Dr. Michael Drennan

Dr. Michael Drennan

Born in Gowran, Co.Kilkenny. Michael Received a degree in Agricultural Science from University College, Dublin in 1964, an MS from the University of California, Davis in 1969 and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin in 1974. He spent most of his working life at Grange Beef Research Centre retiring in 2009.His research work was mainly with the suckler herd and was aimed at providing breeding, feeding and management programmes for the cows and their progeny. These studies showed the importance of obtaining high liveweight gains on cheap grazed grass and efficient production of lean meat by producing young bulls and progeny of good conformation. His studies involving carcass dissection examined the relationship between carcass conformation and fat scores with meat yield and carcass value which formed the basis of the beef quality payment grid. In addition to numerous presentations on beef production throughout Ireland (including Irish Grassland Association meetings), he made many presentations at international meetings and presented his research in the agricultural press and in books on beef production, the most recent of which was entitled ‘Producing high quality carcasses from grass based suckler beef systems’.  (Michael Drennan and Mark McGee,2009) and in scientific journals