food product. However, the olive waste stream, produced as a by-product of manufacture, can cause some challenging environmental issues. In 2017, a creative Irish startup devised a way to convert this crop waste into a high-value animal feed, favoured by the €1 billion a year Wagyu beef market. CEO, Gavin Dunne of the Olive Feed Corporation, shares his intriguing, circular economy ambition.
“Waygu beef, supplemented with olive feed is intensely marbled with softer fat.”

Olive-fed beef
I came up with the idea in October 2016, while I was living in Crete, surrounded by millions of olive trees spread across valleys and mountain slopes. However, it was during a business trip to Japan, that I was first introduced to olive-fed beef. It was uniquely being produced in a tiny region, called the Sanuki Region. Some 100 years ago a small number of olive plots were planted there, and one local farmer had been using dried olives, as a supplementary feed for his Sanuki (Waygu) beef cattle. Drying the olives makes it a little more palatable for animal intake, but it’s not the best processing method for optimum digestibility by the animals.
Waygu beef, supplemented with olive feed is intensely marbled with softer fat and higher percentages of monounsaturated fats. In Japan, olive-fed Wagyu beef is now the most expensive beef in the world, and straight away I could see the commercial opportunity. I contacted my business partner and environmental scientist, Brian Dunne who has a farm in Edenderry and we decided to test and assess some of the olive feed out on his

On the first anniversary of Cork’s Republic of Work, Daniel Heaslip sat down with DC Cahalane, its founder and CEO to discuss innovation, startups, funding, the future of work and expansion plans.
The vision
The vision for this space began eight years ago, and many things influenced its design.
My dad was an architect, so I was always interested in space. When you looked at boring offices, boring things happened in them. If you compare a Google or Facebook office with a typical Irish corporate office, they are worlds apart. US tech firms drive huge productivity, and a lot of it is influenced by the work environment.
“We are industry agnostic and stage agnostic.”
I came home to Cork and had an idea to open a co-working space. I met Pat Phelan and joined Trustev and then went into Teamwork. At the same time, I was travelling a lot and engaging with tech startups around the world. I saw the spaces they were working in, and it reinforced my beliefs that a great workspace encourages innovation and productivity.
When we built Republic of Work, it was never a space just for technology companies, and it was never a place just for startups. We are industry agnostic and stage agnostic. We have everything from architects to food companies to health and beauty businesses. This space is less about scaling and more about innovating.

The importance of community
It is everything; it is the very core of how we market ourselves. Cork is not short on office space; if you are a business you have options, and you have the traditional providers.
We sell you the community first. It is easy to suspend your laptop off the floor or work from your kitchen table, but it is far more important to be around like-minded people. We never let anyone sign up

From struggling dotcom graduates to globe-trotting entrepreneurs, the story of ActionPoint is worth hearing.
Hosted by Pat Carroll – the Bank of Ireland innovation community manager for Limerick and the Midwest – this StartupGrind featured local organic-grown success story, ActionPoint.
Co-founders David Jeffreys and John Savage shared their story from struggling dotcom graduates to leading Irish technology entrepreneurs.
Below are the video and the podcast of the full interview as well as the key takeaways (written) from the discussion.
INVITE: You are invited to attend the next StartupGrind in Limerick on April 19, 2018. The main speaker is Jason Cohen, the founder and CTO of WPEngine. This global technology company from Austin Texas choose Limerick to locate its European offices in Limerick’s city centre. Book here. 

Listen on Soundcloud.

Five great growth insights from the co-founders 
1. “Degrees and experience are useless if you can’t work and communicate with people.”
David and John are quick to point out that without the personality and skills to motivate and lead people, they wouldn’t have got the company this far.
2. “Keep the team happy, and you’ll keep your customers happy.”
Your team are often your company’s primary touch points; a motivated employee perpetuates a motivated organisation which creates a memorable customer experience.
3. “You need to align your head, heart and gut.”
David Jeffreys on the formula for recruitment success.
4. “Enjoyment and motivation are directly proportional.”
Staying motivated is about experiencing enjoyment in what you do; the trick is to find the intersection of what you enjoy doing, what you’re good at and what people will pay you for.
5. “Future industrial environments will be powered by Augmented Reality (AR).”
John Savage highlighted that ActionPoint is already starting to explore AR with existing multinational clients in manufacturing.
One practical application for HoloLens is in the area of predictive maintenance, which as the name suggests enables factory owners and operators

One of the most significant B2B events in Ireland, BizExpo is coming to CityWest on April 25.
One of the best business-to-business events will be held at The CityWest Hotel, Dublin, April 25, 2018.
BizExpo 2018 is more than a networking event; it allows business owners to connect with new and potential business customers. It is also a showcase for new and innovative business ideas from around Ireland. Businesses can meet new customers, sign deals and get inspiration from a host of useful speakers.

Over 1,000 people attended the previous event.
Barbara Gordon, the event owner and organiser, says, “Anyone who has a business should attend this event. As well as the business and networking opportunities, there is a host of great speakers including Greg Fry, who will explain how to make money from social media; Michelle Rudden who will talk about Facebook advertising; Alec Drew who will give insightful business development tips; Pat Slattery who will talk about business growth; and many more.
BizExpo 2018 is designed for SMEs and invites business owners to exhibit or attend. It costs just €195 to exhibit and is free to attend.
For full details, go to BizExpo.ie.