DARD Directed AFBI Research Projects 2015
Ref No
15/1/01
15/1/03
15/1/04
15/1/05
15/1/06
Matching nutrition with the genetic potential of pigs
Feed into Lamb
Title
Efficient innovative and sustainable heifer rearing systems: improving efficiencies through the utilisation of precision technologies, novel feeds/feeding techniques and an enhanced understanding of the nutrient requirement of dairy youngstock
The role of higher protein forages and home grown protein sources within NI dairy systems
The role of confinement and zero grazing systems within the NI dairy sector, and the identification of strategies to optimise these systems
Goals of Project
The overall objective of the project is to investigate the absolute levels of, and dietary balance between, energy and protein which economically and environmentally promote the fulfilment of the genetic potential of modern, high performing pigs.
The overall objectives of this project:
1.
to review and update the current UK feeding standards for sheep, in terms of their metabolisable energy requirements;
2.
to assess the consequences of changes in these feeding standards on the associated environmental footprint of sheep production systems.
The overall objective of this project is to improve the efficiencies of rearing replacement heifers for the Northern Ireland dairy herd. This project will help address the industry and farmer concerns by enhancing knowledge on heifer rearing systems and developing monitoring and decision support systems which will lead to better nutrient utilisation, reduced Greenhouse Gas emissions, increased financial performance allowing livestock to fulfil their genetic potential.
 To examine the role of red clover as a ‘high protein’ forage.
This part of the project will establish and monitor the performance of mixed red clover/ryegrass swards and pure grass swards over two years to identify dry matter yields, dry matter losses at ensiling, persistency and ensilage characteristics.

Toexamine the role of crops which provide high protein ‘grains.’
This part of the project will examine the role of locally grown field beans in dairy cow diets.
The primary objective of this research programme is to improve performance in the market place by examining how to optimise the use of partial/complete confinement systems, and zero grazing systems, within a NI context.
This primary objective will be achieved by: a) Examining the role of forage quality, grazing duration, grazing intensity, and time
Projected End
Date of Project
30/09/18
31/12/18
31/03/18
31/03/18
31/03/18

15/1/07
15/1/10
An evaluation of the impact of animal movement and housing systems on beef cattle health, welfare, performance and meat quality within NI
Effects of three contrasting breeding strategies on lamb and ewe performance and their response to a full flock health plan of grazing on cow performance, with all studies involving a traditional grazing system for comparison. b) Quantifying the impact of these systems on the fatty acid profile of milk produced, cow behaviour and welfare, nutrient losses to the environment, GHG emissions/carbon footprints, cow health (especially mastitis) and immune function, herbage yield and utilisation efficiency, labour requirements and economic performance.

It is proposed that information from BovIS is utilised to evaluate the impact of animal residences on lifetime performance (carcass gain). Effects on meat quality will be monitored on carcases selected from APHIS and BovIS post slaughter.

It is proposed to develop an on-line tool (and/or Mobile App) linked to BovIS to enable this data to flow. AFBI will monitor the data and produce annual reports for the industry similar to the BovIS carcass report.

It is proposed within this strand to build on previous research, by examining the impact of flooring type on the health, welfare and performance of growing and finishing beef cattle (bulls and steers). The study will involve on-farm monitoring of livestock performance, with more detailed investigations being undertaken to examine health, welfare, performance and meat quality. The data collected will complement existing published data and unpublished research data held by Teagasc Grange and enable a meta-analysis to be undertaken to identify the most suitable housing systems for beef cattle under a range of production systems.
The overall aim of the project is to quantify the improvements in production efficiency that can be achieved by sheep producers through better health and production planning.
The overall objectives of the project are to:
1) develop a robust, yet flexible flock health and production plan (FHPP) for sheep producers in NI,
2) implement the plan intensively across 8 farms in NI,
3) monitor its effect on performance (including number of lambs per ewe, lamb growth, mortality rates) and welfare (e.g. occurrence of diseases) and carry out financial analyses to estimate the profit achieved following its implementation,
4) work in collaboration with veterinary practices and CAFRE advisors at the onset of the project to maximise uptake and efficient use of this new management tool.
14/10/18
31/08/18

