AgriSearch reviews a busy and productive year

With a number of AgriSearch led European Innovation Partnership projects coming to a conclusion this year there was no shortage of on-farm events or webinars.

Turnout was excellent at a range of farm walks and conferences held to showcase the work carried out across the topics of Multi-Species Swards, Anthelmintic Targeted Selected Treatment, and the ARCZero project.

Several webinars were also scheduled over the course of the year in response to rising issues within the industry. In the spring the focus was on production of quality forage. Unfortunately 2023 proved to be a very challenge year for silage making and to address these issues head on AgriSearch held dedicated webinars for dairy and beef/sheep sectors on options that could be employed in the autumn should forage quality be poor. This included cash flow management options for dairy farmers.

AgriSearch also launched its new PhD Scholarships programme with three scholarship opportunities being awarded to consortia led bv Ulster University, Queen’s University and AFBI.

AgriSearch has a well-established track record of conducting on-farm research and innovation. An exciting new project called ZeroNsile, got underway in the spring of 2023 with 12 beacon Farmers from across the province trialling the use of Red Clover silage. Approximately 53ha was established this year with feedback from the farms involved so far positive regarding productivity and feed value. A further three farms in County Down established Lucerne on farm this year with results better than expected given the challenging weather conditions. Further measurements on forage quantity and quality will be taken over the next two years and we hope to hold on-farm events showcasing the project next year.

AgriSearch also expanded its GrassCheck programme in 2023 with additional farmers recruited to the network. Work commenced on adding a clover component to GrassCheck which will start to be featured in bulletins in 2024. AgriSearch looks forward to marking GrassCheck’s 25th anniversary in 2024.

AgriSearch are also involved in two European Horizon 2020 projects, SUPER-G and R4D, which are focused on permanent grasslands and resilience for dairy respectively. AgriSearch were able to take a number of Northern Ireland delegates to cross-visits in Flanders and participated in further meetings in Budapest and Slovenia in 2023, learning from our European colleagues and sharing the work carried out in Northern Ireland to date. Closer to home AgriSearch held two study trips for its Beacon Farm Network members in September to visit a Teagasc Clover 150 farm in Roscommon and a Inishowen Uplands EIP demonstration farm in County Donegal. The trips were well attended with all participants benefiting from the information shared.

To close the year AgriSearch held its inaugural Research and Innovation needs conference on 28th November with a wide range of industry partners and AgriSearch’s own levy payers in attendance to stress the need for continued research to ensure the continued sustainability of the sector.

AgriSearch General Manager Jason Rankin commented: “It’s been a successful year for AgriSearch and we hope to build on this next year with another full schedule of farm walks, webinars and events. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our farmer co-researchers, project partners and those that have attended our events this year.”

Recordings of the webinars and two of the conferences held this year are available on the AgriSearch YouTube Channel with handouts from the events and reports from our wide range of on-farm projects available as always on the AgriSearch website.

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