15/1/11
15/1/15
15/1/16
15/1/17
15/1/21
15/1/26
15/2/02
15/2/03
Application of innovative analytical techniques to assess diet quality in sheep production systems
Identifying the key drivers of carcass quality in the NI beef herd
Effects of supply chain factors on the quality and production efficiency of lamb meat
Examination competiveness, integrity and resilience of local food supply chain
High Pressure processing and the development of novel packaging technologies to improve shelf-like food quality and safety
Designing integrated crop protection programmes for fruit, vegetable and arable production
CBA for plant pests and diseases
The overall objective of the project is to examine novel analytical tools, based on rapid and inexpensive laboratory techniques, which will allow the prediction of sheep diet quality and animal performance by analysis of faecal output.
This project seeks to address areas within the red meat supply chain that require improvement in three work packages by examining 1. the proportion of cattle achieving market requirements; 2. improvements in animal health and availability of such data to enable producers/advisers to make informed decisions and; 3. traceability, parentage and genetic merit of animals.
The overall objective of this project is to determine the role of two major supply chain factors (gender - castrate versus entire male lamb - and finishing diet) on animal feed intake, growth performance, carcass characteristics and eating quality of lamb meat production.
The overall objective of this study is to examine the potential to restructure the red meat, pig, arable and commercial horticulture supply chains in Northern Ireland to improve the performance and competitiveness of the entire sector. In addition, incentives to enhance co-operative behaviour in the supply chain will be explored using survey work to provide insights into building a more tightly co-ordinated sector.
The overall objectives of this project are to look at novel food processing techniques such as HPP and MVH to maximise the food quality, safety and shelf life of NI food products. If new processes and techniques can be developed and validated wider markets both nationally and internationally can be developed improving profitability and generating additional income for the NI food industry.
The overall objective of this project is to design suitable integrated pest management strategies for cereal, fruit and vegetable production in NI.
Improving economic outcomes of rural development by strengthening the links between evidence, strategy, and funding management
This project will seek to develop a generic framework with which to assess:
1.
The costs of the surveillance and control strategies to prevent the introduction of plant pests into Northern Ireland.
2.
The benefits from the control strategies - the avoidance of the deleterious impacts of the plant pests and diseases.
The project will focus on the design and management of funding delivery involving
Community Led Local Development (CLLD) schemes.
31/08/17
31/08/17
31/03/18
31/07/17
30/11/17
31/10/18
30/09/17
31/10/18

15/2/05
15/2/06
15/2/07
15/3/03
15/3/06
15/3/07
Developing effective rural proofing and rural champion approach
Sustainability of the NI Nephrops
Fishing Sector –an analysis of the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities
Up-skilling within the NI farming sector. An assessment of the effectiveness of alternative models for delivering training and life-long learning within the NI agriculture sector
Effect of disinfection on composting of poultry litter
Assessment of the efficacy of current plant health practices and the understanding and attitudes of stakeholders to bio-security
Bovine TB – investigating
Mycobacterium bovis transmission dynamics using genome epidemiology
This project will critically review the concepts and operation of rural proofing and rural champion policy initiatives against the overall objectives of the Northern
Ireland Rural Development Programme, examine the limitations and successes of these approaches across government and non-government stakeholders and conceptually benchmark the NI models against other regions in the UK and beyond.
The findings will be applied to provide evidence-based evaluation criteria and recommendations to support legislation of rural proofing in NI.
This project will seek to assess whether the fishing capacity of the Northern Ireland
Nephrops fishery and the communities which it supports, is in balance with the fishing opportunities available to the Nephrops fleet segment. This project will obtain measures of economic, biological and technical indicators that illustrate this balance.
The overall objective of this project is to examine a range of training and life-long learning methods which are, and can be used, to ‘up-skill’ farmers. The aim is to explore the effectiveness of various approaches in relation to who they are delivered to, examine levels of uptake and whether the knowledge and skills learned were adopted and implemented in practice. In relation to young people entering the industry, there is a need to explore different methods and approaches to learning and training in order to upgrade skills levels and encourage a commitment to ‘life-long’ learning within the agricultural sector with the aim of improving business performance, competitiveness and sustainability. In addition from a farm operator perspective, barriers to accessing training programmes will be explored.
To determine whether the approved disinfectant used in the event of a disease outbreak inhibits the composting process to a degree that could prevent the inactivation of the AI virus and have submitted a scientific publication on same.
This project will assess the robustness and effectiveness of our current biosecurity and contingency procedures and deliver recommended actions which can be used by policy makers, regulatory authorities and the industry to develop a more effective and adaptive plant biosecurity strategy for NI, thus protecting industry and the environment.
To use a combination of molecular typing, bacterial whole-genome sequencing and mathematical modelling to investigate TB transmission dynamics in TB-affected cattle and badgers within the TVR project area. In addition, we will sequence historical M. bovis genomes collected prior to TVR, both within and outside of the study area that may be epidemiologically linked and, where possible, TB bacteria close to the TVR edge. TVR Steering Group considers that such a study has potential to inform on TB transmission dynamics before, during and after intervention on
31/03/18
31/07/16
30/09/17
31/03/17
31/07/17
31/08/18

15/3/08 An evaluation of the role of multiple
15/3/09 reactor and chronic breakdown herds in the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in Northern Ireland
An assessment of commercially available serological tests for the detection of cattle infected with bovine tuberculosis. badgers. These data should enable us to investigate how TB maintains and spreads across the landscape.
The aim of this project is to undertake an evaluation of the incidence and significance of cattle herds in Northern Ireland that have multiple reactors and/or have suffered from prolonged breakdowns. The aim of the project is also to utilise an important resource unique to Northern Ireland, high resolution (VNTR) strain typing data, to help understand how chronic herds cluster in space and time.
The overall outcome of this project will be to provide information on understanding the spatio-temporal epidemiology of chronic herds, and improving the strategy as in how to deal with these multiple reactor and or chronic breakdown herds in the future.
The purpose of this project will be to assess alternative commercially available blood based tests which could be used as part of the NI tuberculosis control program.
These are tests that measure antibody responses to the organism that causes TB.
They are relatively simple and if shown to detect significant numbers of infected cattle, particularly cattle with advanced disease and therefore more likely to be infectious, they could contribute significantly to the TB eradication program particularly if they could detect infected cattle that the other current tests (the comparative skin and interferon-gamma blood tests) fail to.
15/3/10 The role of endemic diseases and other factors in the occurrence of bovine Tuberculosis
This project will attempt to identify if there are infectious and nutritional co-factors that influence the diagnosis and / or occurrence of bovine tuberculosis. In carrying out this work it is planned to identify if any of the conditions under study influence either the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis using the currently available tests and if there is evidence that these factors influence either the progression and / or transmission of bTB e.g. factors that may be associated with increased rates of cattle to cattle TB transmission.
15/4/02 New strategies for the abatement of odours and ammonia from animal housing
Evaluation of the potential for
To provide a ‘state of knowledge’ report containing up-to-date information on ammonia and odour emissions from livestock systems in NI and provide information on the relative effectiveness of various abatement strategies. Thus providing a userorientated evidence base for policy makers.
To ensure that any benefit to NI’s inventory is not overlooked, this study has the 15/4/03 changing land use practices to encourage soil and grass carbon sequestration objective of analysing and evaluating activity data and emission factors that are currently applied in the NI LULUCF inventory and to derive more accurate estimates relevant to NI’s conditions.
15/4/06 Research to support development of The overall objective of the study is to analyse the drivers of land use change and
31/08/17
31/08/17
31/03/17
30/09/16
31/03/18
31/03/16

an agricultural land use strategy
15/4/07 Determination of current nutrient content of manure and litter from laying hens and other poultry production systems provide practical insights into how sustainable natural food production may be achieved in a Northern Ireland context, informed by case studies of best practice elsewhere. The case studies will be considered within an ecosystem services framework, which will emphasise identification of the main economic and social benefits of the main potential uses of agricultural land.
The project seeks to scientifically evaluate the current nutrient content of litter/manure from different production systems. This will provide information to revise the NAP regulations if necessary and enable effective use of poultry manure/litter when applied to land as fertiliser.
14/10/17